Bad paint job

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4spd mod

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The clear coat is flaking in multiple areas of my paint job. I estimate the paint is roughly 20 years old, as it was this way when I purchased the car.
Question is, can I sand back the bad spots of clear to feather in the edges, scuff the entire car, then spray the whole thing with another coat or two of clear? Or, will this just make the bad spots stand out more? I'm just trying to get by for a few years till I can afford a new paint job. Tks for any input.
 
I am not a paint expert so take what I say lightly. On my recent restoration, when we were sanding the trash out of the clear coat we sanded through the clear in a few areas. To fix it we had to spray color and clear on the whole panel to cover it.
 
Your old paint is no longer compatible with modern paints chemically. It is time to strip off the old completely and respray.
 
4spd mod said:
The clear coat is flaking in multiple areas of my paint job. I estimate the paint is roughly 20 years old, as it was this way when I purchased the car.
Question is, can I sand back the bad spots of clear to feather in the edges, scuff the entire car, then spray the whole thing with another coat or two of clear? Or, will this just make the bad spots stand out more? I'm just trying to get by for a few years till I can afford a new paint job. Tks for any input.
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Simple fix and cheap is to buy some spray can clear and just spray over the spots that the clear has peeled off.
Not sure how bad your car is but it worked on mine real well. If you're going to re paint it later that would be your best fix for a while.
Don't sand it just clean it with some wax and grease remover first.
 
jeff alder said:
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If you just want to buy some time yes you can do what you are asking. It will be labor intensive if you have a lot of peeling spots and the clear coat is thick. Stay off the color as much as you can when sanding. This video will play just click on it. Good luck
 
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It all depends on what you are willing to accept in the way of quality. Obviously since your clear is peeling, quality is going downhill, and if you want to just get by for a few more years, then you want to keep it as simple as possible. I do not recommend trying to sand/feather the peeling clearcoat edges, a typical two part clear coat is thick, on average about 2 mils, and basecoat is very thin, more akin to a dye, and I guarantee that you will be sanding through your color and exposing the primer below it, making for an unsightly bullseye, just like @j_anderson experienced.
I would do what @jeff alder suggested, just go get some cans of spray clear, scuff sand the panels you plan on spraying with a grey scotchbrite or finer(paying considerable attention to the edges of the panels), mask the areas, clean the panels with a wax/grease remover, do NOT use paint thinner, you will remove the base color that has been exposed, blow it off and tack with a tack rag, and then spray the clear over the entire panels. Good prep is key to the new clear sticking to the surface, or else you will be facing the same delamination problem with the clear you have just sprayed and it will peel off too.
Your skill/environment sprayed in will determine how good or bad it looks, but dont expect a bodyshop quality job, but it will get you by for a few years.
Hope this helps.
 
This is why I'm a 'rust' and 'bondo' man. That **** never changes.
 
Any decent fix will require stripping down to good paint and sealing before new base/clear at a minimum.
 
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