Broncmeister
Sr. Member
- Joined
- Sep 26, 2002
- Messages
- 801
This really depends on the paint. To claim a certain thickness for all paints can lead to serious mistakes. You need far more than 3 coats of clear for a candy job for instance. The paint I used recommended minimum of 5 coats of paint to get adequate coverage because it is so much thinner than many other automotive paints.The mill thickness of base coat is extremely thin almost nil. Clear is about 2.5 mills thick for 2 coats. If you plan on wet sanding and buffing you need about 2.5-3 coats. Single stage is the same about 2.5 mills thick and same number of coats if you plan on wetsand and buffing. Those that apply upwards of 5 coats is asking for the paint whether it's single stage or base/clear to fail. It will chip very easy and in time will check up or crows feet. Too many paint jobs will do the same thing.
If the scratch goes thru to the base coat then yes you need to repaint. If the scratch goes just as deep to lets say the first coat of single stage. Yes you can buff it out but then the paint is VERY thin and will fail in a very short time. You still would need to repaint it.
again, not necessarily. In a single stage If the paint job is fairly new, doing the entire panel is not necessary for the repair. However, if it is a much older paint job doing the entire panel may be necessary for a better overall appearance due to the age of original paint resulting in color or hue change, sun fading, etc.To repair it with single stage you sand the entire panel 400-600 but you have to cover the entire panel with color. For a base coat repair you also sand the entire panel in 800 and the repair 400-600 but you only apply color to the repair. You then clear the entire panel. You then have a better color match and a thus a better repair. Single stage repair is easier, cheaper, and requires less skill. As long as the vehicle is not faded and the formula is mixed 100% accurate then color match will be fine. My opinion though is a base/clear is a better repair.
I would advise to the OP to decide on what his desired look is first. If he just wants a basic blue, yellow, red type color with nothing added to change the finish like metal flake, etc. then I would say go with a single stage. If he wants a metallic paint job or similar then go with a two stage. If he plans on some mild off-roading with the chance of getting light scratches from foliage but mostly street driving then go with a two stage, but if he plans on serious body mangling offroad dominance, single stage is the answer.