can clear coat be wiped on?!?!(opticoat can)

pedro_paydro

pedro_paydro

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ok so i want to know one thing. opticoat is a paint sealer hard coat im guessing, idk much about it. BUT it can be wiped on. can i do the same wih a reg auto clear? why and why not?

Feed back please
 
You can't wipe a reg auto clear on like opti coat because it dries much too quickly. Another reason is that the solvents in reg auto clear are so strong that they can soften the paint underneath, and thus smear it. The Opti coat is a special polymer coating designed to dry slowly enough to be spread with an applicator without having solvents so strong as to remove the paint underneath, possibly to the primer or metal. Someone can correct me if I am wrong.
You can spray opti coat, though, if you like. I would wear a respirator, though.
 
You can, but won't like the results! LOL

Pretty much what blackthorn said is all true, although you are doing headlights, not paint. I would use a can of spraymax clearcoat before wiping something else on. I only polish headlights, and never had any complaints.
 
Nope, trying to wipe on clear will give you terrible results like was said. Base and clear are sprayed to prevent a harsh, uneven finish. Even if it didnt cause issues chemical wise, the finish would be terrible.

A good example of this, is the visible brush strokes when using a brush with latex paint. It just never lays down completely flat, like it does when its sprayed.
 
thanks guys, but what if i use a slow drying activator and add some reducer? wont it be smooth enough to use a blue shop towel like the spar urethane method?
 
If I was going to apply clearcoat to a large area by hand, I would use a new foam brush. I would try to only brush each area once, and prepare to have to wet sand after. You would then need to polish. You can paint by hand, but it is a lot more more work. My father once used a kit that allowed you to spray paint with the blower end of a vacuum cleaner. He said the paint went on like stucco, and it took him a long time to sand it out.

What are you trying to do with this clear coat? If you are trying to paint a panel, I suggest you get a 2k clear in a spray can, and get a respirator.
 
ok, blackthorn im trying to put on headlights. thanks for sharing here too. so what do u think?
 
pedro_paydro said:
ok, blackthorn im trying to put on headlights. thanks for sharing here too. so what do u think?
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I think that you want to put clear coat on the headlights to prevent yellowing. The problem is that even if you applied clear coat perfectly, you still have the problem of clear coat failure, with it getting cloudy and peeling off eventually. This is not a problem that the Opti Coat has. The Opti Coat blocks UV, and prevents clear coat failure, in addition to being more dirt and water repellent than factory clear.the Opti Coat is also more scratch resistant.

Because of these reasons, Opti Coat is a far superior coating for headlights than clear coat. The only thing that could be better than Opti Coat is a clear urethane adhesive film that is made to cover headlights, because it offers some protection against chipping and cracking.

The bottom line is that by using clear coat on headlights by hand, you will be spending a tremendous amount of additional work to get a headlight coating that is inferior to Opti Coat. The initial cost of the clear coat could be less, but when you factor in your time and effort, and how long the Opti Coat can last over clear coat, the clear coat certainly costs you more.
Even if you sprayed the clear for easy application, the clear coat would still be inferior. You can spray Opti Coat, too.
 
ok so your point is opticoat is superior than clear. thats true but its only been in the market for like 2 years i believe. also clear coat CAN be applied by hand and not sprayed if i understood ur last post. (if not let me know^). every clear will fail down the road thats why u wax ur car if im correct. so i have poly urethane clear which is more flexible than just urethane, and as i read scratches wont be a problem. so if i do wipe it on, whats the chance it will come out like the spar urethane method and what are the chances of not working? (for some weird reason)
 
pedro_paydro said:
ok so your point is opticoat is superior than clear. thats true but its only been in the market for like 2 years i believe. also clear coat CAN be applied by hand and not sprayed if i understood ur last post. (if not let me know^). every clear will fail down the road thats why u wax ur car if im correct. so i have poly urethane clear which is more flexible than just urethane, and as i read scratches wont be a problem. so if i do wipe it on, whats the chance it will come out like the spar urethane method and what are the chances of not working? (for some weird reason)
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You can paint clear by hand just like you can apply any other paint by hand. The only issue is the quality of the finish. It is very difficult to get a perfectly smooth finish by hand without sanding and polishing. I'm guessing these lights are convex. That makes it even more difficult to get a smooth even coat by hand. It might be easier to remove the headlights and spray them off of the car and then reinstall.
The headlights might need to be sanded before you paint them, so that the paint can adhere well enough to last. If a surface is perfectly smooth, paint doesn't like to stick very well.

