With the tri-stage what would happen if I didnt sand the silver base coat before spraying the mid coat clear ?

well do not sand the silver. you spray the silver basecoat then wait the appropriate flash time, probably 30-40 minutes maybe a hour, tack it and spray mid coat

What exactly is flash time ? I sprayed the silver on months ago.

are you using basecoat ? it is the time for solvents to evaporate

you will have to sand basecoat with 800-1000 grit and re apply basecoat

Bruce, you are asking a ton of question but it seems you are not heeding or reading the advice being offered.

Dennis gave you lots of Technical Data from the paint line you are using but apparently you didn't read the TDS for yourself, otherwise you would know the answer to the flash time question.

You would also know that there is a time limit for leaving base exposed without clear coat.

Now you will need to sand the base and apply more base coat now before you can do anything else. Please read the TDS for your product to verify this.

Not trying to be mean but you have been told to read the TDS for your products and the different articles and sticky posts on this site that will answer 95% of your questions.

Once you have actually researched these things yourself, if you still have questions then please ask them and we will be glad to help.

And we just all keep saying this...... read, read, read, read and keep reading. Everything we need to do is in print..... and it's been said over and over again at this website.

I’ve been reading and reading and reading, and yes, I’ve been listening. I simply wanted to know exactly what would happen if I didn’t sand the silver. The reason I ask is because the silver polishes up really well and I thought Id get a better effect when the pearl goes over it, kinda like spraying candy over a chrome bumper. Sorry I’ve gotten everyone riled up.

RILED UP, you haven't riled me up yet! to correct your problem your going to need to sand the old silver base and recoat as Dave has suggested. if you don't there's going to be an adhesion problem later, it might just blow off or peel. base coats are designed to be applied wile the coat is still sensitive or in its recoat time so they bond together. see I'm not riled up.
Jay D.

BruceR wrote:I’ve been reading and reading and reading, and yes, I’ve been listening. I simply wanted to know exactly what would happen if I didn’t sand the silver. The reason I ask is because the silver polishes up really well and I thought Id get a better effect when the pearl goes over it, kinda like spraying candy over a chrome bumper. Sorry I’ve gotten everyone riled up.

are ya implying youve polished the silver basecoat?
if you dont sand the silver and apply fresh silver, whatever goes on top will basically fall off-anything that goes on top wont have anything to "bite" into.