Hello, first time in an auto body forum, though I've been doing other car repair for years.

I had to get a new side view mirror, so I bought adhesion promoter, the base coat, and clear coat to paint it. It came out looking good, but the new mirror paint has a far more matte finish than the car does. Why does this happen, and how can I get the original smooth glossy look?

thanks

what kind of clear did you use and how did you spray it on
Jay D.

Dupli-color, by spray can, why? I think the base coat was already kind of matte before I put on the clear.

Dupli-color is a very cheap, thin product and most of us don't really have much experience with it -- but it looks like you didn't wait long enough for the base to dry and the clear also went on very dry/light.

Hit it again with a good wet coat. That base also looks kind of blotchy in the picture; this will be amplified by the clear.

Thanks, but the base dried overnight, it couldn't have been any drier. And it's not blotchy in any way really, it's very uniform, its just very matte, sort of a rough texture. I hit it with 3 coats of clear too, so I don't think more will change very much. I was wondering if this is just common for cheap spray can paint, and would a good polisher give it the gloss look? Or is it necessary to polish/buff a base coat before applying clear coat? Any polisher suggestions?

Other than strip it and repaint with true automotive refinishing products, I am out of ideas on this one...sorry. You should never buff/polish/sand/touch your base coat before clearing.

Ok, well, hitting it with compound can only make it smoother, so I'll just go that route, it already looks decent so hopefully it will look pretty good after that. I guess most people who go with a spray can just don't care that much about getting close to the original finish.

most base coats will have a NON glossy look to them it doesn't matter the clear will bring out the depth and gloss. I've played around with spray cans a lot painting model cars and bicycles and raising two boys doing the same with their stuff. now one of my boys is very talented with anything in the body shop from custom design and painting to a frame rack. the Dupli-Color I believe is lacquer and being shot out of a spray can its all ways going to have a little texture to it. but looking at your pictures it should look better than what you have. make sure it not semi gloss clear your using. i'm also wondering if your spraying it on heavy enough, you need to spray it real wet and glossy. I looks like dry spray your holding the can back to far get it down about 5-6 in. and spray it on wet that means it looks like you poured it on. if that doesn't work you can always sand it with 1500 and hand buff it, lacquer will buff easy.
good luck Jay D.