SEM M25513 Mercury Phantom Black Engine Paint - 12 oz.

More than just a good color match. High pigment paint, covers well. So well that over spray must be accounted for.

Local Auto paint/parts store suggested SEM products for my winter project repairing dock rash on my 2010 Mercury Verado Hood, left-side pan and mid panel. Over the course of three weekends, using all SEM products, I repaired, primed, color coated and clear coated. I sourced all the SEM 68422 repair and SEM 4042 glaze for the repair, SEM 38353 for prep, SEM 42003 Primer, three cans of SEM 25513 Phantom Black and finally three cans of SEM 40903 Clear Coat from Amazon.The SEM filler prep and primer products worked very well however I experienced aggressive orange peel with every color and clear coat. Corrective measures included pre-heating the cans in very hot water and eventually I decided it was due to what I feel was a quick drying nature of this paint. After much struggling; (allowing coats to dry enough for flattening by re sanding between coats) the careful application of much heavier coats improved results. After completion I still had to buff with cutting pads and compound to flatten the final clear finish.Sadly when I finally had access to my boat out of storage to install the components, I discovered there was severe mismatch in color compared to the neighboring OEM painted panels. Everything I’d painted looked slightly brown, worse when outside in the sun. After discovering the color mismatch and knowing I sourced all products through the same supplier (Amazon), I thought to test from another source to see whether I’d just a bad production lot, (O’Rielly sells SEM products). This test showed the very same results with and without the black primer or clear coat tests. Happily, creating a same group of test panels with a can of OEM Phantom Black sourced from my local Mercury dealer generated a near perfect match with the old painted panels on the motor. I realize it was my own fault not shooting a test panel for comparison first thing.Re prepping everything once again, the reshoot, by comparison, went with ease. The OEM color and clear paint laid down flat regardless of the amount applied. It did take noticeably longer to flash off dry to the touch. Mercury offers a product they name Leveler that I understand is used to flatten when touch up repairing but I was shooting entire panels at a time and did not try it.The project has been completed for a couple weeks now and the OEM paint matches the rest of the motor. I’d sent word to SEM via their website contact menu back before going with the OEM product but received no response. Working as an engineer in a mass production environment, I cannot understand how simple QC testing at SEM could have still allowed a product like this to ship. I will unlikely consider SEM products in the future. To add insult to injury, I had to buy another $200 set of Mercury emblems…

This paint goes on mate. It is not something I will ever use again for mercury engine cowlings.

It works well, but it doesn't go very far, and the smell will kill you !!!!