Professor David
Well-known member
I had a good paint day today. Finishing up the body work on the new to me motorhome I purchased 6 months ago. Just need to polish the clear coat and button up things.
Fender/bumper repair on new to me motorhome
- Thread starter Professor David
- Start date
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8Muddypaws
Well-known member
Nice. Are you a professional auto painter? I know someone who would appreciate your expertise very much.
Come to think of it I have a few spots with peeling clear coat. I was quoted $2300 to take care of them.
Come to think of it I have a few spots with peeling clear coat. I was quoted $2300 to take care of them.
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Professor David
Well-known member
Thanks! Not a professional but have restored about 10 or more cars. I'm getting better at this work after many years of trials and many errors. Always willing to help a friend or even a new friend.
Send me some pictures of the work you need done. Clear coat can be fairly easy to fix up. Just sand without going through the color coat and spray with clear coat and buff out.
8Muddypaws
Well-known member
I'll see if I can find the pictures. My damage is pretty typical. Front cap ove the windshield, rear cap near the roof, and the rear bumper.
HueyPilotVN
Well-known member
I have two small areas on my 89 Mustang that I tried to touch up.
They were caused while being hauled on the lift in my Stacker trailer by a chains that hung from the ceiling and rubbed away the paint on two circles about the size of a silver dollar down to the bare metal.
I bought a custom matched gallon of metallic blue paint and did a god job of laying down the color coat.
I then sprayed it with clear coat and messed it up with to heavy spray.
It is two relatively small areas. One is above the 5.0 logo and the other is above and slightly behind the rear wheel on the passenger side as seen in the second picture.
I went to a paint shop and was under the impression that they would have to strip the whole area and was quoted several thousand dollars.
I would really like to know what the exact procedure to use to remove the clear coat without damaging the color coat.
They were caused while being hauled on the lift in my Stacker trailer by a chains that hung from the ceiling and rubbed away the paint on two circles about the size of a silver dollar down to the bare metal.
I bought a custom matched gallon of metallic blue paint and did a god job of laying down the color coat.
I then sprayed it with clear coat and messed it up with to heavy spray.
It is two relatively small areas. One is above the 5.0 logo and the other is above and slightly behind the rear wheel on the passenger side as seen in the second picture.
I went to a paint shop and was under the impression that they would have to strip the whole area and was quoted several thousand dollars.
I would really like to know what the exact procedure to use to remove the clear coat without damaging the color coat.
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Rene T
Site Team
Bill, are you still selling your car?
There are a library of YT videos on touching up clear coat. I'd messed up some on the hood of my Outback, the tutorials on YT walked me right through the process using rattle can clear coat.
The best thing about a high quality clear coat is if the clear coat was properly mixed it doesn't matter if it was sprayed too thick. Cheap quality clear coats or if not mixed right may stay soft forever and have to be removed. Rattle can clear coats are ok if they are 2k like Eastwood. Otherwise rattle can jobs don't last.
It helps to gently draw an outline around the area with a very soft pencil so you don't stray out of the area when sanding. Don't wipe out the pencil line until the last polishing step. If you sand too much an air brush can fix small areas.
On a large area use an air or electric dual action sander but hand sand close to the perimeter. On your small area hand sand using the same motion as a dual action. Start with 1000 grit, then 2000, then 3000. When you see a uniform improvement move to the next grit. Then buff with rubbing compound until it really starts to shine followed by polishing compound until the shine is fully restored.
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Mark_K5LXP
Well-known member
In my experience a clear repair job never lasts. With 2 part paints there is a time window to apply the clear over color, a chemical bond is taking place. Sanding an existing area fine enough you won't see the scratches isn't enough tooth for a new coat of clear to adhere well. At the edges where it's feathered and polished it will be very thin and it will flake. On cars where I've blended a repaired panel or area to an unrepaired one the color is faded then the whole panel gets cleared. The only paint I've worked with that a seamless repair could be done is lacquer, but the durability of lacquer is poor. With the exception of the 2 part cans like 2K, most rattle can paint is lacquer and won't hold up. A spot repair/sand/polish of clear will look OK for a little while but the only real fix is a new coat. Depending on the scope of the job it can sometimes be faster to start over than meticulously sand and polish.
Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM
Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM
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Professor David
Well-known member
that should be fairly straight forward.
Lot's of spot on replies about how to do this above. As stated, check out Youtube. Watch several videos. It does take some skill and practice to wet sand just enough to take down the clear and not go into the color layers. In my post above, I put down about 7 to 8 coats of color and 3 coats of clear. Not sure what your situation is with the mustang (nice car BTW)...that is...how many coats? Sometimes I practice on something before working on the actual project. Let me know how it goes!
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Professor David
Well-known member
Great point!! It pays off big time to use the best materials you can find. They will cost more upfront but totally mandatory.
Another thing...is compatibility of materials. Good idea to make a trip to your local body shop paint supplier to use their considerable expertise.
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Any paint which doesn't recommend using a respirator won't last as long. I've used the Martin Senour brand of paint from NAPA the past 20 years. Living in a smaller town it is the highest quality available to me and I've had good results with it. I see they have what must be the highest quality because it is illegal to sell in CA 
That's a good enough recommendation for me.
That's a good enough recommendation for me.More coats gives you a 3D effect like looking in a deep pool of water. Some show jobs exceed $10K in materials alone. That's beyond my financial and patience limits.
I painted my 73 truck entirely in bed liner 14 years ago because it is pretty much a lifetime paint job. Popular with off roaders because bed liner is scratch resistant and strengthens the body. If you watched the tornado chaser show 10 years ago they put on bed liner 1/2" thick and survived going through a tornado.
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Professor David
Well-known member
Had some trouble buffing out the paint/clear. Used a new compound for me (Maguiars Ultra 105) and got carried away a bit and went through the color in a couple of spots. Bummer!! Had to wet sand, repaint and clear the valance. Using a Makita 9237CX3 7" Polisher with a wool pad. Got it looking really good today using the Ultra 105 and the wool pad...but could not leave it alone...wanted to get it absolutely perfect and then...went too far into the clear on a couple spots with a fine SPTA Buffing Polishing Pad. The pad hit the hinge on the valance and came apart just enough to buzz through the clear in two small spots! Not sure these pads are any good but most likely user error. Had to wet sand a section of the valance again and put 3 coats of clear. I'll take a shot at buffing it tomorrow. It is really hard for me to buff clear that has not completely cured. Waited 48 hours the first time...only 24 hours on the second. Working to find the right touch with the buffer, which is great but it is a total monster. Bought the buffer to polish out the oxidizied fiberglass on the rig. Should be in good shape finishing up tomorrow. Wish me luck.
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Oldgator73
Well-known member
I just read your reply and it was like in a foreign language. I have been handling our son’s affairs with the VA and Social Security for several years now, compiling records and correspondence and insuring everyone involved has what they ask for. I seem to be very good at minutiae.
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Professor David
Well-known member
Painting is very fastidious and tedious work. It can be very frustrating at times.
Oldgator73
Well-known member
A friend asked me to join a disabled veterans fly fishing club. I enjoy fishing but fly fishing is too fussy for me so I dropped out of the club.
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Professor David
Well-known member
Are you doing any other fishing?
Oldgator73
Well-known member
Not really. We live close to the shore and there’s a lake about 5 minutes from our house. Delaware is not a pretty place. I used to fish in Alaska; salmon and lake trout and in Oregon for lake trout. I grew up in Florida so fished a lot as growing up.
