I made a very foolish error for the first and the last time -- I've sanded through the clear coat on my 99 Silverado. Please see attached pictures -- it's significantly worse in real life than the pictures illustrate. I recently purchased the truck and it had stains and tar that elbow grease and bug/tar remover wouldn't budge. I used a small hand sander (yes, I know, very dumb) and was able to remove the stains. I had water constantly running (my logic being it would keep from "burning" the clear coat) and what I didn't realize was I was indeed removing the clear coat. I've had a couple estimates to have the truck sanded, painted with base and clear coats and the low-end estimates run 700-900. It's a 99 model with 180K miles. I'm reluctant to spend this much on a work truck but also am not a fan of the chicken-pox paint. Do you have any suggestions?
Much appreciated.
Much appreciated.