Automotive Three Stage Paint

The industry had to come up with The second stage is the application of the clear coat, which is applied in two coats over the fender and complete door.With the addition of another spraying process after the base or first stage, the blending into the door did not produce an acceptable color match. The base coat or first stage was applied to the fender and partially into the door. In preparation for the blending operation all items are removed from the door such as handles, glass, moldings and trim.

Typically, when a fender replacement was needed, blending the color back into the door to achieve a proper color match was required. This three stage process drove painters crazy when attempting to match colors. This type of refinishing is also known as" Tri Coat" with some paint manufactures. If you look closely, you can see the small flakes of purple, reds, blues and other colors that give the pearl look to the finish. The mid coat contains pearlescent powders that cover a broad color spectrum.

This is due to the mid coat, which is applied after the base coat and before the clear coat. When viewed from different angles the paint color appears to change. The best example is the pearl white that General Motors uses on the Cadillac. There are a number of three stage colors that have become popular.

Vehicles of today primarily utilize a two stage paint process know as base coat, clear coat. Today's automotive paint is durable and resistant to stains and has a high gloss.