I can only guess that you love a challenge, because I see no other reason to use clear coat by hand instead of Opti coat for a headlight.
 
yes i love a challenge^, and yes i think eveyrone should know that headlights should be sanded b4 adding clear, but opticoat needs to be polished since it doesnt hide the imperfections of the paint.so black, would you recommend adding some reducer to my mix to give it some smoothness when applying it? and what will be the diff in waiting between coats and how many coats? thanks
 
pedro_paydro said:
yes i love a challenge^, and yes i think eveyrone should know that headlights should be sanded b4 adding clear, but opticoat needs to be polished since it doesnt hide the imperfections of the paint.so black, would you recommend adding some reducer to my mix to give it some smoothness when applying it? and what will be the diff in waiting between coats and how many coats? thanks
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Ok, the paint should be about as thin as you would want for touch up, but you don't want it to run. You want multiple coats? That could be a problem. When doing multiple coats,the previous coat should smooth before applying the next coat, and a lot of automotive clear coat needs to be applied within a certain time frame, or it might peel off later, because it wasn't sprayed soon enough. A lot of clears require the previous layer to be a bit tacky.
I just don't know how or even if it can be accomplished when applying by hand, because of the amount of sanding and polishing needed to make it smooth, and for that, the paint must be fairly well cured, well past the time frame needed to apply another coat of paint and expecting it to bond.

You need to know how your particular paint needs to be applied first, for multiple coats.

I also suggest you practice your technique on something you don't really care about and see if you can get satisfactory results with your method. There is going to be a learning curve in refining your technique here. Easier to mask off the rest of the car and spray it I think.
 
blackthorn u r the MAN. yes i use ppg shopline. do u know anything about it? if u dont ill ask the local auto store i got it from. i do have a sheet of the clear saying how long between coats and all the spec of the clear. and yes what do u think i should pract on thought? something that will give me a feel as of a headlights? if i get a run or it doesnt go on right, can i wipe it off with some surface cleaner or reducer?
 
pedro_paydro said:
blackthorn u r the MAN. yes i use ppg shopline. do u know anything about it? if u dont ill ask the local auto store i got it from. i do have a sheet of the clear saying how long between coats and all the spec of the clear. and yes what do u think i should pract on thought? something that will give me a feel as of a headlights? if i get a run or it doesnt go on right, can i wipe it off with some surface cleaner or reducer?
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I know nothing about that particular paint. If you wipe it off with solvent right after applying, it should come off fairly easily, however, I don't know what the solvents will do the lens. It will probably not hurt it, but it is a question mark. You could wait to sand it out, but now we are back to the timeframe to apply the next coat issue.


The best thing to practice on would be a junk headlight, obtained from pick your part or some other junkyard. What you really want is a similar material that has a similar shape.
 
ok i will get to that, junkyard here i come^. blackthorn thank you so much man. u had no criticism and that was cool of you. i will post pics and steps i took later this weekend.
 
I agree to try it on some junkyard stuff and see how it turns out. I paint cars for a living, and know that applying multiple coats by hand,(brush,foam,towel,,etc.) isn't going to give great results. If people are going to pay a price to get them restored, they want them to look good, like new. If you get 1 or 2 customers that say something bd about you, that will get around quicker than the good things said by 10 people.

Try it out and perfect your technique before attempting on customers vehicles. And remember when painting, you will run into problems, it's all in the knowledge you have to fix the problem without having to redo a job. Redos are costly, and usually end up breaking even or even losing money. Hope this helps.
 
pedro_paydro said:
ok i will get to that, junkyard here i come^. blackthorn thank you so much man. u had no criticism and that was cool of you. i will post pics and steps i took later this weekend.
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Bring your tools. You may need them to remove the headlight. You might find another headlight just like yours. Nothing wrong with a spare. Try on that, and if you are successful enough , you can use it. I still think this is a lot of work, too much work as far as I'm concerned, but it will be an adventure for you.

I am looking forward to the pics.
 
yes ken, and u know practice will make perfect. if u r not ready to mess things up then why even think about doing it. thanks guys, junkyard was closed lol^ i totally forgot. one question though, i know wiping on a tacky surface for a 2nd coat wont work and probably just smear the clear more but what if its totally dry, could i do a 2nd coat and not worry about it pealing or can i sand w 2000 grit for some tooth over the first coat?

blackthorn- i dont believe its more work honestly. its sand and wipe. no extra heavy duty things like an air compressor to worry about and cleaning the gun which wastes more product. less taping and no worries about the overspray. but yes the place there already has a couple of headlights laying around. and unless i dont try it i cant say it doesnt work.

so i hope the results come out nice and u guys like the idea and spread it for the others like me who dont have all the money and experience to start a little hobby like this :)
 
Some autobody shops can put clear into an aerosol can. I'd go that route before I tried wiping it on. Even a cheap Harbor Freight airbrush that you throw away would be better.
 
I read a lot about opticoat and I know it to be a good product but one could be led to inappropriate conclusions from some of the comments posted online. I would encourage people to remember that clearcoat technology is every bit as diverse as after market coatings so it would be incorrect to generalise. It should also be remembered that this is a multi-billion dollar industry and the R&D budget alone will dwarf the entire industry value of after market coatings. As good as any of the after market coatings are, it strikes me as somewhat naive to suggest superiority to the advanced clear coat technologies.

Just a thought to keep in mind!
 
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