Can anyone explain this?

My '79 Petrol Blue has/had a severely oxidized paint on the top surfaces, having spent 10 years in southern Florida. I have machine polished the car and it came out great. But, after a few days, some parts (roof, right fender) started to fog over. The rest of the car stayed shiny.

 

its because youve warn throught hte paint

I dont know if these car were clearcoated, its color and year specific i think. But it sounds like your car is suffering from what all japanese cars in the 80's and early 90's does, the clear coat hazing and flaking off. You cant polish that out, you need to repaint

 

actually

If its a one stage paint, meaning no clear coat, you should be able to buff it to match until you hit the primer underneath.

It shounds like your car is clear coated and its the clearcoat thats coming up.

 

I feel for your pain. It will get worse. I know, because I have been there.

Shortly after buying my '86.5 Meteormettalic which appeared in good condition in the photos (I got it on the web). A PPI produced no reports of paint flaws, just one long scratch on the passenger fender. After I saw the car and the "new" wore off, I regained my objectivity and noticed some worn spots on the roof and hatch where I suppose the PO had used a buffer. In fact, as I handed him the check, he said he had just had the car detailed. Well, a couple of years later, the spots have turned to flaking clear coat, and the roof and hood are fogged over with whitish splotches which I am sure will ultimately fail and need to be repainted. I am beginning to save for the big hit: an everything off complete repaint. Hurts. Hard to justify the cost against the value of the car. But it is so bad I might win the ugly car award at the next appearance in public. Can't sleep well at night. Pisses me off, because there is nothing I did or can do about it. Maybe I'll learn to paint cars.

 

A few months ago, I was watching one of those car shows (discovery or something) and there was a custom painter that sanded off the clearcoat. He then proceesed to paint the flames. Once completed, the clear was sprayed over the entire car.

Is it possible to sand off the clear and have it resprayed?

Roger

 

Roger,
Yes it is possible to sand off the bad clear coat and respray but the base color is very thin and you run the risk of sanding through it. This is a patch at best but I have witnessed several vehicles that this was done to and it definitely improves the looks.

 

One of the beauties of a base/clear system is that damage within a panel can be repaired without repainting the entire panel.The panel is wet sanded and the specific area is sprayed base colour( which is flat .... as in 'no shine'): then the entire panel is resprayed with the 'clear' ... which is the 'shine'.

If the base colour is still intact, a delicate wet sanding of the remaining clear should allow a reapplication of the same.

 

I hope you are correct Garth. Most shops to which I have taken the car claim I need to repaint the entire car. One said they could do the roof and hatch for $1600. Maybe it would be worth it. But eventually I shall need to paint the rest of the car. Hey, it is only 20 years old.......they don't make 'em like they used to make 'em.

 

ya for $1600, i would go for the intire car wallet hit!

 

Whoa !!! Entire car at that shop is 2 months and $10,000 plus !! Ouch. I only paid $6500 for the car. This is Kalifornia. Ahnald-land. An expensive part of Kalifornia, and they see us coming. I am thinking about buying some equipment and learning myself ....or taking the car somewhere out of sate.

 

The quote was likely a bare metal respray with all parts taken off. They, or you have to remove all the glass, trim, bumpers, seals, etc. then take off all the paint to metal, prep with etch, primer, paint, paint clear coat.

I can see that being $10k for a 928 in two stage in the Peoples Repubilik. sure, you can get it done cheaper here in Texas, and I know just the guy to do it. He's done several 911s and they look sharp. He can also do what you want with full strip, removal of the glass and trim. It'll prolly be about $6k or so.

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AJK; Your paint is a two stage with basecoat and clearcoat over the top. When the clearcoat is gone through, you are polishing a dull basecoat and it will only stay shiny for a few weeks/months depending on the weather. The good news is that this repairable by a KNOWLEDGABLE paint shop.

Finding an honest one that will do the job right is going to be hard. They all want to sell you a new basecoat because that's where the money is. What you need to have done when you are ready to repair it right:

Clean the car with a clean rag and Ajax to remove all the wax, dirt, film, etc.

Start wet sanding with 400 or 600 depending on the amount of clear left on the car. This is tricky. While sanding, look for white milky residue which will be the clear coat coming off. If(when) the residue begins to turn blue - STOP! You are at the base coat layer. Work one panel at a time and don't forget what is at basecoat and what isn't.

Get all the panels that are hazy down to the basecoat, identified when the 600 grit is starting to produce blue residue. If you go through into the primer, it can be paint matched and repaired, but it's a hassle. Again, a GOOD painter will be able to match it almost exactly. Blues aren't that hard to match, reds and yellow are a be-atch. Clean up with clear water and nothing else.

Taping is very important. Buy the best fine-line auto tape in 1/4" and 1/2" rolls and tape very carefully the areas not to be clear coated. Then use either masking tape with newspaper or use a body shop taping rack to cover everything that you don't want clearcoat haze on.

Use a Tack Cloth just before spraying. Spray in a closed area, and use a mask. Wet the floor and any other areas that might have a lot of dust. Do a small section at a time, and follow the catalizing instructions with the product. I use PPG, and it'll work on almost any basecoat, but check first on a small section and look for orange peel surface, or small cracking in the base.

You'll almost never get it perfectly clear, or perfectly smooth without bumps. If your spray gun doesn't have a line filter, it'll be kinda bumpy. Once you've got about 3 thin coats on, you can let it dry, and remove all the tape. Pull the tape off at a 160 degree angle from it's surface(pull back, not up). Once off, you can wet sand with 1200-1500 grit, then wet sand with 2000 and start with the 3M Super Duty compound and a buffing wheel with 100% WOOL pad. Clean the pad regularly.

Once you've got the surface buffed, you can work down with different compounds until you're at a wax type substrate. Keep the pads clean, they can be washed and reused.

Yes, it's a lot of work, yes it's a lot of time, but as you can see, it's not too expensive compared to a cheat shop that wants to sell you a whole new basecoat/clearcoat paint job. I've done this on older cars with good results when the clear becomes dull with oxidation, or loss of clear coat. If you're not a DIY guy, print this out, and take it to a paint shop. Have them bid on the job as described. Be prepared to hear all the voodoo about 'that might not work, it might look bad, etc'. Just bid the job, and do the work right, it'll look fine. Remeber, do not buff on a black car!

Doc

 

Doc:

You're right about the kind of job they want to do for $10k. Complete strip and repaint. It seems to be the right way to achieve the results I want, although I know a guy that does fantastic Porsche paint and he claims the last thing that should ever happen is to break the factory primer.

My car has milky or cloudy white clear coat. Maybe I should try your process. I'll print it out. Thanks.

 

Doc,

"Remember, do not buff on a black car!"

What's wrong with buffing a black car?

Harvey

 

Black cars are a pain to get all of the scratches out of. But when they are buffed they look beautiful.

Art, Call Hawk Frame 377-3000 and ask for Eddie Rosen. Tell him you're a friend of Woody's son Curt. They can take a look at it and price it. My father Woody, is one of the owners. They paint everything from 50' trailers and full size trucks (Every see that Metallic Brown on Wegman's trucks) to parts of cars. We may even be able to do it as a side job cash only on a weekend, depending on the prep you want to do. PM me for details. They have two paint booths one for the big trucks and one for cars. DuPont paint.

 

Thanks Curt.

BTW, what happened to the breakfast run to Naples last Sunday?