number of "coats" of paint

-
R

rj72cda

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 27, 2008
Messages
376
Reaction score
12
I ve not been painting cars for a long time but the guy i have learned from has about 10 painting certifications and does great work and uses the newest tech in paint when he can. Does the idea of a LARGE number of coats really still "make" a better job or is that restorers using old technology
im not sure someone saying i have 15 coats of clear makes me want that car ( i have bought cars with clear falling off) just a question for Pro body paint guys
 
i use two coats of base and three coats of clear. i am not a pro, but paint alot of cars!
 
I have painted one with single stage enamel, came out good easy to cut and buff and one with base clear easy to keep up just heard a couple guys trying to sell some cars with 15 coats of clear and i think why not just vinyl wrap the clear on haha
 
Well back in the Lacquer days you needed alot of coats but now with urethane base coats can range from 3 -5 coats depending on colour and clear if your going to water sand and polish up to 4 or 5.
 
Black primer...EZ touch ups! Gets dirty fast though...
 
Guy that painted my car has been painting for 50 years. He shot 4 coats of clear, gave it a wet sanding & then another 4 coats. I think it looks fantastic, you can read the serial # of a dollar bill in it.....He told me that if you only shoot 2-3 coats of clear there simply is not much left after you get done wet sanding it....
 
bamamopar said:
PPG school said 3 to 5 color and 2 to 3 clear and if it was going to buff the piss out it I. Would put 4
Click to expand...


That's about what we do at school. 3 color and 3 clear. If we know we will be doing a bunch of wet sanding we go with 4 coats of clear.

We do very little wet sanding but 95% of the time we are simply trying to match a factory finish.
 
Color requires the correct amount of coats to achieve hiding. Be it 2 3 4 5 6. You can find this by doing a black and white spray out card. As far as clear goes, production shop 2 coats usually with a lite sand and polish. Resto work I do 2-3 coats clear, wet sand entire car with 600, and apply 2 more coats and done. Rarely will you have to polish a car after this procedure.
 
Number of passes for basecoat = til it covers. Viper Red, = 3/4 of a high solid ultra red magenta, covers easy. Had a Chevy Blue Metallic once, transparent as hell and took 7 coats to cover (barely). Bottom line, it takes as many coats as it takes to achieve uniform, and complete coverage. Clear is a different story, most high solid clears = 2-3 coats max.
 
rednesss said:
Number of passes for basecoat = til it covers. Viper Red, = 3/4 of a high solid ultra red magenta, covers easy. Had a Chevy Blue Metallic once, transparent as hell and took 7 coats to cover (barely). Bottom line, it takes as many coats as it takes to achieve uniform, and complete coverage. Clear is a different story, most high solid clears = 2-3 coats max.
Click to expand...

Yea on color some colors are harder to cover and then that's when I would have to add extra coats.
 
clear depends on the paint. I have NEVER heard of anyone putting on 15 coats of clear enamel or urethane, it was always clear laquer, and then, a lot of them would say they sanded between each coat. Laquer is usually so thin, sanding between each coat takes most of that coat off anyway. I never understood that part. I always put on one light "tack coat" and then 2 wet coats of clear when doing urethane. More if it is laquer and I am going to cut and buff it.
 
If any clear coat says 2-3 coats thats all you want. Putting more on then says will trap solvents and you will either get solvent pop (look like fisheyes) Or delamination later on down the road. If you want more clear let it dry after 3 coats and sand it again and apply 3 more.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top