Updated 11/21/11: Clear Coat Failure and Repair(with all pics)

Re: Clear Coat Failure and Repair(with all pics)

Very impressive!
One of my buds has a '99 Ford Ranger with a few similar spots he's asked me about fixing, so this post is a great help...
 
Re: Clear Coat Failure and Repair(with all pics)

Bump for some new pics. :)
 
Re: Clear Coat Failure and Repair(with all pics)

Very impressive. Nice job and thank you for the detailed photographic write up!

If I ever have to attempt this myself I'll be sure to take another look at this thread.
 
Re: Clear Coat Failure and Repair(with all pics)

Great post. I appreciate your humbleness and your daring in posting something like this with very little experience. Most people are too scared to say anything on forums for fear of being ridiculed. I'm glad you are open to learning and trying new things. I have always wanted to learn how to paint automobiles. I'm almost 40 so it may be too late for me.
 
Re: Clear Coat Failure and Repair(with all pics)

Not only should you be pleased but damned proud to boot! Thank you for showing us what can be done. Duration of the repair? Who knows but it's light years ahead of where it was.
 
Re: Clear Coat Failure and Repair(with all pics)

Was this rattle can clear? Amazing results.
 
Re: Clear Coat Failure and Repair(with all pics)

Great post. I appreciate your humbleness and your daring in posting something like this with very little experience. Most people are too scared to say anything on forums for fear of being ridiculed. I'm glad you are open to learning and trying new things. I have always wanted to learn how to paint automobiles. I'm almost 40 so it may be too late for me.

Thanks rakkvet I try to make it a practice to not portray something I'm not I think if you let people know up front that you don't know everything and know it, there more inclined to be helpful and less inclined to blast you. I'll be 40 next year so I know how you feel. Wife, kid, dog, house , + bad economy, no time to be adventurous on the job front. But thanks for the kind words.

Thanks all for your comments. I'm going to update with pics soon just haven't had the time. I can say its still holding up. I inspected it today and did notice some spots that look similar to when it started. But not as bad. My thinking is and was my suspicion origanaly is a chemical reaction. I had a leak in the clutch fluid line and the resevuior is on the drivers side. The fluid it takes is brake fluid as we all know is not good for paint. This is pure speculation I realy don't know what happened origanaly just my best guess. But we will see.
 
Re: Clear Coat Failure and Repair(with all pics)

Was this rattle can clear? Amazing results.

Yes this was a rattle can clear. Thank you. Turned out better than I though too but as stated we will see what happens with those pesky spots.
 
Re: Clear Coat Failure and Repair(with all pics)

Yes this was a rattle can clear. Thank you. Turned out better than I though too but as stated we will see what happens with those pesky spots.

What brand of clear.
 
Re: Clear Coat Failure and Repair(with all pics)

Dupli Color Perfect Match
The product #is BCL0125
 
Re: Clear Coat Failure and Repair(with all pics)

And actually this particular can does not have a mixing ball as stated on the can. For what it's worth. :-) But still just a spray can
 
Re: Clear Coat Failure and Repair(with all pics) UPDATED

Ok everyone here is the update this all started on september 12 so we are just over 2 months in. Standing at a normal distance, about 3-4 ft. away the repair still looks good. Closer up you can see the out line of the repaired area but this was visible initially so that hasn't changed or gotten worse from what i can see. In the close ups you can see the spots that i was talking about. Could it be the brake fluid residue eating its way back through? Possibly, I don't know. Someone also said since i used a very fine sandpaper that there could be some bonding issues. I don't think this is the case now but its worth thinking about for those thinking of trying this.

on to the pics

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so there it is. just to review this was never meant to be a permanent repair. just a more effective temporary repair if you could not afford to have the panel repainted. Without extenuating circumstances i.e. chemical corrosion (which may be the case here) I think this is a viable TEMPORARY fix for clear coat failure. Again this was not a large area like the whole hood or roof. Repairs like that would take considerably more work.

Things to consider:
1) If your concerned with making it worse than don't try it.

2) Your skill set. Be comfortable with you ability to paint, wet sand, and polish.

3) There are different types of clear coat out there one that was mentioned here was a 2 part clear that mixes in the can. While this may be a better clear, for a small repair like this i don't think its cost effective. You won't use the whole can and once it is mixed the shelf life is a few days.

4) Make sure to use proper grades of sanding paper to ensure a good bond for the clear. i went light because i was sanding over the unprotected base coat and didn't want to burn through.

5) Make sure to give it enough time to cure before wet sanding. The clear i used said to wait 48 hours. Then i waited several weeks to a month before i waxed it. Not sure if i had to wait that long for wax but i did.

I hope this was helpful and please if you have experience in this area advice on technique, what grade paper to finish with to ensure good bite for the clear, masking, etc. anything like that would be helpful. People are going to try this as is evidenced by some of the comments so lets help them get the best results possible.:dblthumb2::buffing:
 
Re: Clear Coat Failure and Repair(with all pics)

look great from the pics, so for future work to not get a straight lines where you cleared, go a little past and when spraying the clear dont shoot all the way to the tape, with the next coat go a little closer and so fourth so when you remove the tape you will have a blend instead of a clear line.
 
Re: Clear Coat Failure and Repair(with all pics)

Thanks for the advise will definitely keep those tips in mind
 
Thats very impressive man. Good Job blending the clear coat with the rest of the panel.
 
Another bump for this.

Gonna go out tomorrow to look for supplies.

I had a thought let me know if this is a terrible idea or not. I am thinking of buying this clear coat. SprayMax 2K Urethane Aerosol Clear Coat As it seems like it would me more permanent than what the OP used. Since I would be sanding the clear around the failed clear. Would it be a terrible or good idea to continue sanding the whole panel and re-clear the whole thing as opposed to spraying only over the sanded portion?
Good idea? Bad idea?
 
So for some reason I cannot edit my post.

I went out and bought some supplies. I went to a local bodyshop supply place.

The guy I talked to said I should try this out. He says it should last just as long as the 2k in a can. They had it too.

http://www.u-pol.com/product-cat/118/clear#1™-high-gloss-clear-coat.htm

He recommened a scuff pad for the clear and I got a puddy spreader to chip the clear.

Went to autozone next for some other stuff I forgot to get. I got a multi pack of wet dry sand paper 1k-2.5k grit and some green auto tape.

Gonna do some reading on techniques and I will post back with the results,
 
I know Im a lil late, and this is my first post, But I worked at a body shop for a while and have done this repair myself before. Basically you do everything right, but you should have taped FARRRR BEYOND the area being cleared, apply most of the clear to the damaged areas, to make it level, and cleared the rest, without going to the tape. You shouldnt even be close to the tape, just kinda let the clear over spray past the repair and get a lil bit on the surrounding areas, that way when you wetsand it, It will blend in easier with no hard edges.
 
Hey better late than never. That's good advise thanks for your input on this. So with your backround what would you suggest for sand paper as far as the last step before clear. Some said what I used might be too fine to get a good bond. I was just trying to go lite so I didn't go through the base coat. Just trying to clarify for others. And maybe get this process refined so we know what to do and how to properly do it. Thanks again for your input.
 
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