what is normal for a paint job

[LJ67barracuda340]

I've never had a good paint job done on a car. I'm about to send my 67 cuda resto mod driver out. One painter said he uses up to 4 coats of epoxy primer, base and then 4 coats of clear then cut and buff. Another says 2 primer, base and 2 clear the cut and buff because 4 are too much and can cause the paint to crack under it. The first is higher price naturally for more material. I'm wondering who knows what they're doing. I've seen results for both and they do nice jobs. How many coats do you have on your A bodies? I'm mainly wondering about the clear.

 

[70Duster440]

Every paint and body person will have their own recipe for success.

I could see a full coat of epoxy over bare metal followed by 2 or more of high build primer/surfacer with block sanding between each. Base and 3 coats of clear - the idea being you'll cut and buff one of those coats off leaving 2 coats of clear. You do risk cracking with too much clear but just how much would be left after cut and buff with the first guy is unknown.

 

[challengergary]

The main thing is that whatever product the painter uses that they follow what the manufacturer recommends. More is not necessarily better.

 

[bamamopar]

I always put 3 coats of PPG clear. Then cut and buffed.

 

[1968FormulaS340]

Just about every manufacturer requires 2 full coats of clear. Remember the clear is the UV protection.

If your clear gets thin, it will fail and start to come off.

Like mentioned above, this is why, if you plan to fully cut the car, you want more than 2 coats. 3 coats with one being a sacrificial coat for cutting is common. 4 would allow the clear to be worked even more.

I have seen as many as 7 coats of clear applied with most of it ending up on the floor through blocking of the clear to achieve an absolutely perfect and flat surface.

 

[Woods74]

The answer is, how every many it takes to get the job done.

Thicknesses vary, some like to lay it on heavy, some like many light coats. If your worried about it, do it your self!

 

[clifftt]

Just about every manufacturer requires 2 full coats of clear. Remember the clear is the UV protection.

If your clear gets thin, it will fail and start to come off.

Like mentioned above, this is why, if you plan to fully cut the car, you want more than 2 coats. 3 coats with one being a sacrificial coat for cutting is common. 4 would allow the clear to be worked even more.

I have seen as many as 7 coats of clear applied with most of it ending up on the floor through blocking of the clear to achieve an absolutely perfect and flat surface.

X2. The straighter the bodywork, the less primer you need and the less time needed to sand and block it down. I work at a shop with many insurance company contracts. We typically shoot two coats of base, and two coats of clear, sometimes three. We sand down the peel enough to match the factories. If you want a show car glass-finish, you'll shoot more clear and spend a lot of time working to achieve that....a practice of diminishing returns for the dollars spent if you ask me. But that's my opinion.....

 

[cawley]

No need for epoxy primer unless its been striped down to metal. I always put 2 coats of sealer. Then it depends on the color of the base & color of the sealer to how many coats of base I use. I then put at least 3 coats of clear on & then that depends on how hard im gona wet sand it. On an average size car ill put 4 coats of clear on, using the whole gallon of clear. I use ppg & the cost for everything could run from $1,200 to $2,500. Bases are getting very expensive. Just the other day I got a pint of the new lime green w/pearl & it was $107.00 CRAZY!

 

[jefflock]

My painter put 4 coats of clear on my orange dart. Then I color sanded (wet sanded) it with 1000 then 1500. After that my painter buffed it with 4 different compounds.

 

[prrc]

I can only tell you what I do at my shop. We only start from bare metal. With that said 2 coats epoxy. Followed by as many times as it takes blocking and sanding with primer surface. 4 coats of primer surfacer before every sanding. When we reach the 320 strange 2 coats of primer surfacer reduced to a sealer. Wet sand with 800. Base coat 3 coats. 4 coats of clear. Ball park paint job from my shop 10k and up depending on what body work is needed.