Solutions for bad clear coat

[sbman]

If you go to an automotive paint store, they mix up an OEM color in any brand of paint you want and put two part (paint/catalyst) automotive paint into a rattle can for you.

If you want two stage base/clear you can buy the two stage system with a can of color and a can of clear. It's not the cheapest thing but it's very easy to use you don't need a spray gun or compressor or anything.

The cans have a push button on the bottom that release the catalyst inside the can, once you press it and shake it you have a few hours to use the can up before the paint is no longer usable from the can. the store I've done this at gives a core charge on the can as well if you come back for a refill.

 

[Box Rocket]

I used paint like what @sbman described. I had it mixed at a local paint supply store. I used PPG for the color and an off the shelf 2-part clear that they recommended. Worked well.

 

[bajaphile]

@sbman do you have name of a local place you'd recommend?

 

[Box Rocket]

To be clear, my rattle can job is decent but it's not the same as a professional respray. The rest of the body on my truck has dings and scratches from 20 years of wheeling so I wasn't after show quality.
I think the rattle can job can look great with good prep and good quality paint/clear. But it's the inexpensive option. If you really want it to look perfect a professional respray is a better choice.

 

[FJ80993]

I realise this is a three-year-old thread, but wanted to say thanks to MDarius and Box Rocket for sharing their rattle/can fix for peeling clear coat, a problem that seems to plague many of our 80s, including my ‘97. My situation was almost exactly the same as theirs, peeling clear coat on the hood and fenders. I’ll admit I was a tad apprehensive in the beginning, but after seeing their results I decided to give it a try.

The first thing I did was order my paint, four rattle cans of primer, four cans of the factory colour coats, in my case I needed two, Desert Dune and Moonglow, I also ordered eight cans of 2K clear-coat that comes with it’s own activator that mixes a catalyst inside the can before you use it. (2K clear coat is what they use at auto-body shops and is far superior to any of the crap you’re going find at your local auto parts store.) NOTE: 2K Clear-coat is nasty stuff, and requires you to use a dual cartridge ventilator!)

Then I pretty much just follow their lead in regard to workflow, sanding, masking, primer, colour coat and finally the 2K clear-coat.

Beyond that, I would highly recommend you take advantage of YouTube videos that are specifically about painting cars with rattle cans, there are tons of them and some are quite helpful.

Lastly, if I had it to do over again I would go the extra step and completely remove the hood and stick it on a couple sawhorses! As it turned out it was almost impossible for me to reach far enough to achieve an even spray pattern on the middle/back section of the hood, especially when using rattle cans!

 

[lumbee1]

I realise this is a three-year-old thread, but wanted to say thanks to MDarius and Box Rocket for sharing their rattle/can fix for peeling clear coat, a problem that seems to plague many of our 80s, including my ‘97. My situation was almost exactly the same as theirs, peeling clear coat on the hood and fenders. I’ll admit I was a tad apprehensive in the beginning, but after seeing their results I decided to give it a try.

The first thing I did was order my paint, four rattle cans of primer, four cans of the factory colour coats, in my case I needed two, Desert Dune and Moonglow, I also ordered eight cans of 2K clear-coat that comes with it’s own activator that mixes a catalyst inside the can before you use it. (2K clear coat is what they use at auto-body shops and is far superior to any of the crap you’re going find at your local auto parts store.) NOTE: 2K Clear-coat is nasty stuff, and requires you to use a dual cartridge ventilator!)

Then I pretty much just follow their lead in regard to workflow, sanding, masking, primer, colour coat and finally the 2K clear-coat.

Beyond that, I would highly recommend you take advantage of YouTube videos that are specifically about painting cars with rattle cans, there are tons of them and some are quite helpful.

Lastly, if I had it to do over again I would go the extra step and completely remove the hood and stick it on a couple sawhorses! As it turned out it was almost impossible for me to reach far enough to achieve an even spray pattern on the middle/back section of the hood, especially when using rattle cans!

