You can clearcoat yourself if your wanting to tackle something like that. Just remember that the clearcoat is what makes or brakes a paint job (imo), if you mess it up you gotta sand it down and start over. Repainting the same color can be cheaper because they don't have to paint inside the door jambs, engine bay, etc. Ideally if it were me wanting to change the color, I would strip the interior and have the whole car done otherwise you have different colors. That affects resale value.

 

a single stage paint job is the clear coat and the paint mixed together. when you cutdown (polish abrasively) it actually removes small amounts of paint. and without a clearcoat its more sensitive to the elements. however, if cared for properly as in wax often, clay bar. keep out of the SUN. they can last just as long as their counterpart dual stage. a dual stage is the paint, and ONLY the paint. then you spray a clear coat over it. clear coat is strong as f. you can cut and buff pretty harshly without removing any of it. not to say you cant though. youll see alot of the time people with use their buffing machine and sit to long in one spot effectively burning right through the clearcoat and then some. now when i say single stage is fine, its how you treat it. realistically no paint will last or shine if its abused. dual stage is far superior to single stage. don't think you can swing by on dual stage and really say its better. its not. you cannot buff a metallic single stage because there is NOTHING to protect the metal flakes or sparkles from your compound. this also thins the clear in single stage making it even harder to maintain or keep lasting long. as mentioned keeping it the same color (or even similar) will be cheapest so you don't have to repaint the nookes and crannies. single stage. one layer of paint. dual stage. two layers of paint, one for extra gloss and protection modern single stage urethanes are very strong... something to consider.

 

I wind up with more questions the more answers I get! Lol.

Well does anyone have any experience with plasti dip as a temporary thing to just do some patchwork? I can always peel off what I mess up, right?

Some other way to patch up clear coat?

 

Guys on another forum I belong to are always plastidipping something on their trucks, wheels, grills, one guy even painted his hood with it. I have also see whole cars plastidipped. And it does not affect the paint underneath. You just peel it off (from what I have read).

You really can't patch up clearcoat, at least I have not been able to, other than sanding it all off and re-clearing it. If you just used plastidip on the areas where the clearcoat is bad, it will end up looking funny, imo.

 

plasti dip is great. its tough and if you don't like it it peels right off sir. just clean the surface and paint away. multiple light coats! i used three cans on my wheels, here are some picks for you. remember what i said, light coats!!!! 15 minutes and it dries. DO NOT RESPRAY CLEARCOAT! if its peeling, chase it with a razor till it stops. sand the rest of the paint down. and primer it then spray it. simple. as for the spots were the paint is good, scuff it and spray a light coat of paint...

 

nice looking wheels there! So parts where the car only has clear coat peeling at the top, I need to scrap the whole panel off just to reapply clear coat to that small area?

btw how do I spray paint without getting that orange peel effect?

 

Yes you need to scrape the whole panel of old clear coat then paint. you can put plastidip on anything safely. I did my sail panel and headlight buckets with matte black. Something to csonsider. maybe plastidip works fine for that. If its peeling sand it off after scraping at it with a razor. Get all that old paint off. then spray plastidip on it.it its just the sail panel.don't plastidip the whole car lol. The other panels sadly yes you gotta repaint the whole thing.

 

Orange peel is avoided by mixing your paint correctly to the right consistency. And even spraying as will. Even so a little can sand and buff out ok