reworking a fully restored car

Hi Cannucky,

The best way to spray metallic paint IMHO is basecoat / clearcoat. Its very hard to get a quality deep shine on metallics without the metal flake sinking and getting a mottled look to the finish when using single stage which is what i am assuming your using.

Basecoat goes on very smooth and evenly, sprays easily, and dries quickly, the clearcoat you can apply fairly heavy in multiple coats to get your shine. As far as your question i am not sure about the wait time to recoat. I'd google it with the manufacturers paint your using, and or visit your auto body supply tomorrow and pose the question if your not happy with it, TBH, i'd wet sand it smooth by hand with 320 - 400 grit after a week, and do base/clear right over it.

Another question would be what speed of reducer are you using in the paint? Typically on hot days you want to use a slow reducer and maybe a retarder to slow the drying time so the paint will level out, because the warm air can dry it too fast causing dry lines, and bumps or orange peel.

On cold days you want to use a fast reducer to speed up the drying time. Otherwise the paint wont harden fast enough, and multiple coats will produce runs in the paint because its not drying fast enough between coats to support additional coats without sags or runs.

On days where its neither hot or cold, a mid temp reducer is whats required for both of the reasons stated above.

Hope this helps
Matt