Basecoat Clearcoat immediately or 24hrs later?

[DerrickfromNC1]

Getting closer to paint day and needed some opinions. I’ve watched several YouTube videos of complete basecoat/clear paint jobs. On some the clear was applied immediately after the basecoat. And on some the basecoat was allowed to cure long enough to allow the basecoat to be sanded to perhaps a more smoother finish b4 applying the clear coat.
What are your thoughts and/or preferences? If I decide to allow paint to dry b4 clear coating what grit sandpaper would you use. I’m thinking somewhere between 400 grit wet!

Thanks

[Braukuche]

[Mike Fisher]

My painter sprays base/clear the same day. It only needs machine buffing/no sanding a couple weeks later for a good shine!
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69 FI/AT square Daily Driver
66 sunroof,67,70,71,71,71AT,72,72AT,73 Parts
two 57 oval ragtops sold
'68 Karmann Ghia sold

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[Julio_Arcos123]

Usually, Clear coat goes on right after basecoat has flashed. Always check instructions either way, see how long of a flash time is required between coats and clear.
The only reason you would wait to wet sand the base is if there was flaws like drips, sags, dryspray or texture. If needed wetsand lightly with a soft block, clean, dry and respray base if necessary. Once it dries you can lay down the clear.
The longer the base stays uncovered the more chance there is of contamination if its not in a clean spray booth.
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[jspbtown]

And don't take flash times as gospel. If you read your spec sheet you will see flash times and a recoat window (where you can reapply without sanding). Somewhere in there lies your sweet spot for flash times.

I have found the flash times listed are usually perfect case scenarios. Perfect humidity, perfect temperature, perfect painter

You will also generally see that flash times between base coats are different then between clear.

Personally I like to double the flash times....and that might just be because I am not a pro. As you can imagine the base or clear is not 100% dry when it flashes. If you are off on your thickness I have had large sags in the clear after the final coat because everything got so heavy that the clear just sagged. I have also had metallic paints "puddle" (not sure of the right term) after applying clear.

Time is your friend (not too much time tho!) and its hard to do some times. In my cases I have found that you spray a coat (especially with clear...the base seems to flash much quicker and more stable) then leave for 1/2 hour. Then come back and spray another coat, then leave for 45 minutes. Then come back and spray another coat. If you want a fourth then leave for an hour before you come back and spray again.

[DerrickfromNC1]

Haven’t painted in over 20yrs & was concerned about potential imperfections and excessive texture in the basecoat that may be passed on to the clear coat. Also I’m painting in a makeshift booth in my garage. Just sprayed the 2K primer on my fenders yesterday with a HF purple HVLP and was surprised at how smooth they came out.

I have 2 more guns a Sharpe Cobalt 1.4mm tip for basecoat and a MasterPro 44 with a 1.3 for the clear coat. I may pass up on the Sharpe and use the MasterPro for both.

[jspbtown]

One other tip I have......guidecoat! I just use cheap flat black spray paint from a can

What a difference it makes in making sure that high build is perfectly flat before the base.

[DerrickfromNC1]

2 coats base/2 coats of clear in Riviera Blue a rare Porsche color available on 1994-96 911s.

[Braukuche]

Nice color!
_________________
Go Reds! Smash state!

Retirement is here!
1956 Ghia
1959 SO-23 Westfalia
1960 double cab
1960 Baja Bug
1963 stretched double cab
1962 Golde sunroof Ghia
1963 356 B coupe
1963 Notchback
1967 21 window less rusty now

[DerrickfromNC1]

Thanks, I spent the last year trying to decide between various shades of silvers and greys. I was close to pulling the trigger on Audi Nardo Grey:

My wife said that color looks good on an Audi but would be to boring on my bug.
Here is what Riveria Blue looks likes on an BMW M4:

I think with my grey Porsche wheels, black mirrors & nerf bars, carbon fiber running boards and hood will set this color off!

[DerrickfromNC1]

I had a message in private messenger with questions regarding my ongoing paint process that I thought my response my be helpful to other dyi painters:

Basically I machined sanded the current paint with a electric palm sander using 220 grit then hand sanded with 400 wet. I had my vw painted about 15yrs ago(never saw the light of day) so it didn’t require any major bodywork. Any areas that needed fixing were done with glazing compound and Rustoleum filler/primer out of a can. Once I was satisfied I then primed with a 2k Urethane primer which is a 2 part primer & I used a cheap harbor freight hlvp gun with a 1.4 tip.

Than I wet sanded(400 wet) again and looked for imperfections under a strong light or out in the sun. Any repairs after that were done with a little glazing compound and rustoleum from a can followed by some more 400 wet sanding.

My garage paint booth has 2 doors one I use for incoming air and the other with a couple of fans to exhaust the fumes. Get yourself a full face mask respirator when painting with urethane(it’s that bad!). I painted both basecoat and clear with the same gun. A MasterPro 44($150) with a 1.3 tip. I choose this gun due to reviews from professionals that said this gun sprays as well if not better than their expensive $500-$1000 guns.

