Hot Rod Forum banner

SPI clearcoat instructions...6 coats???

18K views 25 replies 15 participants last post by  schatzy 
#1 ·
I just read the SPI "perfect paintjob" instruction they had on their site. It calls for 3 coats of clear, cut/sand out the orange peel, let car set in sun for a day, then respray another 3 coats of clear.
Has anyone done this? Seems excessive.

Thanks
 
#2 ·
It is not excessive, its extremely excessive.
Its not for everyday painting such as collision work where you would do two coats and buff.

Everything in the perfect paint job is excessive for the solvent sake and trying to do a job that may need to look good for many of years if done as a show job or a high end Restoration where more coats of material will be used than a normal everyday job.

By the way the clear is made for mils like this where with every day clears this type of painting would be going back-wards for durability and depth and clarity of the clear.

Not for the faint hearted for sure.
 
#3 ·
Very interesting Barry.
I've read in some of the "LowRider" magazines where some of the
graphics paint jobs had 2 to 3 gallons of clear on the car.
And these are the little "rice burners"!!!!
How can they get away with that????
(I don't see how they install hardware, like handles & locks with
:pimp: that thick of paint)
 
#4 ·
Waaay back when

We used to shoot many coats of lacquer and then sand between coats to get that perfect shine..lot of paint wound up on the floor that way..

Graphics guys still do that sort of thing when they have lots of different colors in a design..

Sam
 
#5 ·
I RESTORED A 67 CAMARO SS LAST YEAR, HOUSE OF KOLOR ORION SILVER, 3 COATS OF CLEAR. WENT BACK THE NEXT DAY, SANDED ALL TRASH AND PEEL OUT WITH 600 MAKING SURE NOT TOO BURN THROUGH, LET IT SIT A DAY THEN 3 MORE COATS OF CLEAR, THEN CUT AND BUFF, YES IT MAKES A DIFFERENCE, I ONLY DO THIS TO CARS THAT ARE GETTING RESTORED, NO SPOT REPAIR OF COURSE, And EVEN NOT ALL OVERALLS IT IS ALL IN WHAT THE CUSTOMER WANTS TO SPEND AND HOW FAR THEY WANNA GO, BUT ONE THING IS FOR SURE, WHEN YOU USE THIS METHOD, THE CLEAR LOOKS ELBOW DEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!!!THANKS, MIKE.
 
#6 ·
^67Goat

Mike,
the bottom line is you may have the equivalent of 4 coats left when done with all your sanding and buffing.

People that do this kind of work sometimes will block the first three coats with 400-600 and then a second time with 800 before re-clearing.

Some will wet sand with 400 - 800 and then wet-sand with 1000 and then 1500 and then 2000 before buffing.

This probably should not even be on the web for general view, but the decision was made to do that because even if someone is doing just an everyday two coat paint job there is a wealth of education in the article as far as flashing solvents, dry times and proper grade of reducers in the base for maximum clarity and how they affect the final job.
 
#7 ·
So................for most paint jobs, even ones that would be considered "show", 3 coats would be more than enough???
I noticed, also, that the SPI instruction recommended spraying all wet coats. I did not see where they mentioned a "tack" coat.
I can just envision the runs I'd make.

I'm seriously considering their paints. Really wish they had an orange or two to choose from, instead of black, white, and reds.
I'll probably go with black. I know it shows everything, but I figure for the small garage I have to use, I will spray in pieces and reassemble VERY carefully.
 
#13 ·
jcclark said:
Bondoking:
They're not talking about runs like yours where the entire
side of the car is dripping and puddeling on the floor.
When you have half a gallon of clear on the floor that's spraying to
much. :pimp:
Oh man that was cold...real cold :pain:

Vince
 
#14 · (Edited)
every bike I do gets a min of 6 coats depending on the graffics. remember alot gets sanded off . Never had a comeback due to clear failure.This is my bike that I just finished it has 7 coats of HOK but sanded with 500 after 3 ,then again after the 5th and followed with 2 flow coats
rear fender phantom flames


Gas tank, And see the phantom flames live up to ther name as the tank is flamed also. Just cant be seen at this angle



have to get enough clear or u will rub thru the clear and ruin maybe 100 hours of paint ..

I would never do this on production work ..
 
#16 ·
What problems can someone expect with too much clear build-up. I understand that what has been described so far has a lot of the clear sanded off so the film is not as heavy as one might expect but how much build-up is too much?

Springer, Now that is SLICK :thumbup:
 
#18 ·
oldred said:
What problems can someone expect with too much clear build-up. I understand that what has been described so far has a lot of the clear sanded off so the film is not as heavy as one might expect but how much build-up is too much?
My take is that if the clear is too heavy it can shrink and crack..Does not seem to be an issue with the SPI..At least I am not hearing of any of those kind of issues..I do have a customer that used one of the value lines (not SPI) and hammered on the clear and that has now shrunk and cracked in about 2 months..he is now in the moaning chair..

Sam
 
#19 ·
The clear can shrink and get solvent pops if applied to heavy or not enough flash time .This is true of all paints I started the paint(base) work on this in Dec and last coat was done in March

My usual paint time from primer to base is 2 weeks then base with proper flash then intercoat clear or my top coat if no graphics are involved . I will let it sit a week sand let sit another day or 2 then do my next clear step let sit again for a week . Then final sand and do my flow coats I very rarely need to cut and buff..


Thanks for the comments on the bike she is my little hottrod






Already have the plans for next winters tear down...
 
#20 ·
oldred said:
What problems can someone expect with too much clear build-up. I understand that what has been described so far has a lot of the clear sanded off so the film is not as heavy as one might expect but how much build-up is too much?

Springer, Now that is SLICK :thumbup:
You can expect after three coats with most clears the following, loss of depth, potential cracking, loss of durability, stone chipping.

Most clears are not made for custom work but may be a handful in this side of the business that are.
PPG has one, Dupont has or had one but may have new number.

All you have to do is look at some of those race Honda's where they piled 3 gallons of clear on it and bought the cheap stuff to save money and you will see what I mean.
 
#24 ·
SPI clear

The cats out of the bag-----Barry is just trying to sell alot of his product for his juicy retirement.just spoofing of course.SPI is the ONLY clear I use and to put it on high $$$ show,collector, and race cars,doing it the way he recommends has given us excellent results.Keep in mind you can still get a killer job with 3 coats,sand and buff--but if you're looking for the ultimate-clear, sand and reclear--sand and buff you'll really be amazed---Bob
 
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