> seems almost silly to have to explain this to an
> adult, but here goes...
Indulge me.
> paint a piece of metal. drop it in gravel--chips
> scratches will leave the color of the metal
> exposed.
Possibly. I'll play along.
> do the same thing again but put 3-4 coats of a good
> clear coat and drop this panel. yes the
> clear will scratch but your black paint will
> not...
First, now I still have a panel with chips and
scratches. Yes, the color was protected, the PAINT was
not. You still have damage that you'll want to repair.
Second, you can put an equal thickness of single step
paint on, and now you won't have bare metal. A few
minutes of color sanding and polishing those chips and
scratches are gone.
> for a show quality paint job the coats of clear
> should be double the coats of paint.
Most show car people I know absolutely hate that kind
of paint job. Edges are no longer crisp and it looks
"plasticy". There's a reason why these people always
strip to bare metal, they don't WANT excessive paint
thickness. OTOH, I know several award winning
restorers that do not use clear coat. If you've ever
seen a really good single stage paint that has been
color sanded and polished properly it's like looking
at a car made of colored glass.
Tom G.
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