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MCU coatings for Auto Restoration

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What is an MCU Coating? 

 

Aluthane (tm) is an MCU coating. MCU stands for Moisture Cured Urethane and makes a very superior high performance  coating. These are a unique type of coating much better known in commercial industrial painting circles than within the general public market.  Most MCU coatings use tiny aluminum flake as pigment which gives them their classic silvery/gray color and enhances their remarkable properties.

MCU contain lots of solvents which aids in penetrating tiny cracks and crevices. The coating scavenges moisture from its contact surfaces and the air and undergoes an cross-linking molecular process which 'grips' or grabs onto surfaces for outstanding adhesion, even with poorly prepared surfaces. Removing internal surface moisture removes one of the key components necessary for rust development.

The resulting dry surface (aided by the stacking aluminum pigment platelets) provides a physical barrier to air and oxygen, another necessary component for rust to form.  The result is a thin, hard coating that seals our air, water, salts, minerals etc.  essentially encapsulating the surface  It therefore is one of the best, easy to apply, rust and corrosion control coatings.

Its amazing adhesion results in a versatile coating well suited for use on steel, aluminum, concrete, fiberglass, wood etc. It can be used as a primer/sealer, a middle coat or a exposed as a topcoat. The aluminum pigmented versions have no UV issues, can be applied at low temperatures and operate at temperatures of up to about 400 degrees F. Besides being used as a rust stopper is also has applications on  boats, roofing and flooring applications. In is used a lot in the industrial, automotive, marine and farm marketplaces. The AUTO RESTORATION market is one place these coatings are widely promoted within the 'DIY home' marketplace.

 

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Basic MCU properties

* minimum surface prep required (so common on structures and objects hat cannot be sandblasted etc.)

* easy to apply - thin, with good coverage

* fast drying

* long life (some vendors claim 10-20 years of performance)

* very good chemical, temperature and abrasion resistance

* replacement for galvanized surfaces and other environmentally damaging zinc rich products

* contains no dangerous lead, zinc, chromates, or heavy metals

 

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Commercial vs. DIY MCU Coating Products

Given the outstanding and time tested  performance and properties of MCU coatings in serious commercial setting it is not surprising that companies have attempted to move this product into the DIY/Home-Boat Owner market.  This market is less knowledgeable and will accept lesser quality and overpriced MCU coatings compared to the commercial/industrial marketplace.

 

Warning Flags:

* Very slick web sites that suggest their product is unique and one-of-kind and that you cannot find anything even remotely similar. Some sites really play up MCU chemistry, others hide it, thus implying how 'magical' and special their standard MCU coating is.

 

*  Fancy product names and colorful labels that suggest a Madison Ave focus rather than no-frills commercial roots.

 

* Prices in the $150-$200 a gallon range. No MCU coating  is that expensive to manufacture, especially for large companies. These folks are making $100 plus profit per gallon from you (with 'discounts' and 'free shipping' making hardly a dent in their profits). No commercial user would pay these outrageous prices for a gallon of an industrial coating.

 

* Check product coverage. These are thin products, due to their chemistry they don't need to be thick. But the general public usually thinks thicker is better. The thicker the product the more you use and the more you will have to purchase (at those extremely high prices). If coverage numbers are given make certain they are real life numbers and not "theoretical coverage" numbers. The theoretical coverage for 1 gallon of water at 1 mil thick is over 1600 square feet.

 

* One thing that cannot be easily established, but should be lurking in the back of your mind is the polyurethane resin used in the manufacture of the coating. Top-of-the-line, commercial/industrial MCU coatings, like our Aluthane product, use 100%  polyurethane resin. MCU coatings can be manufactured with diluents and other low cost additives to reduce the amount of polyurethane resin in the manufacturing process (like adding water to the whiskey!). The result is still a good MCU, but not a great one and not one formulated for maximum performance, but rather for better profits. One of our 'regular'  30 gallon a month Aluthane MCU customers stopped purchasing for about 5 months, presumably testing alternative products. They returned to us most likely because of the higher purity/quality and reasonable price of our Aluthane (tm) MCU.

 

Aluthane MCU on rusty surface

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Call Paul (the Epoxy Guru) at 603 435 7199 anytime to talk more or to order these materials

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