I decided to paint my engine and transmission candy apple red so I went and spent $250 on all the stuff. Here is what I got

PPG Epoxy primer

Nason Spectramaster Red bascoat

X-treme Klearkote

And House Of Color Apple Red candy concentrate

My friend told me that it wasn't a good Idea to lay down a red base coat because it would be harder to tell it was candied. He said it would be better to lay down a silver or gold base coat and candy apple red over that. The only thing I am worried about is the engine turning out more silver than red. I really want my engine red but also want a distinct candy look. Any suggestions?

 

Your friend is correct to a certain extent. Urethane Candies (or Kandy in HOK's parlance) are a multi-layer process used to bring the color up slowly. Because of this, the base coat is very important and VERY important to your final color. Red over silver or gold using conventional Kandys might be a 15 coat endeavor, depending on the final color you're looking for. You've purchased a "Kandy Koncentrate" and it should be used in an intercoat or topcoat clear to get the same effect as the original urethane kandys. You can put the red Kandy over the red base, nothing wrong with that, but you'd better do a test panel and count the coats before you spray your drivetrain and most importantly, make sure you can achieve the color your looking for.