Hot Rod Forum banner

Multiple coats/too much paint

14K views 19 replies 14 participants last post by  SuperFastLX 
#1 ·
Ok, I'll be the first to admit when my information is wrong. There is another thread going about too much paint on a car. Since I didn't want to "hijack" the thread, I started a new one. The previous thread dealt with a car that was painted three times BC/CC. That makes six layers. Many people said that is way too much paint. How can guys get away with laying down 10, 15, or even 20 or more coats of base before a clear coat and not have the problems mentioned in the other thread?:confused:

Thanks.
 
#2 ·
the only difference i can see is that in the other thread, it's 'all ready on the car' paint,(no telling what kind of paint it is/was) where as the guy your talking about is using (hopefully) the same system, on close to bare metal, thereby making the extra layers compatible with each other.

I don't know if that helped or just muddied the water more. but i understand what you were saying.
 
#3 ·
More than 3-4 coats of base is a waste, unless it is some kind of translucent paint, then there should have been a colored sealer under it.

no one in there right mind would put 15 coats of base on a car. What good would it do?

Troy

__________________
If you don't make mistakes. your not doing anything.

69 ss rs full custom camaro 98 ISCA grandchampion
69 ss rs bb camaro wifes driver
66 Elcamino 350/all dz parts,ac,windows,loaded,my driver
69 ss chevelle bb conv.fresh frame off
26 T sedan street rod
 
#4 ·
Not 15 coats of base, but more like 3 coats of base, followed with 2 coats of clear, then 3-5 coats of kandy, then pearl, then clear, oh wait, shouldn't there be a coat of klear or two between the kandy and the pearl?

Troy, how many coats does your camaro have on it?

i put two of base, two of clear, two or three of pearl, and then two more of clear on the truck. that was on top of the primer and sealer...... next time, i'm going a little heavier on my base coat. live and learn, or, ''If you don't make mistakes. your not doing anything.''
 
#5 ·
It has a very thin (sanded) primer filler. A coat of tinted sealer,4 coats of base,3 coats of clear, color sanded and 3 more coats of clear.

Troy

__________________
If you don't make mistakes. your not doing anything.

69 ss rs full custom camaro 98 ISCA grandchampion
69 ss rs bb camaro wifes driver
66 Elcamino 350/all dz parts,ac,windows,loaded,my driver
69 ss chevelle bb conv.fresh frame off
26 T sedan street rod
 
#7 ·
You need to keep in mind what type of paint is on the car. In the days when lacquer was popular it would not be un heard of for a car to 10 or more base coats and just as many coats of clear. Lacquer would orange peel like crazy and you would wet sand off as much as you left on the car.
With modern paints the base coat is very thin. The base coats plus the clear coat combined is about as thick as a single stage paint job. In my opinion if the factory paint is good shape it's ok put down an epoxy primer or sealer and repaint it. If the car has already been repainted it's best to sand it off before repainting.
 
#9 ·
When shooting base coat, once you get you coverage, normally 3 coats, the depth of color will not change. You get depth with the clear.

Troy

__________________
If you don't make mistakes. your not doing anything.

69 ss rs full custom camaro 98 ISCA grandchampion
69 ss rs bb camaro wifes driver
66 Elcamino 350/all dz parts,ac,windows,loaded,my driver
69 ss chevelle bb conv.fresh frame off
26 T sedan street rod
 
#11 ·
And I think he is a little windy.

Troy

__________________
If you don't make mistakes. your not doing anything.

69 ss rs full custom camaro 98 ISCA grandchampion
69 ss rs bb camaro wifes driver
66 Elcamino 350/all dz parts,ac,windows,loaded,my driver
69 ss chevelle bb conv.fresh frame off
26 T sedan street rod
 
#12 ·
I have a booth and paint a few times a year with a few different types of paints.

Laquer can be painted in many layers and is usually buffed or sanded between coats. It's an old style of paint and the paints of today are much more durable and give a better finish with less work in my humble opinion.

