Single stage vs Two Stage vs 50% base/clear

I keep forgetting to get other peoples input. I have been playing around with some panels. One with single stage black, another base/clear black and another single stage base, with single stage 50% clear mix. In pictures they look about the same, but in the sun, the single stage seems to just have more depth and gloss, but I am not sure if it is just my imagination.
What go me thinking is, I saw some reruns of American Hot Rod, and noticed that Boyd used single stage on most of the projects that were on the show, but they never say why?
Also, how much effect does the final grade of paper used to do the last sanding before painting? 400 vs 800 or ??
Let me know your thoughts and experiences. I have few projects that will be Black. Some black cars I see in the shows, just look like liquid black plastic and a mile deep shine, where others look good straight on, but looking down the side seems like they look "cloudy" is the only way to explain it!
Here is a good example of one that just looks what I am talking about, in the sun or florescent light, it looks great.

Interesting...this depends on the money you have to spend,and the effect you want..Back in the bad old days of acrylic laquer,we always treated a black paint job with respect,,they always needed a wee bit more prep,and yes,,the grit of the final rub is always important..I always used 320 dry on the final primer coat,hit it with three or four coats of color,then the next day,knock the top off it with 800 wet,then give it a few more coats with 50/50 color and a good quality clear,then a couple of days later,1200 wet and machine polish,,Always had a bit of depth to it..If I wanted to do a black repaint with todays materials,I would go base coat/clear coat,for the same reason...the depth of the finish,which I personally think is a whole lot nicer than a solid color with out clear..Just buy GOOD quality materials,if you have Spies Hecker/Standox,or DuPont,any of the big brands,including the two pack clear..No one ever regrets buying quality.I have used DuPont Nason,and found it to be a real nice clear to polish up..

I ended up going the single stage black with a 50% clear mix for the final coat. My paint supplier told me he was in Roger Ward's shop the day before and Roger was shooting George Poteet's latest ride using the same approach. His instruction to me was epoxy prime, sand 500 wet and complete any filling, etc. If down to bare metal shoot a coat of primer, or reduce 25% for a seal coat if it had been more than a week, wait 15 minutes and spray the single stage base (no sanding of the fresh primer). Once you have good cover, mix the top coat and after an hour flash time shoot your final coat wet. Let it dry overnight, wet sand 1500 keeping away from edges, and two stage polish 3M white then 3M blue. Sands and polishes really easy at that point, but gets harder as time passes.

On blacks, there are lots of black hues out there. Matrix (and PPG, I believe since Matrix matches PPG mix codes exactly) uses Harley Davidson black as their black base tone, and then adds tints to get OEM blacks. The only way to get a blacker black than their pure base is to shoot a thin, even coat of candy blue over the final coat then clear it. Supposed to be the absolute blackest black possible, at least until someone comes up with a new trick. I stayed with their base black with nothing added. Wonder how base black with candy blue ghost flames would look??:cool:

I have heard that before, "It's so black it looks blue" I will have to try that!

well in single stage ppg dau 9300 was as back as you could get from ppg ,nothing form the mixing bank was as deep and black . if you cut back with clear then you muddy it up so the base coats /clears that the blacks are tinted red and blue .i am a nut for black i like single stage in black so you buffing the black not clear .guy had i new low mile truck i shot the hole truck with ppg factory pack 9300 he did not like the base clear on the truck .i can tell you one of the last paint jobs i did at work was a grand national shot the hole car but the hood .they ran out of 9300 factory pack and sold us a mix off the bank i did not know this as we shot the hoods always off the car and my prep guy shot it with a bank mix . but he could not wheel so i wheeled out the car yep the hood looked gray up the top of the front fenders that were 9300 factory pack paint

I have always liked shooting SS Black , stays blacker/deeper IMO ( a little old trick I learned years ago is to add a bit of kandy purple to black makes it seem deeper on a blue sky day, as the blue of the sky is absorbed by the black ;) ;) ) , as when you add clear it seems to look a tad cloudy wether added clear or clear top coated .
Plus it scratched white , not black ;)
Next time your up close to a new black vehicle ( which will be BC/CC ) look around the door handles there will be a bunch of little white scratches from fingernails ;) ;) it will do this on ANY color that is cleared ! white will be the only color that wont show ..LOL

This '06 F350 of mine is my 3rd black vehicle (I know, I like punishment). The past two, a '68 Torino and an '86 Mustang GT were both SS - and were BLACK BLACK!! This truck - many many of those little scratches(tailgate, gas filler door where that tethered cap rests) and that paint will never have the color nor depth of the two earlier cars

Hi there,

I'm painting my 70 goat with ppg 9300 concept single stage black. Do you know if it's safe to add some HOK kandy blue or purple to a gallon to obtain the blackest black depth of the paint?

i never clear a black car. a black with some phalo blue in it is as good as it gets.
one important thing. never use economy grade reducers. they will absorb water and turn the carbon in the black brown. a good dry air supply is also important.
depth is achieved by the clarity of the finish .

ya gotta work for black !