"Shelf" life of Dupont Centari paint?

[Al K]

Perhaps an odd question,but hey,I've been known to ask unusual questions...

Like,how are babies made?

Seriously,I've got an unopened gallon of Dupont Centari Pitch Black paint here,and it gets rolled around a bit to keep it liquid. I know this @#$% was NOT cheap,and am wondering if 1)it's still used out there in the resto world? and 2),after 10 years,would it break down chemically to where it's unusable? If it's good,I'll sell it or do some horse-trading with a painter I know. Thanks,as always,folks!

Oh;this has been in the house since found. I know it can't get frozen.

 

[northerndave]

Although centari really isn't that expensive (comparatively) you are right, the stuff isn't free.

I'd like to say being a solvent based enamel it should keep for a very long time.

That being said, I remember one time about 12-13 years ago painting a friend's old chevy pickup a 2 tone green and white with centari we had a hell of a time getting a good can of the white. the green metallic sprayed great, worked just fine but the plain solid colored white wanted to spray like cottage cheese. 2 different cans we got from our local jobber did that and we had to rework the areas twice.

Their thoughts were that the white was maybe old and it was possible it could have froze once.



I guess if I had an old can of black centari sitting around I'd save it for something like a repaint on my car trailer or maybe underside of a car over some epoxy, A black underhood paint job (firewall, inner fenders, rad support etc, stuff like that.

 

[72Satellite440]

I have no dought the chemicals have seperated-
Id get it shook and see how its fair-ed over the years
If its solid after shook id use it

 

[65DODGE]

as long as it hasn't been frozen it should be fine fyi though dupont disconitued there centari line the new equivelent would be duponts nason line the full cryl enamel pretty much the same stuff and is rather inexpensive thats what my customers that used to use centari use now and they say its just like the old centari.

 

[696pack]

as long as it hasn't been frozen it should be fine fyi though dupont disconitued there centari line the new equivelent would be duponts nason line the full cryl enamel pretty much the same stuff and is rather inexpensive thats what my customers that used to use centari use now and they say its just like the old centari.

Whate does freezing do to it?

 

[66_B_Body4ever]

Freezing can Gel the paint. Paint, unopened should be good for a year or so, opened and partially used, the paint companies say about a month.
I have used old paint before on various things, holdout & shine can be decreased. Its a gamble when you spend so much money prepping the surface only to have a poor end product. I wouldn't use it for exterior panels.

 

[RGAZ]

as long as it hasn't been frozen it should be fine fyi though dupont disconitued there centari line the new equivelent would be duponts nason line the full cryl enamel pretty much the same stuff and is rather inexpensive thats what my customers that used to use centari use now and they say its just like the old centari.

I can concur with this. I have used the Nason Fulcryl and the old Centari in the past and they are very close, almost identical in properties.

Take it in and get it shook. Open her up and take a look!

I would use it on "not important" applications personally since Nason is pretty cheap. Just 2 pennies.

Randy