Can you add more clearcoats to your car?

**DM101** · 10-10-2006, 03:14 PM

Can you add more clearcoats to your car without taking it down to the paint or metal. I would like to add some more coats of clear.

**MorBid** · 10-10-2006, 03:48 PM

If you have the setup for automotive re-finishing (a decent air compressor, Paint Gun, and the materials) yes you can lay down Clear Coat over the existing Clear. I do it all the time. It`s not as simple as this answer though. You will need to know how to prep the surface and how to use the gun.

MorBid

**imported_steveo3002** · 10-10-2006, 04:12 PM

yeah its almost as involved as a repaint , you would need to take off all trims , lamps, hamdles etc and then key the car 1500 wet n dry or a grey scotch pad , then mask it up and spray on some clear

ive heard of people doing it to freshen up old classsics that still had the original paint and decals

**DM101** · 10-10-2006, 05:13 PM

Yeah, I would never try this myself!!!

**sneek** · 10-10-2006, 05:16 PM

Originally Posted by steveo3002

yeah its almost as involved as a repaint , you would need to take off all trims , lamps, hamdles etc and then key the car 1500 wet n dry or a grey scotch pad , then mask it up and spray on some clear

ive heard of people doing it to freshen up old classsics that still had the original paint and decals

Wouldn`t you buff it up afterwards so you wouldn`t have sanding marks under the paint?

then wipe it with a prep wipe and then spray the clear? I dont know because i have never done any of this work but i am just guessing

**CleanGSR** · 10-10-2006, 07:09 PM

The new clear coat would "fill" in the wetsanding marks.

**Krodad** · 10-10-2006, 07:49 PM

Here`s the thing about doing it yourself...as a an autopian, you will probably not be pleased with the results due to contamination of the coating.

I have redone a few cars and trucks, did the base/clear on all but one. I worked for a coatings company at the time, and had some of the best paint available.

The problem is, unless you do this in a true paint booth, you can run into overspray issues, dust contamination, blushing, and worst of all, BUGS! You also are not using a coating that is being UV cured, so you will want to wait about 2 months (my opinion) before you even think about anything but a real delicate washing. where I live, if it`s warm enough to paint, it`s warm enough for bugs, so I had to be very complete about sealing off the entire room to avoid embedding the little gnats in my coatings. Sweep the floor, blow it off, wet squeegy, etc. to hold down the dust. Remember you are blowing air around as you paint, so it will kick up dust bunnies if you are not REALLY clean. Humidity can make a clear blush also...not so much with the better (more expensive) types, but moreso on the clears you might buy at a discount auto parts place. Go with the big names like Dupont, sikkens, ppg, etc.

If you don`t have really good spray equipment, don`t even bother. A nice HVLP Turbine system is really nice to shoot clears.

Some clears are also prone to running and sagging if you do not thin it properly, and/or run heavy coats. What a body shop can do is not necessarily what you can do in a garage or barn with plastic hanging from the ceiling and a fan running that could possibly blow you up. Most of the coatings are safe enough to use with the right respirator, but make sure you buy a new one with the correct filters, and leave often to get some fresh air. A positive pressure hood would be the safest option.

I would think that if you are willing to do most of the prep, you might be surprised at what a body shop would do for you. Let them do the final prep in terms of final wipedown of the paint so that you know a compatible product has been used to prep the paint to avoid fisheyes, etc. You can take off all the trim, though.

**the other pc** · 10-11-2006, 12:33 AM

Originally Posted by CleanGSR

The new clear coat would "fill" in the wetsanding marks.

ThatÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s only if the final sanding grit is fine enough (as IÃ¢â‚¬â„¢m sure #1500 would be). IÃ¢â‚¬â„¢ve seen way too many re-sprays where the sanding scratch shows through the new coat due to using paper thatÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s too coarse.

PC.

**qadsan** · 10-11-2006, 12:39 AM

And also note there are varying qualities of clears. Some of the lower quality inexpensive clears may not offer the nicest of optical qualities and or they may yellow much quicker than the higher priced higher quality clears. Take a company like Sherwin Williams. They make a clear you can get for $80 / gallon. It`s a cheap clear that I would not use on my own cars, but it has its place. The Sherwin Williams Ultra 7000 series clear is a much higher quality clear, but it also costs about $250 / per gallon and its only sold in gallons.

