Can i add metallic flakes to a clear when painting my car.and what should i sand the final coat with 400 grit?

i would like to find one complete kit paint,flakes clear.Can i add metallic flakes to a clear when painting my car.and what should i sand the final coat with 400 grit?
You can, but you have to make sure you have the right orifice size for the paint gun. Metal flake requires a larger than normal orifice to allow them to disperse evenly. If you don't, you'll wind up with tiger striping and modelling. Regular metallics are fine enough to pass through smoothly.


I suggest practicing on metal panels first before you paint your car.


Painting with any metallic is difficult. Usually the metallics are added to the basecoat and not the clear. But you could get some wild effects by adding them to the clear. It would add shimmer and depth to the paint you wouldn't see from a factory paint job.


But, eventually, your final 2 coats will have to be just clear. I wouldn't finish with a clear with flake in it.





400 grit is way too coarse for what you're doing as a final grit. When I wanted to have a glass finish, I would start with 400, go to 600 and then finish with 800.


If you want to really do a good job, wait 30 days, re-sand with 800, then 1000 and put on 2 more clear coats.


I wouldn't recommend going higher than 1000 grit because the paint will have trouble sticking.


If you want to go further, wait another 30 days, sand with 1200, 1500, then 2000 and then buff the car with a high speed buffer and compound. 3M makes excellent compounds and glazes for that.


(All sanding I mentioned is wet sanding)


If you do that, your car will be so shiny and the paint so deep that people will need to wear sunglasses to look at it.





When painting clear don't put on more coats than the manufacturers recommendation. Usually 2 or 3 depending on the mixture. If you want more clear coats, you have to wait for it to dry, resand and then put on another couple of coats.Can i add metallic flakes to a clear when painting my car.and what should i sand the final coat with 400 grit?
You'll want to sand it with finer grain paper than that for the last round of sanding; 400 grit will leave it looking all scratchy.
Check out alsa corp. They have some of the coolest paint effects I've ever seen, and most of their stuff is fairly priced. I would think that'd you'd probably have to use something a little finer than 400 grit, maybe like 1000 or so. Just go to http://www.alsacorp.com and look at some of their stuff. They sell kits and a lot of their stuff comes in spay cans now. They do have flakes, and I'm sure if you called or e-mailed them they'd work out a kit with you.





Another option is House of Kolor. They seem to be a bit more pricey, but the name is better known.
sure can 600 weight sand is smoother
Yes, that's the right way to do it. You can't find clear with flakes. Go to the parts store and buy the flakes. They have them in 2 different sizes. They have large flakes and small flakes. Make sure you measure the amount of flakes you add to your pot so that you use the same amount every time you refill to maintain consistancy. Good luck. Finish sand wet with 400, then 1200.
yep sure can ....the highest grit paper to final sand is best...also use agitator type gun to spray so will have even effect