Clear Coat

[sierra]

I was watching a car customising program from the US and they mentioned the problems applying conventional baked on clearcoat over typical factory baked on paint and clearcoat.
Apparently a maximum of 2 clear coats can be baked on and that doesn't give the required depth for show finish. They had a new clear coat that air dries quickly and use it to apply 4 coats of clear so that they can cut and polish to a fantastic finish.

This might be the product?

http://www.ppg.com/coatings/refinish...cityClear.aspx

I have no idea how much this would cost but it certainly appeals to me as a way to get over that 90 micron? factory depth of finish, locking in what's there and achieving a show car finish.

[spitfire481]

dc2000 is terrible if you want a "show" finish. it is one of ppg's fastest drying production clears. its so fast i dont even use it anymore in my shop. cons of something that dries that fast is gloss holdout. it always looked dull to me.

for custom work, i always use ppg 2021, 2 coats, air dry. then after a few days of curing block sand with 600 grit and shoot 2 more coats of 2021. then cut and buff. if you want to see what that can look like, almost every car on our facebook page has had that process done. facebook.com/collinscollision

[sierra]

That US car program was probably a few years old, we tend to get some old stuff over here at times. I assumed it was recent and whatever I googled was the same stuff but was suss when they mentioned the fast drying times.

Thanks for explaining the right way to do it and what to use.
The results you get are awesome!
The 90 micron factory paint thickness, including the clear coat is scary thin and i'm not sold on something like another 2 microns of Opticoat being the answer.

4 coats of clear and a finish like those shown hits the spot but the cost might keep me polishing?

Could you tell me the sort of cost involved for an 86/FR-S/BRZ assuming the car is spot on? What work, apart from masking up, is needed before the first 2 coats?