If you`re doing it yourself, make sure you get a good gun with good atomization for shooting clears like an Iwata LPH400-LV or a Devilbiss GFG670 using a 1.3 or 1.4 tip. Make certain you have ample air supply (enough CFMs) or else you`ll run into problems. Also make sure you know how to setup your gun because it will need to be adjusted before you use it. You`ll also need filtering equipment for the air and a decent respirator and always wear a paint suit to minize the chance of dust in the air from your skin or clothes, etc, and always shoot in a properly setup paint booth if you want the best chance for optimal results. If you do end up with a little dust in the clear, don`t panic because it will almost always sand out. It`s much more difficult to shoot clear than many base coats or single stage paints from watching students practice, so plan to practice on some panels first before attempting to shoot something you care about. Your hand speed and keeping the proper distance is critical for laying down an even spray. I see too many people get too caught up and or focused on watching the gun (instead of the surface) or they`re trying hard to maintain a certain speed and or distance and they end up with an uneven finish. Watch the surface where the clear is being laid down and adjust your distance & speed accordingly so you have an even coat as you`re spraying and keep your movements fluid. There`s so much more to touch on when it comes to painting, but more important than anything is to keep practicing on panels until you feel comfortable with the whole process.

After you`re done shooting your clear and enough time has gone by, then you can lightly hit it with a d/a using an interface pad with 1200 grit paper, followed by 2000 grit paper, followed by compounding / polishing and or glaze and she should like real nice afterwards.

**imported_steveo3002** · 10-11-2006, 05:52 AM

Originally Posted by sneek

Wouldn`t you buff it up afterwards so you wouldn`t have sanding marks under the paint?

then wipe it with a prep wipe and then spray the clear? I dont know because i have never done any of this work but i am just guessing

1500 is generaly always safe, 1200 can be safe on darker colors, you need the surface to be dull and have a key otherwise the new clear wouldnt stick

**E-Jag** · 10-11-2006, 02:57 PM

I certainly don`t mean to jack this thread but have a related question. Please feel free to move it. I have a small area of clearcoat failure on the roof of my dark colored Grand Cherokee. I was considering taping it off, cleaning it, sanding it very lightly and hitting it with some clear from a rattle can. After reading this thread, I`m thinking that`s a no-go. Would you guys agree?

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E-Jag

**imported_steveo3002** · 10-11-2006, 03:10 PM

Originally Posted by E-Jag

I certainly don`t mean to jack this thread but have a related question. Please feel free to move it. I have a small area of clearcoat failure on the roof of my dark colored Grand Cherokee. I was considering taping it off, cleaning it, sanding it very lightly and hitting it with some clear from a rattle can. After reading this thread, I`m thinking that`s a no-go. Would you guys agree?

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E-Jag

id suggest you leave it or pay a bodyshop to paint it :2thumbs:

**E-Jag** · 10-11-2006, 03:14 PM

Thanks. Simplifies life a little.

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E-Jag

**MorBid** · 10-11-2006, 05:42 PM

What your talking about is trying to "blend" the clear coat. Firstly let me start by saying garbarge in gargage out (rattle can`s of clear aren`t professional and as such won`t yeild professional results.

Secondly the recommended repair procedure from any of the major US and European Automotive Paint manufacturers is to apply the clear coat edge to edge. That`s not possible with the roof or the quarter panels cause each part flows into the other so when clearing one you usually end up clearing the other.

Fresh Clear Coat cannot be applied to old clear so you are right in you would have to scuff it, but after painting for several years I can tell you blending clear is more work than re-clearing the whole panel. If it is done wrong the best you can hope for is that you`ll see the lines between the new and old. Worse case is that the new clear will start to "die back"

Insurance companies here in the US have been pressuring bodyshops to do more blends (cause it cost them less than a full re-paint) and as such many paint manufactuers have come up with a work around for blending procedures (Dupont, Spies-Hecker, etc) but again it`s not something you just can walk up and do and get it to look like nothing ever happened.

MorBid