I am painting a 65 mustang viper blue with silver GT stripes over the top and the GT stripes on the rockers. I have two questions.

The guy wants to paint the base and stripes then pearl over everything. If I spray the base and stripes and put the pearl in the clear, do I just spray one coat of clear to get the car covered and use the clear clear to go over it two or three more times to finish it off?

How do you guys add the pearl to the clear? I was thinking that if I poured out enough clear to lay on one coat, I could add the whole cup of pearl in it and not have to worry about consistently. How much clear should I set a side for the first coat with the pearl?

Second question,

The gt stripe on the rocker panel says GT 350 with a long thick line going down to the rear wheel. Can I spray the silver on first and lay on the decal and paint the blue over it and peal it off after it sets up? If so, whats my time frame for applying the decal on the silver, time wise?? 45 Min's after painting the silver okay? Then, after I paint the blue over the decal, how long should I wait before I peal off the decal so I dont lift up the paint?


Thanks so much for your help. This is my first time spraying pearl and messing with decals under paint.

ok, couple things, if it were me i would mix the pearl into a clear base/intercoat. you then want to mix in enough pearl into to get the desired effect in 2 coats maybe 3. if just one coat then consistancy might be an issue. your sure to have areas with heavy pearl and other areas where its too light. you can use regular clear if you must, just way overreduce it so you build is much less but basecoat is just much easier to handle for this kind of thing. as far as you decal goes, do whay said and spray silver, mask off, spray blue. every paint is different but i would give more than 45min. let it set a couple hours to be safe. once the blue is on, its up to you. some guys peel right away and some wait. i always prefer to wait. one i'm not working around fresh base,2 i find if you wait the lines are more crisp and #3 i have less chance of peel ups. if you wait then go ahead and wait a couple hours or more. one thing to note here also is the type of decal you use could leave behind some or all of its adhesive on the surface when you pull it. i always cut my stencils from vinyl spray mask which is low tack and doesn't leave behind any adhesive. if adhesive gets left behind it can be removed with regular mineral spirits without harming the base but wait 24 hours before you start messing with it.

Thanks for helping out. You think I should mix in the pearl in the base coat instead? I can do that. Then I wont have to mess with the clear. Is it the more coats you apply, the more the pearl shows up? I dont want it to blingy.

Thanks.

yes you mix it into clear basecoat wich is the same as intercoat clear. not sure what paint brand you are using but every comapny has a clear base binder avail. rm's is bc100 or bc00, ppg i think is dbc500, just ask your jobber. how much pearl shows up depends on how much you mix in and how many coats applied. it will also not show up as well over a metallic as it would a solid color.

hey Jimmo, thanks again.

What I am using is Kustom shop brand from TCP Global. I have a store near by that I buy from. It's a take off from the PPG brand.

I am spraying the Viper blue that has a pearl already in it. Then the met silver. So, when I use the clear to spray over the colors, just add the pearl to it. Okay, I understand that part. My question is how much clear will I need to use with the pearl in it so I can add the pearl one time to the mix and not have to make a second batch. I dont want to start spraying and get down the the rear quarter panel and run out. I am using the blue/silver Ice pearl.

I have about 4 gallons of clear here so I dont need to buy more. I will just use some of that if that's okay?

I think you mean Jim C but i'll take the credit anyhow, no problem.

well i cant really tell you how much. what you need to do is shoot some test panels to make sure you got your mixture right then decide.

Oops, sorry about that. Thanks for the help Jim C. I will try it out on something small I guess.