I'm getting ready to have my new Body Kit and Seibon hood painted. Just wondered if it was worth it to ask the body shop how much extra it would cost to get a couple extra coats of paint and a couple extra clear. Has anyone ever done/seen this or have pics of the difference? I figure if i'm spending the money to have it done, i might as well have it done right!!

Thanks!

 

My moms car was repainted on the hood and front bumper w/ 1 more color and 2 more clear. Its a pretty big difference.

 

Clear yes, paint no, todays paints are basecoat clearcoat which require just enough paint to cover {usually 2 good coats} and the rest clear. Adding extra clear is no problem.

 

Ok, so if it's a big difference...is it gonna be a huge contrast to the rest of the car? I don't really want to have a noticeable difference where it's been re-painted. Maybe i should have them re-clear the rest of the car while they are at it. What do you think??

 

heh its not a big difference unless you're into detailing. I love to detail my car and I wish I had the repaint like her car had. Its much smoother and the little bumps that are all over my car aren't on her hood and bumper. It looks like a expensive paint job, its just PPG paint

 

Just make sure the body shop is reputable and they should have no problems color matching.

 

Just curious if you have used a claybar to get rid of those little bumps? Makes a world of difference.

 

X2 clay barring is the most overlooked matinence

SweetDreamz, get a couple extra coats of clear the paint isn't needed.

 

Like davidf said extra paint won't help. Also those little bumps have abolutely nothing to do with how many coats of paint are sprayed. That's orange peel. The only way to get rid of it is to wetsand and buff the car.

 

you can add layer and layer of paint...all it will do it make that panel look darker than the rest.

As mentioned, these are base coat/clear coats, not lacquer.

As for "extra" clear, again, no need to at all - it's not going to help anything at all, and how would you even know the shop did it?

A good body shop is the most important part of the paint process

 

sounds good...so just make sure that the shop has a good reputation. So...anyone from, or around, Indiana(NE side) who can point me to a good shop? I've not had any body work done around here nor have i heard much about anyone who has...

 

Disagree: Why would the same color be darker?


Disagree: Adding more clear gives a thicker layer of protection. This helps to prevent debris from chipping through to the paint. It also allows more freedom to wetsand 100% of the orange peel out.


Agree

 

Light refraction through diff. thicknesses of clear on dif. panels.


On rigid panels, perhaps, but something to think about with this reasoning on flixible panels (ie: bumpers) is that the thicker the paint is, the less flexible it is and more prone to stress cracks in the clear coat if you happen to scrape or bump and flex the panel. I asked my paint guy about this and he siad extra coats of clear really don't do any more to protect against chips; a rock that will chip through one good coat of clear will just as easily chip through three or four in most cases.

 

Agree.

Old techniques allowed multiple coats of enamel paint, covered with several coats of lacquer.

 

Agreed ---Tho not a bad idea to clear,wet sand and clear again. What u HAVE to watch with the shops tho is the paint they use ---Most use cheap crap for their insurrance claims.

 

OMG ---If u put lacquer over enamel u would have a disaster----Sorry !!! It would be like throwing paint remover on it

 

The statement was that additional coats of "paint" would cause different colors. The clear wasn't in question. Still, I don't agree that more coats of clear would cause the light to refract differently. We're talking microns in thickness here.





Again...we're talking microns (100 max) in thickness. Plus, you add an elastifier to the clear to help with the flexibility (on plastic panels). As long as you don't go over 4 mils in thickness (i.e. base and clear)...everything should be fine. You are correct in that the more paint/clear you put on...the less forgiving it will be when pressure is applied (i.e. bending, flexing).

Regarding the protection. I was more referring to very small pieces of debris such as sand and tiny particles. Rocks chip...nothing to do about that other than a clear bra...and still, that's not 100% either.

1 mil = .00254 cm (25/1000 mm)
1 Mikron = .0394 mil

 

boogiemyke - it would be different because as you add clear and as you add paint, the tint of it changes. No way to avoid it. Chemicas act really really funky like that

Added clear has to be done VERY carefully. Many times, it leads to increased orange peel, and can cause "shrinking" of the paint itself as it cures.

I've done more painting on my car than I like to admit (every aftermarket piece I have has been painted 3 times now for various reasons). It's hard enough to paint at the same pressure (which also affects the tint) let alone to keep adding layers and have the color stay true.

 

That is the ideal way to do a car right. You won't see anyone do that unless it's custom though. Most places don't even wet-sand after they clear. It's all about "quantity" vs. "quality" now-a-days. Wet-sanding takes time and no one wants to "waste" ( ) thiers on it. I disagree with that philosophy and would rather loose money on a job I'm proud of than make money off of something I don't feel is 100%. (my wife gets a little aggrevated with me about that...lol)

 

Are you talking about 2-stage paints? I could see it happening then...but I have yet to see any difference with a single-stage paint...unless I had to mix-up another batch because I ran out. (hate it when that happens... )