Why not add ten layers of clear coat?

Tortuga · 06-11-02, 08:14

Ok...I've been lurking on Autopia for the last few months and there's one question I haven't seen addressed here.

Why not strip all the wax and contaminents off your car and then take it to a body shop where they'll add MANY layers of clear coat on top of the existing paint and clear coat?

Wouldn't this provide a great deal of protection and look fantastic?

It's my understanding that clear coat is actually just paint that has no pigment. If so, if the car develops swirls or minor scratches, you'd have a lot of clear coat that you could sand down and make smooth again.

You'd still need to wax it, but wouldn't multiple layers of clear coat work wonders?

DaGonz · 06-11-02, 08:32

two reasons....labor and materials!

Intel486 · 06-11-02, 08:34

Ok, go to a bodyshop and ask them how much it would cost them to add a whole bunch of layers of clear to your car... Then you'll know the reason no one does it.

Show cars usually have a lot of clear coat on them but those people are paying for the best paintjob you can get.

Adamah · 06-11-02, 08:47

Excessive film build is also prone to cracking.

Jngrbrdman · 06-11-02, 09:08

I did a show car a few years ago that had a million layers of clear on it. It was a Honda painted that champange color. It looked really really good. There wasn't a lot I could do to the exterior to make it look any better so my job was under the hood and inside and the trim. You are absolutly right though. Lots of clear does make the car look better. If it was for show then I would consider it. Our Cobra will have its fair share of clear on it when we are done with it. Its going to be a show car though, so that is why we are doing it. Putting that much clear on just isn't a practical expense for a daily driver or garage queen. For show; yes, but for pleasure; no.

BradE · 06-12-02, 08:26

Adamah is right, for the daily driver excessive layers of clear will not hold up. The heat and cold causes expansion and contraction, the film build layer will get stress cracking very quickly. Also with that thick of a layer the UV blockers might not rise to the top .5 mil as required and cause the clear to fail.

For a show car that is never exposed to the elements extra cleacoat is fine, but for the daily driver you would be very disappointed with it's preformance.

Avalanche · 06-12-02, 09:36

Besides all the reasons listed above, the clear coat will still need all the maintenance the thinner coat would have. Remeber no matter how many coats you have, there is only one exposed to the elements.

blkZ28Conv · 06-12-02, 09:56

Quote:

Originally posted by Avalanche
Besides all the reasons listed above, the clear coat will still need all the maintenance the thinner coat would have. Remeber no matter how many coats you have, there is only one exposed to the elements.

....and that's the bottom line.

carguy · 06-12-02, 05:55

Avalanche - I don't think that was his point - I think he is saying by having more clear you simply have more material to work with - to get rid of swirls and defects without worrying about going through the clear.

Showroom - I'm sure you're right about "too much" being bad. I'd also guess that factory finishes don't have as much clear as they could WITHOUT getting into the trouble territory you mentioned. Is that true?

I for one would LOVE to know I had a little more "sacrificial" clear coat on my car.....

mikebmab · 06-12-02, 06:42

Once worked with a fella whose show car had 27 coats of paint hand blocked & color sanded each 4th coat, then shot LOTS of clear. I was told over 20??? This Black '34 looked 2ft deep.
He took it to some big show. Scored 97 pts. They took off a nut off the frame somewhere & took off for dirt discoloration they found. Was he p-o'd about that!!! Sold It for MEGA $$$
& has now started a new project.

Mike

Thanks CarGuy for turning me to this site!!!!

BradE · 06-12-02, 07:23

carguy,

Typically you don't want a total film build of more than 5 mils for a daily driver, realistically it should be closer to 4.5 mils. Now that is total, so keep in mind that it E-Coat, Surface Primer, Basecoat and clear. For certian color cars, like red, it requires that more mils of the basecoat be sprayed so that limits the amount of clear that can be applied to stay under the 5 mil range.

So what it sprayed on the car is very, very close to the maximum that can be sprayed on the car without running into any problems on a daily driver. Depending on the car maker, type of paint, etc you might be able to get away with an extra .5 mil layer but that might be pushing it.

bretfraz · 06-12-02, 09:56

Quote:

Originally posted by ShowroomLincoln
carguy,

Typically you don't want a total film build of more than 5 mils for a daily driver, realistically it should be closer to 4.5 mils. Now that is total, so keep in mind that it E-Coat, Surface Primer, Basecoat and clear. For certian color cars, like red, it requires that more mils of the basecoat be sprayed so that limits the amount of clear that can be applied to stay under the 5 mil range.

So what it sprayed on the car is very, very close to the maximum that can be sprayed on the car without running into any problems on a daily driver. Depending on the car maker, type of paint, etc you might be able to get away with an extra .5 mil layer but that might be pushing it.

We've lost Showroom Lincoln!!!!!!

This post is scary. It's like Ron K's voice is echoing thru SRL. I mean, not just the info but the syntax and communication style is identical to Ron's.

Has SRL been abducted by ValuGard aliens?
Is SRL even SRL anymore?
Is Ron K posting under SRL's sig, proving that SRL no longer exists?
Is SRL copying and pasting a response from Ron?

Jeez, I knew strange things were going on but this post proves it. I just don't know what *it* is. Yet.