I recently painted my engine bay. I used a single stage PPG acrylic enamel for ease of application since is was only the bay, but the thing is I REALLY like how it turned out. Now that I'm used to spraying with it, I kinda wanna stick with it for the rest of the car. on the other hand, I've heard you can't work with(polish, wax, etc) single stage metallics and have them hold up.

So, what would happen if I put a clearcoat over a single stage metallic base?

 

As long as you use an acrylic enamel clear, you should be fine. I would recommend sanding the color coat first, however, so the clear will stick good. I would not paint the whole car with enamel, however. Its a good paint for the engine bay, suspension parts, engine parts, because its a tough, heat resistant paint, but it just doesnt shine like lacquer will. If you paint the car with enamel, it will look awesome for a little while, but a year or two down the road, it will just look dull, and it doesnt really seem to polish back up like lacquer. This is just my experience, though, someone else may know more than me.

 

I'm not gonna use laquer, too high maintenance, even tho it does look beautiful. I'm still kinda considering urethane, but after how nice the AE went on thats gonna be a tough sell.

 

Use a grey scotchbrite scuff pad and SEM scuff soap...degrease and clear.Done it many times.

 

Scuff and clear, you'll be ok. I'd use base/clear on the exterior, or if you really want a great, deep shine (as good as lacquer, without the problems), paint it with an acrylic urethane, color sand, then clear, sand, and buff.