The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop How many coats of paint

I am getting ready to paint my 47. I will be using a single stage urethane. How many coats should I lay down. Obvousisly I want to have good coverage but I was not sure if you could apply too many coats. For some reason it seems like I saw somewhere 4 coats? Not a show vehicle. Just driver quality.

Show car or driver, what's the difference? Would you intentionally do a less thorough or "perfect" job on a driver? Of course not. You'll do the best job that you're capable of doing.

As for your question, I've never painted a car. Can't help you.

The data sheet on the paint you're planning on using should tell you how many coats. 4 seems a bit much to me. Industrial paints recommend a certain dry film thickness, which can be measured by a film thickness gauge, usually a magnetic gizmo. Too thick can cause issues with chipping at door edges, etc.

Driver and show car do make a difference. They are all types of paint. I do want the best I can get for what I can put into it but cost of paint, how you apply and how you finish it off. Clear coat or not,. A lot of factors that change your approach, cost and effort but info like too many coats could led to chipping is what I was looking for and how to determine what is appropriate. I will look at spec sheet.

It also depends on what color you are using and what primer you used. Rule of thumb for me is at least one more than it takes to cover the undercoat.

Dave, what brand name paint are you using? I asked for and received the Technical Data Sheet for the U500 Single Stage paint I used. Its an AkzoNobel paint product and it was very easy to use. In my case the recommended for solids was 2 to 3 single flowing coats, allowing the recommended flash time between each. I don't know your skill set, but mine was amateur, so the Tech sheet helped with determining spray gun set up , tip size, etc.... PM me is you wish.

The PPG Acrylic Urethane that I used says at least 2 coats or if needed you can shoot more to achieve desired color. I used a solid color, single stage, direct gloss. My first experience with the PPG Acrylic Urethane was a couple of years ago, I did some touch-up on my Vette, when I started mixing the correct ratio I thought to myself "this is like water, it'll take 10 coats to cover". Boy, was I surprised, it is a dream to work with. I don't have HVLP equipment, I shoot with 2 Binks conventional guns that I started with 40+ years ago.

Just painted my 66 vette with PPG DCC9300 Acrylic Urethane-Black. We put down two coats of paint, then two coats of 50/50 paint/clear then sanded out any orange peel. Stunning results.

I was planning on Black signal stage urethane. I have not purchased it yet but I am looking at the Eastwood Boulevard Black 3:1 Single Stage

It's not urethane, but I've used PPG's Commercial Performance Coating line Acrylic Enamel (ALK-200) and had good results with it. Laid down nicely and didn't require any additives, although a hardener can be used. They have a Urethane in the same line, and I expect it would perform well also.