Like the title says is it necessary to wetsand clear coating finishes? just about done repainting my hood and im kinda undecided weather or not im going to clear coat it or not as im a noob when it comes to painting.

any help is appreciated
Robert

 

If you are happy with the way it looks now, then you can leave it alone. If you want to smooth it out even more to get a glass-like finish, then you wet sand and buff it out. Wet sanding alone will ruin the finish and make it look worse than flat...

 

Let me try to understand, you said that you don't know weather or not you are going to add a clear coat? I'm not sure I get that. If you are using a basecoat/clearcoat system, then yes, you have to spray a layer or two (sometimes more) of clear regardless if you want to wetsand it or not. If you are using a single stage paint of some kind whether it be acrylic urethane, or enamel, you do not have to paint a clear coat on top of that. Although, you can, as long as the clear is compatible with the paint. That being said, you CAN sand and buff a single stage paint, however, if your paint is a pearl or metallic, you might run into problems and it's harder to buff out to a nice shine.

Um, hope that helps.