Bunser

My car is going to be painted (hopefully) in the next week or two. Now, is the stripe applied before the base coat is cleared, or, after? (My painter wants to paint the stripes on after the base coat is clear coated and I think the stripes and the base coat should be cleared after both are applied.)

BlackGold

I would let the painter do it the way he wants. He's the expert, and it's his butt on the line.

The exception is if you're a real stickler for originality. As delivered from the factory, you could feel the stripes raised above the body paint. If you clear coat over the stripes, you will lose that definition. But if you're that much a stickler for originality, you shouldn't be using clear coat anyway.

joe_padavano

The problem with BC/CC paint is that you have a limited amount of time during which you can paint over the base coat. Most BC paints have a short window during which the paint is dry enough for taping the stripes but not too dry for applying the clear coat. Applying the clear first then the stripes eliminates this problem, but brings up another one of proper compatibility of the stripe paint on the clear coat. At a minimum the clear coat must be scuffed where the stripes are painted then re-clear coated after stripes are applied.

To solve this problem, most manufacturers of BC/CC paint systems sell what's called an intercoat clear. This is a thin clear coat specifically designed for this situation - applying stripes, flames, graphics, etc. The process is that you apply the BC, then the intercoat clear, which gives you lots of time to apply the stripes. You still need to scuff the intercoat clear, but once the stripes are applied you then clearcoat the whole car.

All paint manufacturers have lots of documentation on their products, most of it available on-line. I suggest you talk to your painter, find out what he's using, and research what the paint manufacturer suggests.

MN71W30

We striped our car in 3 hrs over the basecoat. We then clear coated the car.

SteveL442

Just had the hood and side/trunk stripes painted on my 442. After much discussion, painter decided to do the side and trunk stripes over the base and clearcoat, but the hood stripes were put on over the base and clear-coated over. I decided to go with painted hood stripes rather than the taped ones, and they handled it the way they did because the hood stripes had to be sprayed due to width.