Paint and Body How many coats of Laser Red E9?

[bruno]

Had my car sprayed 20 years ago with Laser Red and loved it. To help the color resist fading how many layers of mid and base are people laying down now adays?

Also, question about how the metallic lays. after the car is fully primered should they bolt the bumpers back on to shoot with the rest of the car? Or can they shoot them separately to get better coverage?

thanks,

Bruno

 

[BlakeusMaximus]

All the bolted on parts, bumpers, moldings, etc, should be painted off the car to insure proper adhesion around the edges.

 

[bruno]

Having the shop shoot two paint test samples.

1st with 4 coats of metallic and 4 coats of base color.
2nd with 4 coats of metallic and 6 coats of base color.

Thoughts? Would 2 coats of metallic be enough, and then only have 4 or 6 coats of base color?

Any insight would be helpful. Right now since I have no experience to pull from I'm assuming more coats the better.

Thank you.

 

[96pushrod]

Having the shop shoot two paint test samples.

1st with 4 coats of metallic and 4 coats of base color.
2nd with 4 coats of metallic and 6 coats of base color.

Thoughts? Would 2 coats of metallic be enough, and then only have 4 or 6 coats of base color?

Any insight would be helpful. Right now since I have no experience to pull from I'm assuming more coats the better.

Thank you.

In my experience the metallic is part of the base color. Are you referring to the base and clear coat? IMO 10 coats total of anything is too much.

3 coats base and 3 clear should cover near anything.

 

[bruno]

@96pushrod , this is a tricoat paint. It has a basecoat (salmon metallic) then midcoat (transparent red), then clear coat. Historically this color (E9 laser red) fades easily. Most paint companies sell the E9 as a typical 2 coat system, but for some reason Cromax does not (what my bodyshop uses). They have it separated into the original tricoat system.

But from your comment it soundsl like 3 coats of base/mid/clear should be enough. Thats exactly the kind of insight i was looking for, thank you!

 

[Rdub6]

I know there are many knowledgeable painters on here with good answers...... but doesn’t the shop your car is at have a process and a system of how they do things?
Seems to me, if I had to ask all these questions, I may be questioning whether I want it at that particular shop?
Unless I’m missing something somewhere?

 

[7991LXnSHO]

@bruno how did it turn out and do you have pictures for us?