Does Single Stage Paint Have Clear in It

Stretch Lorts1983 · Tuesday 23 November 2021

Base Clear vs. Single Stage

Im getting some input on another paint forum that some painters prefer single stage over base/clear. Some prefer single stage for solid colors and base/clear for metallics. I have never came across this subject before. Anyone have any thoughts or preferences to share and why?
For me it's base coat clear coat for anything of value. I put single stage on my trailer a few years ago and I can tell that it has some fading. If I had done clear coat over it the thing would look better today. I'm not upset understand. It's a utility trailer I haul my skid steer on and it gets beat up from the stuff I haul. Even a coat of clear wouldn't stand up to getting hit by the bucket and other steel tools or gravel that I haul. The thing about single stage is that the pigment in mixed in the coat. That means that there are some particles of pigment at the very outside surface of the paint that are exposed to oxygen and UV light and start the fading process. When you spray a coat or two of clear on, all of the pigment is buried under the protection of the clear. That's my take on it. No scientific testing to back me up but I don't spray single stage on anything I want to look like new for a long time.
Bob K

Last edited by Bob K; 07-21-2015 at 08:30 AM.
Originally Posted by Outlaw56

Im getting some input on another paint forum that some painters prefer single stage over base/clear. Some prefer single stage for solid colors and base/clear for metallics. I have never came across this subject before. Anyone have any thoughts or preferences to share and why?

It depends. If we are painting a metallic color we almost always use base/clear because we don't need to achieve a high gloss using the color coat which can cause the metallic to mottle (stripe). If we are painting a solid color and we want it to look "original", like it did in the early days, we will usually use single stage and we use single stage on large trucks, trailers etc. Most good clears hold up better to UV exposure and to leaves, bird droppings etc. If we are trying for an original look and still want it to hold up better we will sometimes mix clear with our single stage paint for the last couple of coats that we apply but if you do this you want to make sure that your color and clear use the same hardener in the same proportion.
Thanks for the explanations and reasons for one over the other.
my local paint store sold me on single stage to keep things cheap on a car i want to restore and sell for fun that was originally single stage. they also said it was easier for a newbie but i am thinking this isn't the case. i get stressed shooting the single stage and getting an orange peel surface.
i helped my brother do a motorcycle with base clear and after prep and throwing the color on i found it was way less stressfull for the home guy to glob enough clear on knowing we would practice wetsanding and buffing.

then i think about all the scrapes and stuff that will happen on the road and although i have seen old cars buff and shine up nice many years later, how do you repair the areas even with the same paint code? this is something nobody explained to me, if its even possible.
Originally Posted by damac

my local paint store sold me on single stage to keep things cheap on a car i want to restore and sell for fun that was originally single stage. they also said it was easier for a newbie but i am thinking this isn't the case. i get stressed shooting the single stage and getting an orange peel surface.

i helped my brother do a motorcycle with base clear and after prep and throwing the color on i found it was way less stressfull for the home guy to glob enough clear on knowing we would practice wetsanding and buffing.

then i think about all the scrapes and stuff that will happen on the road and although i have seen old cars buff and shine up nice many years later, how do you repair the areas even with the same paint code? this is something nobody explained to me, if its even possible.

Repairs have variables just like the original paint job. Depending on the location of the damage you can either panel paint or blend the paint into the surrounding color. We usually keep leftover paint and label the can so that we know what's in it and if the job ever needs a repair we will have a perfect match.
I really want to try the base clear. It just seems more forgiving to a new painter, regardless of solid color or metallic.
Originally Posted by Outlaw56

I really want to try the base clear. It just seems more forgiving to a new painter, regardless of solid color or metallic.

Both bc/cc and SS have their pros and cons for the new painter. Single stage has less time spraying and therefore less time to screw things up but you are trying to accomplish two things at once, even coverage and gloss. While bc/cc is like applying two paint jobs it is actually breaking the application down into two steps, coverage and gloss are applied separately which makes each step a little easier than trying to accomplish both at once as you do with SS.
I have done lacquer and enamel, and very little B/C. From very limited experience, I want more time with B/C.
I avoided BC/CC as long as I could when I first started painting 25 years ago out of fear of complications. Its not as bad as you think. It does take longer start to finish to to the job so make sure you have plenty of time. Once you get the color down, which is easy, the clear is pretty much the same as laying down a SS.
IMO, SS is easier. Because it takes less time, a newb is less likely to get tired & make a mistake. If you have an area you didn't cover well with color you can spray more while the panel is still wet, with bc/cc you have to repaint.
Unless you have a booth to spray in, you're likely to get dust in the surface & unless you are a natural talent, you'll probably have uneven texture or runs to fix so you'll likely have to color sand & buff anyway.
Do some practice sprayouts first. If the car is worth the effort of painting, its worth getting some cheap paint to practice with if you need to.
Thanks Jason,
I do have a pretty decent booth to spray in. I do have some small projects I can work on before the first restoration. I actually ended up getting two 56 Ford F series truck to practice on before I do my original one. So far they have turned out to be much nicer than I expected.
Base coat/clear coat is by far the better choice for especially inexperienced/novice painters. BC/CC is MUCH more forgiving that single stage. I'm with Bob, single stage is fine for a utility trailer or crappy riding lawn mowers and of course if your painting a 1950's or '60 car and want it to look like the original crappy factory paint then single stage is your paint of choice. There are no long term advantages to single stage versus BC/CC. AND if you check you will find that single stage urethane paint costs as much or more than BC/CC paint jobs in materials of equal quality.
Thanks Phil. Im just going to jump into it. So far, with very limited experience, I prefer b/c. But I dont have enough experience. On another forum the general consensus is: Always b/c with metalics and pearls. Solids, well they go both ways, except for black. The input was never use clear over black (either bc or ss), and never use b/c for black.
Originally Posted by Outlaw56

Thanks Phil. Im just going to jump into it. So far, with very limited experience, I prefer b/c. But I dont have enough experience. On another forum the general consensus is: Always b/c with metalics and pearls. Solids, well they go both ways, except for black. The input was never use clear over black (either bc or ss), and never use b/c for black.

Black is normally a lot "softer" than lighter colors and clear is normally harder. I sometimes use clear over black because it's a lot easier to remove buffing swirls that show more on black than lighter colors. I sometimes mix clear with my last couple of coats of black in order to make the finish harder but you need to be careful not to mix more than about 25% clear because more can make the black translucent causing shadows in the finish.
The only black Im going to use is on a flatbed of a one ton 56 Ford F series with smoke stacks and duallies. The cab is going to be a stock solid color B/C medium dark green. Not sure yet on the Black for the flatbed.