Acrylic Enamel or Base Clear are not usually painted in more than two or three coats because the paint will become brittle and crack the thicker it gets. Also, the drying time needed between coats as the layers increase would make a 16 coat paint job about a year long. The reducer needs time to come out of the paint. The top layer usually dries first making it difficult for the chemicals close to the metal to cure and evaporate. I can't tell you how many times I've ruined a paint job just by leaving it out in the sun too soon after painting. The radiant heat causes the reducer trapped under the top layer of clear to try and evaporate. As it does it causes orange peel on the surface of the clear. Or at least so I was told by the tech guys at PPG and DuPont.

I don't paint for a living, but I've never heard of a 32 coat Isocyanite base/clear paint job. The most I've ever painted is three base, two tinted clear, and two clear. Even with flexibilizer the clear cracked two years later on a plastic bumper in the winter. I can't imagine a 16 coat clear hanging let alone surviving.
 
#13 ·
Troy

Sounds like you have some nice cars. I was already in the business long before all but the T were built. If I listed all the cars I've owned and driven the list would be well over 300 including a 200 + mph, street driven 69 SuperBee............. the Bee went when my ex wife spun it out on ice at 90 and backed it into a ditch with my daughter in the car. Traded it off the next day for something a lot tamer.
 
#15 ·
Coats of Paint

I live in Australia, and when I was a kiddy of great insight and renown, one of my many idiot brother in laws, to one of my half sisters (hurrah for crazy familes) - well he worked for Arnotts Biscuits as a big knob executive, and he was telling me that the big trucks had about 20 or 25 coats of paint... a primer, base and then a colored, then a clear, and then a colored, then a clear, and then a colored, then a clear etc.

And the trucks had a beautiful deep lusterous coat of paint., that looked really good.

They were works of art actually.....

But the company being run by backward Australians (Good little Vegemite sucking Aussies) - never thought to grow themselves, and they were taken over and the brand is now marketed into other countries around the asia pacific regeion....

But the trucks had really nice paint jobs..
 
#16 ·
i like having 5-8 coats of clear coat cause ill wet sand whole car after its finished make it look straightest and smooth paint job. so it all depends on how many coats of what youre putting on, cause primer you can put 8 or whatever and youll end up sanding most of it off anyways till whole car is perfectly straight, base you usually need 3-4 to cover/hide
 
#18 ·
Hello
Unless I have missed something in the responses (it wouldn't be the first), the main point is missed. "Coats" of paint is too broad. It is like saying a bunch of paint. Coats don't mean anything. What matters is mils (sp.?) of paint. A "normal" coat is about 1 mil which is the thickness of the clear plastic around a pack of cigarettes. A modern urethane base/clear paint job consists usually with three coats of base and three coats of clear. This usually equals around four mils of paint, not six. The base is not usually as thick as the clear. I say "usually" because it all depends on the painter, brand and mixture of paint, paint gun, paint gun settings, air pressure settings, and personal technique, to determine how many mils thick a "coat" of paint is. I might put 3 layers of silver base, mist 3 layers of silver effect pearl, then mist three layers of blue pearl on top of that before I even get to the clear. This is six coats already, but probably only 2.5 mils of paint, someone else might use 2 coats of base that was 3 mils thick.
On how much is too much, assuming you are starting with a freshly stripped and primed piece of metal. Three mils of clear is fine for most jobs. If you are going to wet sand and buff the finish, then 4 mils. You will end up with 3 mils if you take it easy and don't have too much orange peel to start with. I have put 10 mils on for customs, but you MUST follow special procedures.
 
#19 ·
I'm not a paint expert. But my friend runs a auto paint shop. He says when he does candy apple red he will essientally paint the car 3-4 times. Going over with base coats, clear coats and starting to cycle over again.
But damn when he is done you could perform lasic surgery in the reflection.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top