Chris_Hamilton
Trying to be the best me, I can be
I got into a discussion on another forum with a guy who stated that anything more than 3 coats of clear is excessive and flowcoating, for example three coats sand, then three more makes the paint look heavy and will cause excessive chipping. He also said that anything more than three coats will not help the paint to live longer. I told him I respectfully disagreed and that it done right it makes a very noticeable difference and I have not noted any more chipping than "normal" doing it that way.
Here is what he said, do you agree or disagree with this?
"don't confuse depth of color to a finish that just looks thick and heavy.
many times shops will spray a car then sand it and spray more product AKA painting it twice so it looks like it's depth of color looks deeper. this does nothing but make a cars finish look thick and heavy. there is also the thinking that more paint helps protect the finish more. this is totally untrue!
most every paint manufacture sites no more then 3 coats for proper mil build. the reason is more paint chips easier will not flex as it should leading to checking and cracking paint down the road years later.
if your planing on color sanding and buffing you may want to add a extra coat or two so after your done wet sanding and buffing your at the proper mil build of your top coat.
when it comes to single stage or a base clear it doesn't make a difference with either in how it will hold up and last.
for a daily driven car paint manufactures only plan on your cars finish to last 5 to 8 years. we all know if you take care of your cars finish you can get many more years out of it"
Here is what he replied after I showed him some examples of SPI clear (Pebble Beach BOS) and SS (Don's Trans Am)
"yup before my retirement I owned a very successful restoration shop with many show winning cars under our belt BFD!
we too did countless so called 3 and 3 paint jobs along with countless 4 plus coat paint jobs for show only cars.
it's not coats it's call mils and every manufacture states excessive mil builds will chip easier crack and peal. as long as your not exceeding the mil builds your ok!
with a show car that sees no real road use or outdoor environment to rules do change. you can get away with 12 , 14 or even more mil build of paint product.
pic on line never show the true look of a paint job! and a car selling for a 150k sure doesn't mean the paint doesn't look proper! (sorry Don he's talking about your car
)
sadly or not taking a car and sanding it smooth as glass what it didn't come from the factory that way may not be the right way for every job.
we have had more jobs that replicating the factory paint is more important than making it as smooth as glass with so much depth that it looks like you can stick your hand in it.
take say a 300K Ferrari or Porsche that was in a fender bender. you better match not just the color but the factory texture as well. so the 3 plus 3 is pointless!
the bottom line is you refinish a car as it's required for the purpose of the cars uses and what your looking to achieve. there is not one set rule as to one one way. "
He changes the subject kind of in his second post. Now says that he has done countless the way I described. I think he talks out of his ass. I know that Barry mentioned somewhere that he put up to 20 coats of UV on something just to prove it could be done. So I'm wondering guys who have done this with either clear or SS, have you noticed any issues?
How much is too much? I've got a Porsche 911 coming in that I plan to do that way. (three, sand, three) Owner plans to drive it. I don't forsee any issues as I plan to only use epoxy from bare metal up. How do I respond to guys like this guy?
@Barry @shine I would especially like to hear what you think. To be clear these were his reponses to me after I advised a guy with a question that he might want to do the three/sand/three on his car that he was restoring. I was not advocating it for every situation.
Here is what he said, do you agree or disagree with this?
"don't confuse depth of color to a finish that just looks thick and heavy.
many times shops will spray a car then sand it and spray more product AKA painting it twice so it looks like it's depth of color looks deeper. this does nothing but make a cars finish look thick and heavy. there is also the thinking that more paint helps protect the finish more. this is totally untrue!
most every paint manufacture sites no more then 3 coats for proper mil build. the reason is more paint chips easier will not flex as it should leading to checking and cracking paint down the road years later.
if your planing on color sanding and buffing you may want to add a extra coat or two so after your done wet sanding and buffing your at the proper mil build of your top coat.
when it comes to single stage or a base clear it doesn't make a difference with either in how it will hold up and last.
for a daily driven car paint manufactures only plan on your cars finish to last 5 to 8 years. we all know if you take care of your cars finish you can get many more years out of it"
Here is what he replied after I showed him some examples of SPI clear (Pebble Beach BOS) and SS (Don's Trans Am)
"yup before my retirement I owned a very successful restoration shop with many show winning cars under our belt BFD!
we too did countless so called 3 and 3 paint jobs along with countless 4 plus coat paint jobs for show only cars.
it's not coats it's call mils and every manufacture states excessive mil builds will chip easier crack and peal. as long as your not exceeding the mil builds your ok!
with a show car that sees no real road use or outdoor environment to rules do change. you can get away with 12 , 14 or even more mil build of paint product.
pic on line never show the true look of a paint job! and a car selling for a 150k sure doesn't mean the paint doesn't look proper! (sorry Don he's talking about your car
)sadly or not taking a car and sanding it smooth as glass what it didn't come from the factory that way may not be the right way for every job.
we have had more jobs that replicating the factory paint is more important than making it as smooth as glass with so much depth that it looks like you can stick your hand in it.
take say a 300K Ferrari or Porsche that was in a fender bender. you better match not just the color but the factory texture as well. so the 3 plus 3 is pointless!
the bottom line is you refinish a car as it's required for the purpose of the cars uses and what your looking to achieve. there is not one set rule as to one one way. "
He changes the subject kind of in his second post. Now says that he has done countless the way I described.
I think he talks out of his ass. I know that Barry mentioned somewhere that he put up to 20 coats of UV on something just to prove it could be done. So I'm wondering guys who have done this with either clear or SS, have you noticed any issues?How much is too much? I've got a Porsche 911 coming in that I plan to do that way. (three, sand, three) Owner plans to drive it. I don't forsee any issues as I plan to only use epoxy from bare metal up. How do I respond to guys like this guy?
@Barry @shine I would especially like to hear what you think. To be clear these were his reponses to me after I advised a guy with a question that he might want to do the three/sand/three on his car that he was restoring. I was not advocating it for every situation.
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