How do I repair my clearcoat?

The clearcoat, from what it appears to me, is beginning to crack on my hood. None has actually peeled or flaked off, it has just begun to split apart in little areas roughly the size of a dime, all over the hood. The rest of the hood and the top of my front fenders have what looks like to be dried dirty water but will not wipe off hah. It looks like the clear coat is just going to S@#&

I can't really explain it better, but I was just wondering if someone with paint/repair skills could help point me in the right direction. I hope to catch this early before the paint or clearcoat starts coming off. I've tried waxes and fillers to try and clean it up, but it still looks like crap, rest of the truck looks amazing though! I assume some sanding and spraying is in call? What products should I use?

I'll take pictures upon request if anyone wants to see wtf i'm talking about... I'm not crazy I swear! let me know what you think

 

[ninobrn99]

you should probably should post some pics so we can ***** better

 

[Blee1099]

If its orange peel, best is to wet sand it down and see if it clears up.. You can try clay barring the car too before wet sanding, you'd be suprised how well a clay bar car would look vs a non-clay barred car that was just washed/waxed.

 

[Brandon96]

Here's what I have to work with;

There's the spots i'm talking about, I don't know how to refer to them, so here's what they look like.

And here's the cracks in the clear coat;

Any tips on how to go about cleaning this up? it's only on my hood and top of the fenders.

 

[nole99]

I once had a similar problem in a very small area ... 3 inches square or so ...

Here was my fix as recommended by a body guy I know ...

Step one I did a fairly light wetsand with 3000 grit to eliminate the higher edges ... by fairly lightwe are talking less than five minutes using left - right then Up - Down strokes

Step Two was to go over the small area with a clear coat touch up paint by hand ... not sparay then let it dry overnight

Step three was a wet sand with 2000 grit to get it nice and smooth and blended

Step four was a a rotary buffer with a four inch light cut pad and Meguirs #1 med cut cleaner

Step Five was the rotary buffer with four inch polish pad and meguiars #82 Swirl free polish

Looked new upon completion ... of course it was a relatively small area

Ironically ... I have this happening on both front corners of the hood on the 01 Sport I just picked up ... but it is just very faint and no ridges that my nails catches on ... so I should be able to just wet-sand and polish

Please note ... that if you are not skilled with a Rotary Buffer you can cause serious irreversible damage to your paint ... You could substitute the use of a rotary with a Porter Cable 7624 DA and a cleaner polish combo of Meguiars #105 then # 205 ... this is what I would use today ... those options weren't around 5 years ago

One last suggestion ... if time and $$$ permit ... head on down to the Junk yard or a body shop and find a panel that looks kinda like yours as far the cracking ... and Practice ... it most certainly will help!!!

 

[Brandon96]

Wow, big help!

I'll be looking into a lot of Meguir's products for this job. I've got a basic understanding of what needs to be done, and how to do it. From what I've read through Meguir's forums, this is called Clearcoat Failure. They suggested almost exactly what you said.

We'll see how it goes this weekend..

 

[MONMIX]

clear is going bye-bye.

Noles tips are a good time buyer in that it takes the ugly and hides it but does not solve the issue which is the clear is "letting go" of the surface it is attached to. Your hood.

Strip and repaint is the best and sadly the most expensive fix.

 

[Axial32]

Could DA it all he way down to primer and repaint it and re-clear it or get a single stage paint so you don't have to deal with clearing.

 

[nole99]

clear is going bye-bye.

Noles tips are a good time buyer in that it takes the ugly and hides it but does not solve the issue which is the clear is "letting go" of the surface it is attached to. Your hood.

Strip and repaint is the best and sadly the most expensive fix.

Ohhh and yea ... what he said .. lol

See a lot of it out here in Phoenix ... cars just bake away in the sun

If it is a small enough spot ... you should be able to buy yourself some time

On the spot I had on my mountaineer it never got worse or developed anywhere else ... but that is no guarantee

Grab a test panel and start playing around some

 

[tjnissen]

a

 

[tjnissen]

Clear coat


My problem is all columns of the vehicle has clear coat failure,
my remedy will be the Best Body shop in town, i want it done by the professionals.

thanks

 

[Axial32]

...

 

[BigRondo]

My problem is all columns of the vehicle has clear coat failure,
my remedy will be the Best Body shop in town, i want it done by the professionals.

thanks

Check this out: How to paint pillar trim. It's been 5 months and they look as good as the day I painted them!!

Hope this helps out! :biggthump