NOOB Clear Coat Question

[Junk Collector]

Getting ready to get a '64 Impala painted and was told ONLY 3 coats of clear can be used.

What I (as an inexperienced auto paint person) thought would work was this ...

Over a dark red paint the idea was to do

a couple layers of clear coat

then wet sanded real smooth

then either silver or blue pearl in a clear coat

and a final heavy clear coat that gets wet sanded and buffed out ...

why am I told that can not be done?​

I am trying to get some real depth in the clear coat with a glassy smoothness

what am I not knowing that makes this wrong?

 

[LudicrousSpeed]

I think what they mean is that a maximum of three coats can be applied at once.

What i have done in the past is spray three wet coats, block it off till slick, and then apply another two or three coats. Paint comes out really slick this way. You just need to make sure that there is not TOO many mils of paint, because you can go overboard.

The real pros will probably have more to add to this!

 

[TAZ]

I would suggest just spraying your red coat. Then make up a base-clear (intercoat clear) with your pearl. Spray that. Then spray your topcoat clear.
Then wetsand and buff. The less orange peel you put in the topcoat clear, the easier it will be to wetsand and buff thus giving you the ultimate 'flat' and refection look you are wanting

 

[Junk Collector]

is there any way to create an illusion of deep shadows?

thats why I thought a clear under the pearl would give a deeper look

 

[TAZ]

Not that I am aware of.

Just a good wetsand and buff gives paint a ton of depth.

Keep in mind, when you said that you would 'wetsand it smooth', smooth will not get you that depth, you want it 'flat'. To get a paint job flat, it needs to be sanded past the smooth step.
In other words, when wetsanding something, if you stop as soon as it's smooth, you most likely have not gone far enough.

 

[Junk Collector]

my wording isn't right I think ... visually smooth not just the texture.

when I said smooth its when the dimples (orange peel) is smoothed out.

DOES the orange peel on the paint need to be knocked down before the first clear coat?
or will the clear coat be a fill in?​

This is going to be more or less done at a low cost shop
(an old school shop that does whats needed and not hustle you into too much),
then it's on in to my driveway and there the details will get done.

Trust me - I got a ton and a half of question to learn ( fun is doing what no one I know does)

when airbrushing is done
... like when you use flip flop paint to add wisps of smoke on the sides
after what layer of clear does that pattern go on?

The Impala is scheduled to be out of the shop about June 17th if all goes well and more problems aren't found in the rust abatement​

that's why I am trying understand the stages of how show paint is done - would hate to fine out that a step was missed after the fact.

if you think of something that a new guy wouldn't know that is common sense to you - please give me a heads up!

have very little idea on how to layout a pattern on the paint job ... want to create a low key (nothing real dramatic - just noticeable) set of smoke like wisps along the sides ...

right now I have about a 30 gallon Tractor Supply compressor, a Northern tools gravity feed gun and a regular one that's a craftsman ... basically nothing really pro quality ... but its new stuff! ... not someones leftover junk.

Have no airbrush stuff - no sandblasting stuff - no powder coat stuff ... this stuff is on a wishlist

just for the record ... the closest I ever came to doing this stuff was industrial enamel on street sweepers and
one time I painted a '49 pick up with rattle cans :haha:

 

[fiftyfourd]

like Taz said, I would base it, then in your first coat of clear put your pearl/metalflake in. Then 3 good coats of a GOOD clear followed by scuff/buff the clear till she is glassy. That is how I've done the bikes I've done with flake and helmets with graphics. I put one light coat on to protect the base, then do my 'custom work' then clear it fully. Some people wet sand their basecoats and/or their sealer, I never have unless there is a big chunk of dirt in my base.

 

[stevejohnson48]

Clear coat and pearls

Getting ready to get a '64 Impala painted and was told ONLY 3 coats of clear can be used.

What I (as an inexperienced auto paint person) thought would work was this ...

Over a dark red paint the idea was to do

a couple layers of clear coat

then wet sanded real smooth You don't ever want to sand anything smooth REAL SMOOTH in between coats Some people can get away using 320 or 360 wet I prefer 400 and if they had a 500 I would use it??/ blinding clears I use 600 but after it leaves the shop you alway woulder if its going to lift in that area (blinding) when it gets down the road??/ Complication from over spray impurities in the air and even light condition will make a difference between coats ??/


then either silver or blue pearl in a clear coat// It doesn't take much peral to clout ( Fog) you base coat

and a final heavy clear coat that gets wet sanded and buffed out ...

why am I told that can not be done?​

I am trying to get some real depth in the clear coat with a glassy smoothness

what am I not knowing that makes this wrong?

I done a boat and a couple of cars with pearl in the formulas and there's probably no reason that you can't do it the way your approching it if you let each coat flash at the given time and don't smooth sand ( Glasses) ??/ unless your dealing in idea environment your probably going to what more than one coat of clear over your pearl ??/ and I don't know why you would want 2 clear coats under your pearl one coat maybe??/ I always used pearl in the first coat of clear and tapered off the pearl in the next 2 coats of clear and then 2 coats of pearl on top of those for wet sanding 1200 or 1500 and buffing and if your going to have any dirt ( Bugs, flying S___t ) you'll probably wish you put 3or 4 coats of clear over the pearl Because if you sand or burn through (Buffing) the pearl you pretty much shot your whole paint job down??/ I've known guys that even shoot pearl in the base maker as a coat of clear I guess its to reduce the thickness of the final paint job But its hard to see how much pearl is actually going on the vehicle because of over spray??/ Because all that a base maker is ??/ Is a reducer with a few more property's in it ??/ Depends on where and what environment you going to leave it in ??/ Hot/ Cold, Expansion/ Contraction anyway in so many words if you never done it before your probably going have problems ??/ Try looking at some of candy colors in late model stuff Black Cherry's one of my favorites ?// Ask your locale suppler for a swatch catalog and look at some of the late model Cadillac swatches some of there candy colors have pearl in the formula already a lot easier to shoot and in the long run probably at or around the same price and a lot less time consuming ??/