How much does it cost to apply clear coat?

[inachu]

I am thinking of getting my clear coat double thick!

I just like the idea of protecting my paint job.

 

[Vdubchaos]

Nothing will EVER be perfect, this includes your paint.

Paint is there to get banged up/scratched etc.

What you are talking about is equivelent to putting plastic on the couch.

Best advice I can give you is have 1 car that's a daily commuter and a nice car for special days. And even then the nice car will still get banged up over the years. But AT LEAST it won't have to endure the abuse of DAILY driving.

I learned by lesson the hard way. I simply refuse to have a nice daily car. But keep in mind I keep my things for LONG LONG TIME. This doesn't apply to you if you buy a new car every 3 years or so.....

 

[tweakmonkey]

Clear film

 

[yhelothar]

The clear coat is optimally coated during what's known as a flash time. This is a time window of within a couple of minutes to an hour of the base coat for the clear to have an optimal bond with the base coat.

But if you must do it, as you would have to if you were got to do a spot repair and needed to blend paint, you would need to wet sand your clear coat down with 600 grit sandpaper so that it has a surface the new clearcoat can grip to and you can spray on a thicker layer.

I would recommend using the clear film though.

 

[NutBucket]

That's what Opti-coat is for.

 

[yhelothar]

Wax is a paint sealant and a protectant. It adds an additional layer of substrate over your paint. If you keep your car waxed all the time, it should last you for decades.

 

[kitatech]

I understand the intent...next year my (then) 11 year old Camry's bug/sand/rock pockemarked hood will get a respray with EXTRA layers of paint and clearcoat...
THIS year the hood got a new "rug" (black over tan, pseudo-panorama roof) as the it was starting to fade...the sides have some dings I'll live with...

 

[Belegost]

I understand the intent...next year my (then) 11 year old Camry's bug/sand/rock pockemarked hood will get a respray with EXTRA layers of paint and clearcoat...
THIS year the hood got a new "rug" (black over tan, pseudo-panorama roof) as the it was starting to fade...the sides have some dings I'll live with...

Overall adding more layers of paint and clear are not going to protect from chips any better. Most likely it will be worse, to harden fully paint needs to release the by-products of the hardener reaction, and this continues even after the clear coat is applied. If the paint is applied too heavily the bottom-most layers may not be able to cure properly, and not bond as well with the primer. Then when a rock hits the thick paint, not well-bonded to the surface, it will chip readily.

 

[PieIsAwesome]

You might be better off doing a clear bra for the whole front. Xpel ultimate will be like $1500 + some paint correction. If you want to protect the rest of the car then you will probably want to opti-coat it, but it will need a 2nd level paint correction first, which together is like another $1000.

 

[kitatech]

Overall adding more layers of paint and clear are not going to protect from chips any better. Most likely it will be worse, to harden fully paint needs to release the by-products of the hardener reaction, and this continues even after the clear coat is applied. If the paint is applied too heavily the bottom-most layers may not be able to cure properly, and not bond as well with the primer. Then when a rock hits the thick paint, not well-bonded to the surface, it will chip readily.

Makes sense....the other thought I had was to apply a few coats of clear Plasti-dip to the front/leading 12" of hood.

 

[nerp]

Just put $25 a week into an account, auto transfer the money, and by the time the car looks like crap, you have enough cash for a respray.

 

[NutBucket]

Makes sense....the other thought I had was to apply a few coats of clear Plasti-dip to the front/leading 12" of hood.

Or get a bug deflector. That will take care of a majority of hood damage. Of course it does nothing for the bumpers and such.