Should I add clear coat after touch-up?

[nysimonsez]

I have a dark blue `04 Toy 4Runner. I`m not sure if it`s metallic paint but it looks like it is. Anyway I`m doing touch-ups on some chips and scratches (and boy there are many) and have followed the various chip repair posts.



I layered the touch-up paint into a blob and proceeds to wet-sand with 2500 grit. After sanding down the paint I noticed that the touch-up is lighter than the original paint even though the touch-up I used was original factory paint. My question is, should I add a clear coat prior to wet-sanding as I read from another post that clear coat needs to be added to metallic paint? will the clear coat help blend in the color to the original paint? Can I use any OTC clear coat and not have to be from factory? If clear coat helps, can I add it to the ones I already sanded or do I need to re-touch up first?



I`m learning to do do the chip repair and have able to wet-sand and then polish out without problems, except for the lighter color problem described above and having layering the touch-up too much (I guess I need to go to 2000 or 1500 grit to sand those down).



appreciate your reply.

[aclassvaleting]

yes you should.

[qwertydude]

This is similar to the other guy who was asking about sanding down touch ups. Metallics are diffecult to work with. When touching up those, it is best to only apply enough color to match then filling the rest with clear.

[jimmybuffit]

This is similar to the other guy who was asking about sanding down touch ups. Metallics are diffecult to work with. When touching up those, it is best to only apply enough color to match then filling the rest with clear.

That`s the ticket.



Jim

[nysimonsez]

Thanks. I`ll give it a shot and apply some clear.

[Hakko]

Interesting. I just asked my Subaru dealership about applying clear, and they said no. They don`t supply clear as part of a touch up kit either. So should I get an aftermarket clear? And what is a good one?