First, a word about painting systems. There are some systems that require a clearcoat; the basecoat (or "color coat") has no shine by itself, so clearcoating isn't optional. Other systems, such as my catylized enamel, have a color coat that does not require a clear, but one can be applied for additional shine. After seeing my car both ways, I'll say that the clearcoat adds a lot of shine.

Here is what I did to get my car clearcoated after months of driving it around with just the color coat.

First, I had ordered the clearcoat that was compatibile with the basecoat. This is important; you cannot just shoot any type of paint over any other. If they're not compatible, you can get crazing, liting, or other paint maladies. I had a gallon of catylized enamel clearcoat, which is was significantly more than I needed. I bought my paint from Trinity 1945 which advertises on ebay.

Once I had a weekend with low humidity and a temperature in the 60-75 degree range (this is the temperature for which I had reducer on hand), I began the car prep. I removed the marker & tail lights, antenna, emblems, license plate, and so on. I washed the car. Then, using 1500 grit wet sandpaper (note that you can use a more coarse paper in most cases, but this is what I had on hand), I wetsanded most of the texture out of the paint, and washed the car off. This left a flat surface, without too many pits that the clear would have to fill. Note that in most cases, you cannot "float out" significant texture left in the basecoat of the paint; you'll end up with that texture showing through to the clear.

I did notice that I had many rock chips in the paint, but chose to leave those in. My problem is that I live on some very windy, rough, slurry-sealed roads, and rock chips are unavoidable.

With the body prepared, I swept & blew out the garage, and pulled the car in. I put it up on jackstands, which makes it easier for me to paint the rocker panels & doors, and began masking. With the little Miata having most of the trim removed already, this amounted to little more than masking the windshield, soft top & trim, antenna stub, and hardtop bolts. I then cleaned the car using PPG Acryli-Clean. Immediately before painting, I tacked the car off with a tack cloth to ensure there was no dust residue. It doesn't ensure no dust falls into the paint while or after painting, but it reduces the chance something is there when I started.

I mixed enough clearcoat (catylized enamel) to cover the car. I figured a little over 1 1/2 quarts would be good. So I mixed 1 quart clearcoat and 1/2 quart 60-75 degree reducer. I also added a little catylist. I filled the gun, adjusted it, and began spraying. The instructions said to spray one medium wet coat, and a full wet coat. I still have some learning to do with spraying, and I ended up with one light wet coat, and one medium wet coat, which gave the car a little more texture than I wanted. I can correct that in a few weeks with some wetsanding and buffing.

So, with the car painted, I waited until dried on the surface, and pulled off the masking. Once it dried fairly well (it only took a couple of hours), I reassembled, and drove the car out of the garage.

With that, the car was done. It looked good, having a lot more gloss than before. The wet sanding combined with the clearcoat greatly reduced the "ridge" from the paint stripes, and the whole car looks cleaner. I'm happy with the results, and should be even happier after a wetsand & buff.

I had about 8-10 hours in this clearcoating effort, and possibly about $40 in supplies. It's definitely something I should have done shortly after painting the car. However, even now I feel the effort was worth it. The car looks much better.