Additional Clear Coat?
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 109
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From: Chico CA
Additional Clear Coat?
I have been considering adding some additional clear on my 03 AE Red. Have it color sanded and then polished. I have seen other cars that had striping done and then cleared over all. Looked great and was babies butt smooth. I know it is relatively costly but I will have this car until I am gone. Lots of sentimental reasons. I want it to be the best it can be, within my budget. A friend I have known for many years is a Vette body and paint specialist in our area. His suggestion is 2 double coats of clear after preping the entire car and blending any rock chips. He would do all of the spraying himself. After drying time, it would be color sanded and polished. Considering that I will have the car for many years to come, would the approximately $3k be worth it? There is quite a bit of factory orange peel and he said it could be color sanded as is, but there is always a chance of going through the clear as it is unknown how thick it actually is. I would really appreciate any suggestions and opinions on this. 
Instructor
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 102
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From: Lake Orion Michigan
Glen, your friend is correct. The clearcoat protects the color. If you colorsand the car without first adding clearcoat, there would be little clear left to protect the color. Even minor scratches could reach the color coat or be difficult to remove without hitting the color. If he can do what you want perfectly and flawless I think you are getting a very good deal considering the amount of work involved.
Safety Car
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 3,640
Likes: 83
From: . New York
Ive asked about this exact thing around here (where I live, not the forum) and was quoted 5 - 6 k$, so your friend is doing you a large favor for 3k (for vette quality work).
One thing to think about, I was primarily thinking about this because I thought I wanted a glass smooth finish. On discussion with the body guys, they can majke it glass smooth, but on a dark color (mine is black) you are gonna scratch the new finish if you wipe it with a rag.
It will be mirror like and way harder to keep looking perfect than if it had a little orangepeel. You will likely see every single flaw. The amount of orange peel probably differs somewhat during any given model year and color, and the amount you can tolerate probably differs greatly from person to person. You can read news print in the reflection on mine, but it still looks bumpy to me
I decided to leave it as is, and get the existing finish as smooth as I could by hand with the existing orange peel.
Good luck whichever way you decide to go, and please post pics if you do re-clear it, I'd love to see how it comes out
One thing to think about, I was primarily thinking about this because I thought I wanted a glass smooth finish. On discussion with the body guys, they can majke it glass smooth, but on a dark color (mine is black) you are gonna scratch the new finish if you wipe it with a rag.
It will be mirror like and way harder to keep looking perfect than if it had a little orangepeel. You will likely see every single flaw. The amount of orange peel probably differs somewhat during any given model year and color, and the amount you can tolerate probably differs greatly from person to person. You can read news print in the reflection on mine, but it still looks bumpy to me
I decided to leave it as is, and get the existing finish as smooth as I could by hand with the existing orange peel.
Good luck whichever way you decide to go, and please post pics if you do re-clear it, I'd love to see how it comes out
Melting Slicks
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 2,533
Likes: 1
From: North Aurora IL
Glen, your friend is correct. The clearcoat protects the color. If you colorsand the car without first adding clearcoat, there would be little clear left to protect the color. Even minor scratches could reach the color coat or be difficult to remove without hitting the color. If he can do what you want perfectly and flawless I think you are getting a very good deal considering the amount of work involved.
But I would slide my buddy a few more bills to throw a couple more coats on
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 109
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From: Chico CA
more thoughts please
Thanks for the input! Bob has been working on corvettes for a long time. He is re-doing his 65 for the umpteenth time. Always black on black vert. Always is very nice. He runs a small block with very low gears for big block racing. He did add a gear vendor splitter so he can drive on the freeways. So what would be a reasonable number of coats if we are going to be in the spray booth anyways? He said he would like to do two double coats. That seems like 4 typical coats to me. He said you cannot compare today's paints to the laquers and such of old. Much harder to put many layers on. The old days, he would use 15-20 coats and then sand and polish quite a few off to even everything. Well, the only down side is that he would like to have it 4-5 weeks. A long time but may be the icing on the cake when it comes back. Over the winter when it usually is in the garage is when it would happen. Sounds like a very reasonable cost? Even if it is slightly higher, would this be a good thing to do? He said it would add a lot of depth to the Anniversary Red, especially in the sun.
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