Im painting my targa top wa9539 med metallic green. How many coats of paint is typical? A tack coat followed by 1 coat seems to get the color close to the original... a tack coat followed by 2 coats generates too dark of green...even after clear coat and buffing.

Does this mean my paint mix is too dark? Is it ever "normal" to spray only one healtht coat of color?? My paint is martin senour from napa. They seem knowledgable andnalready provided a second pint of mixed paint which gives similar results.

 

with that green you are correct in what you are doing do not worry about how many coats as long as you are getteing full coverage. You want to put on enoug paint to match what is on your car.

 

please note I said full coverage this will be enough paint where it covers everything where it is past transpearent. you may try light coats instead of a light coat and the a heavey coat. It is also almost impossible to get a panel match esp with older paint. So do the best you can and call it a day

 

One tack coat,2 medium coats and one metallic uniform coat.Get the clear as wet as you like.Im no pro but this is how I would do it.If the finish is too dark it might be the color match.

 

It depends on the base color below too. I just painted my bumper on the 94 and when sanding I found grey sealer below the color coat. I duplicated that when I resprayed and the color match was dead on. I put on about 3 coats of base.

[IMG][/IMG]

 

When you're trying to match existing paint, there is no true set of rules, just some tried and true tricks. I painted my targa top last year after years of staring at the faded red top in the corner of my garage. My C4 has spent most of its life in the garage after its repaint, however, it still has faded some so I knew I wouldn't be able to just open the can, spray and expect the correct result. Every color fades differently, reds tend to look pinkish, whites turn yellow, etc.

When I sanded the old paint off the top, I saw the original primer was gray. Keeping that in mind, I used a light gray primer under my base coat. After going thru the motions, I saw the final color was not a match, it was darker and had no depth when compared to the rest of the car. If the top didn't fall off the stand scratching the hell out of it, I would have probably left it alone, but I didn't. I tore it down and this time used a white primer. 3 coats of base and 6 coats of clear and I got an incredible match. It's not perfect, I can see a slight variation in certain light, but I'm very happy with it.

In your case, try using the white primer underneath. It will make the color pop. The first coat should be light and uniform, whether with a sprayer or rattle can. If you're using the rattle can method, it will take more light coats than if you're using a sprayer. I used a rattle can and wet sanded in between the first and second coat of base. After the second coat was sanded, I put it on the car and took note of how the color looked. It looked a little lighter next to the old paint, I knew I was close. I applied one more coat of base and compared the paint colors again, new to old. It was close. This is what it looked like:

[IMG][/IMG]

Knowing that the clear would darken the color a little, I stopped applying the base coat and applied one heavy coat of clear. After it dried, I compared it again to the car. I kept doing this until I was happy with the match. I wet sanded inbetween each coat of clear as the rattle can does give heavy orange peel. After a week of the final clear coat being applied, it was wet sanded, buffed and polished and the result was impressive, at least to me. This is how the final finish looks:

[IMG][/IMG]

I would suggest you use a white primer and build your base coat on top of that. Keep spraying uniform coats until you're at the color you want. When spraying metallics, I always used light coats to avoid having too much metallic, it should match the rest of the car.

Remember, the clear coat will make your final base coat a little "darker". I good method I've always used to see what it will look like without actually painting the clear is to spray it with some water. A quick look will give you an idea of what a coat of clear will look like. It's all done by eye, no scientific methods. Use your judgment. You can wet sand inbetween clear coats to get the finish / depth you want and need to match the rest of the car. Just remember, do not wet sand your final base color coat.

I hope what I wrote helps you.