I am using an acrylic urethane PPG Paint. I am thinking about adding White Pearl to the orange color. Should the Pearl be added to the color coat? If so can Pearl be mixed with this paint? Or should it be added to the clear coat, which I plan to do? If it goes into the clear coat, can it be wet sanded?

When my friend sprayed my hood for me the pearl was mixed in with the base, not the clear. But we used Dupont instead of PPG, not sure if that makes a difference (assuming not).

My whole car was painted red, then the pearl was sprayed, then cleared.

If u add pearl to the base. Its going to lighten the color up. I did it with my car changed the color alot.. Now I'm have trouble trying to get color to match.. (I put a dent in the fender)

I don't think u can add it to the clear. Unless PPG saies its ok. But than its pretty much like a single stage.. ANd after a few years in the sun. U will not see the pearl any more.

how TunedPort 335 did it.I think that might be the olny way it will work

The difference is that PPG's pearls are powder.
Base or clear can be done...You will simply have to add two extra coats of clear over your pearl coat. (or mid-coat) To allow for buffing and polish.
Jay is right, play around with it a while, a white pearl over orange will milk it out substantially.

A true pearl is a separate coat that's sprayed between the base coat (color) and the clear. This is called a 3-stage paint. It's what I used on my GTA.

A lot of people confuse mica with pearl. Mica is a powder that you can add, much like metallic addatives, only the particles are considerably smaller. I added orange mica to the red basecoat on my IROC, but I added so little that you really can't even tell. I was afraid to add too much, because when I fooled around with test panels, I found that adding too much, though giving a cool color effect, resulted in a murky, clowdy type of color shift that really didn't thrill me. Likewise, I tried putting the mica in the clear coat, and got similar results when too much was used.

pearl in the basecoat, i did it, lightens the color right up, pearl in midcoat is the way you are suppose to do pearl paint jobs, in the clear, thats just plain stupid.

Basecoat

Midcoat

Clear

hence why they call it a tricoat paintjob. Personally i wouldnt do it, if you ever need to repaint a part of teh car, its gonna be nearly impossible to match the color. Trust me, i just fixed mine as you can tell in my topic.

Matching it down the road will be easier if you mix up extra paint when you do the initial paint job. Then you just need to remember how many coats of pearl you applied, and you should also try to repaint in similar environmental conditions. Temperature and humidity will effect how the pearl particles flow and set up on the surface.

Looked at these House of Color Pearls. Anyone think any would look good over a bright orange base coat?


Blushing Red

Copper Penny

Silver Streak

Ocean Blue

Gold Rush

Summertime Green

Lazuli Blue

I would try it on a test panel first. You can play around with it and find the best results. But yeah, base/pearl/clear is the best way to go.

How much pearl is needed , on average to cover a car?

I noticed it was in 2 ounce cans, is that enough?

How much pearl is needed , on average to cover a car?

I noticed it was in 2 ounce cans, is that enough?


They are 60 bucks per can, and I can't afford to play around to much.

I am thinking of one of the blues, copper or gold.


Thoughts?

I can't remember if I bought 2 quarts or one quart. I think I bought 2 so that I would have plenty left over.

2 quarts of base coat, 2 quarts of pearl coat and a gallon of clear.

$900+ in materials.

Thanks to all that have helped. I have been talking to a guy that does bikes and has a lot of experence with pearls.

I picked up a can of House of Kolors Copper Penny, which we are going to spray over the PPG Bright ORange. Should give it a really cool look. I will be sure and post when its done!