My basecoat paint used is the standard Shopline nothing special at a cost of about $180/gal. Any good quality urethane reducer will work, I used Speedokote medium for temps in the range of 65-80F. However the clear paint is where you want to go with the best.

After a couple weeks of research and looking at YouTube reviews from professionals I choose Tamco HC-2104 high solids Euro Clear. The company is located in Va. and all their products are sold online…no over the counter. Cost about $210 for the gallon with the medium hardener. Only took 3 days from the time I placed the order until it arrived at my door. They also sell paint but it was about $325/gal. Based on everything I read I don’t think the extra cost would have been noticed in the final finish & I wanted to be able to drive to my local paint shop if l needed some additional paint.

My compressor is a Kobalt 45 gallon, 2 stage purchased from Lowe’s. I hear many people say it can be done with a 30g & others say you need at least a 60 gallon compressor. My 45g appears to be up to the task at keeping 20-30psi at the gun for the duration between coats. Also it’s critical that you install a decent inline filter to separate moisture from the compressed air so it doesn’t mix with your paint as your spraying your car.

I suggest looking at as many YouTube videos on painting cars as you can as well as the many on:
setting on your gun
cleaning your gun,
mixing paint
bodywork
tapping off car
final car prep
dyi paint booth prep
Most of these vids are tailored to the dyi crowd.

Hope this helps from someone who so far has only painted their fuel tank and console tunnel.

[DerrickfromNC1]

[Braukuche]

Glad you listed to your wife, there are already way, way too many grey cars in the world.
_________________
Go Reds! Smash state!

Retirement is here!
1956 Ghia
1959 SO-23 Westfalia
1960 double cab
1960 Baja Bug
1963 stretched double cab
1962 Golde sunroof Ghia
1963 356 B coupe
1963 Notchback
1967 21 window less rusty now

[DerrickfromNC1]

Can these multiple runs/sags be fixed individually by wet sanding with and buffing or should I plan to sand and reclear the the fenders?

[Julio_Arcos123]

They can be done individually just know that it'll take a lot of patience specially on the longer, fatter runs. You might need to add some color again and clear if you sand too much and burn through but hopefully you won't have to. It can be done but this is an art. I'm sure they have a thread on buffing drips and runs here somewhere but this is how I would fix the painters mistakes that I worked with.
First, how many coats of clear do you have? You want enough material to be able to sand the flaw and the area around it.
Also, was this on the last coat, or in-between?

Materials needed would be:
Razorblades
Squeegee
Dry towel
500or 600
800
1000
1200
1500 (wet sand paper for all these) you can go up to 2000 or 2500 after this if you want, I would, but since it's not a dark color you could get away with it.
A small, hard sanding block. Like the smaller the better so you only attack what necessary. I have these great ones by a company called KXK Dynamic ridsticks. They're available on Amazon for cheap but they work wonders. Invest in yourself and your hobby. I literally only use the small one but it's good to have the others too.

I usually start by taking a blade and cutting the big heads of the drip like the ones on the second picture. Don't try to get all the way to the bottom! You just want to bring it down a bit so it's smaller and easier to work with. Then with the blade perpendicular to the panel, you're going to basically shave the head to bring it down further. The action works best in a crisscross pattern but occasionally you may have to go up and down on it. When it's about the height of the rest of the drip or sag start shaving the rest of its body a bit, this helps to highlight the while run so you know what you're working with. Don't do it too fast that the edge of the blade gets stuck on the paint and gouges it, take it slow.

Once it's down a bit, take the 500 or 600 wet sandpaper (always on the block!) With the same criss cross motion sand the area slowly. Focus on the run, it's a small area not a big one, so smaller tighter strokes. Don't push down on the paper, let it do the work. Dry the area constantly to check your work. You'll see you're done when it's dry and there's no more highlight of the run. Often times you can still feel it even if you can't see it so check it twice and sand again if needed. Remember you don't want to burn through though.

After this, start moving down the grits of sand paper. Always make sure all the scratches of the previous grits are gone before moving on. 800 takes out 600, 1000 takes out 800, etc.
Once you've gone down the grits of sandpaper and you didn't burn through the clear 🤞 you're ready to buff.
The compound will let you see if the run is still visible after all your sanding. If it is still very visible try sanding it again with 800 and down. If it's a bit visible start with 1000. Or if it's good enough just leave it and continue buffing.
Hope this helps!
_________________
64 bug (o\ ! /o)

[74 Thing]

Search youtube on using a razor for paint runs

[DerrickfromNC1]

Thanks for the recommendations. I have applied 3 full coats of a high solids Euro clear so hopefully there should be plenty of clear to work with w/o burning thru.

[Braukuche]

[jspbtown]

Those are the exact runs/drips that I suggested might occur with insufficient flash times. I used to always get them when I rushed.

You will have a challenge on your hands trying to get them out. lay flat, and not disturb your base coat. While anything is possible be prepared to have to re-base and shoot the clear again.....this time waiting and waiting and waiting between coats.

[DerrickfromNC1]