I saw a TV show this weekend that had something to do with the bike builder Jessie James. They were looking at his car collection and he has a 55 Nomad that looked pretty sharp. It had a nice flame job that he said he put over the "original" as in not original color but the original paint and then put several coats of clear over it. Well I am tired of trying to keep my original paint nice and bright. The paint is in real good condition but it is a bear to keep polished. Has anybody shot clear coat over thier original paint? I'm thinking about doing this and maybe adding a few graphics. I don't want to try this if I am going to end up with a big green orange peel.

 

Clear coat must be applied over a new base coat with in a 24 hr period.The base and clear coat must be the same product. Along with the primer. Have you tried wet sanding then buffing and polish. 3m makes good stuff. I would not try to put clear on top of your finish. IMO

 

I work at a body shop. The clear and base do not have to be the same brand. You can use PPG paints with DuPont clear (which we do a lot because DuPont makes a superior clear), and many other clears. Our primers vary as well depending on the application. As for the 24hour rule-- I guess that may depend on brands of paint, but our PPG system doesn't require it. We painted the bosses pulling truck witha purple base coat, then let it sit until the next day, and we taped off flames and painted them the next day, and then cleared it all after the flame masking was removed. Probably 3 days in all. I would never try to wetsand and buff your truck. That sucker would be a pain in the butt to buff out since the paint is so old. We have done this to newer vehicles (90-up) with 3000 grit paper on a jitterbug and then buffed them out with Wizard or 3M Perfect-It and a foam pad on the buffer. Safest and easiest way to aviod scratches. Even with newer vehicles (that have factory clear coats) the scratches take time to buff out. Since our trucks did not come clear coated, that old paint will be a SOB to buff out. Also, you'll almost have to use a wool pad, and since the paint is so old it is probably getting thin (even though you don't no it) and you'll risk burning through the paint trying to get the scratches out. We have painted over factory paint (like putting flames on a stock-paint 55 BelAir) and then clearing over just the flames to keep them glossy looking over the relatively dull stock paint. The paint on my truck is original and I keep it shiny just by keeping a coat of wax on it, but it never gets wet either. The cold water helps the oxidation process. I wouldn't clear the truck for fear of spots coming out under the clear from contaminates, oxidation, etc. If you were going to clear it, I would paint it as well while your at it.
Hope this helps.

 

Bagged70F100- good info. Thanks. You say Dupont has best clearcoat?

 

How does PPG rank in clears? I am currently in the process of redoing my '72 and the body work is getting closer to prep-time.

I was originally going to do a one step type paint but with using metallic I think I want to use base/clear. I am using an Omni base with PPG clear. I am a novice paint/bodyman but am getting lots of help. Maybe I'll post some pics.

 

I don't want to rank clears because there are different clears that will work better with different applications. However, whenever we do some serious custom work, we always use DuPont ChromaPremier Clear. It is like 300$/gallon, but well worth it.