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Wow! thanks for the update. I'm in a bit of a pickle myself with massive clear coat failure on numerous surfaces. While Maaco is an option, I don't know if I would be completely happy with their work.

 

[MDarius]

I realise this is a three-year-old thread, but wanted to say thanks to MDarius and Box Rocket for sharing their rattle/can fix for peeling clear coat, a problem that seems to plague many of our 80s, including my ‘97. My situation was almost exactly the same as theirs, peeling clear coat on the hood and fenders. I’ll admit I was a tad apprehensive in the beginning, but after seeing their results I decided to give it a try.

The first thing I did was order my paint, four rattle cans of primer, four cans of the factory colour coats, in my case I needed two, Desert Dune and Moonglow, I also ordered eight cans of 2K clear-coat that comes with it’s own activator that mixes a catalyst inside the can before you use it. (2K clear coat is what they use at auto-body shops and is far superior to any of the crap you’re going find at your local auto parts store.) NOTE: 2K Clear-coat is nasty stuff, and requires you to use a dual cartridge ventilator!)

Then I pretty much just follow their lead in regard to workflow, sanding, masking, primer, colour coat and finally the 2K clear-coat.

Beyond that, I would highly recommend you take advantage of YouTube videos that are specifically about painting cars with rattle cans, there are tons of them and some are quite helpful.

Lastly, if I had it to do over again I would go the extra step and completely remove the hood and stick it on a couple sawhorses! As it turned out it was almost impossible for me to reach far enough to achieve an even spray pattern on the middle/back section of the hood, especially when using rattle cans!

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Wow! That looks great!! I did rattle can the removed fender flares last year. I just used a flat color, but it's held up well, even with wheeling and mud. With good masking, prep, a still day, and a little "devil may care" attitude, I think an average guy can get great results! I went redneck with mine and decided to leave the hood. It's my teenage daughter's high school car, and it all gives it attitude and teenage pride.

Edit: This is hardware store paint, not automotive specific or color matched or anything. $5.99 a can. It was a test to see if I could do it, how it would look, and if I wanted to pay for a more professional look. If I ever have to do work to my '97 I probably will. But the '92 is what it is.

 

[Road Apple]

Love the Yeti walking up the hill !!

 

[MDarius]

Love the Yeti walking up the hill !!

We're pretty proud of that. Her friends named it "the squatch-mobile". Her nickname on the basketball team is "Squatch". So, we bought a 10-pack of sasquatch stickers and she's hidden them inside and outside the truck as easter eggs. This was my contribution:

 

[Box Rocket]

It's been a few years since I painted my hood. The color matched area is holding up well still. The black center had faded and needed a touch up. I decided to try some vinyl this time. Ordered up a 5x6' sheet of satin black 3M vinyl and applied it to the center area and also wrapped the hood scoop with the same stuff. I just did this a few days ago so we'll see how it does over time. But I'm happy with how it turned out. The edge is a little rough but that's the underlying paint, not the vinyl.
Hood vinyl by Adam Tolman, on Flickr

Hood vinyl by Adam Tolman, on Flickr

 

[FJ80993]

MDarius, I think you made the right call with the ‘92, removing the flares and adding the Yeti is brilliant! Well done. I think your ‘97 on the other hand would be a great candid, when the time comes, for a quality rattle can resto. For about 200 bucks for paint, masking materials, sandpaper and a couple days well spent in my garage, I was quite pleased with the results. It’s far from perfect, but for the money you can’t beat it! Oh as to your earlier question, definitely take the hood off, I know it’s a pain in the arse but you’ll get a far better result in the end. (I’ve also enclosed a couple of pix of the hood, there was quite a bit of orange peel right after I sprayed it, but with a little cutting compound and wax It look pretty much like the rest of the car park)

 

[MDarius]

MDarius, I think you made the right call with the ‘92, removing the flares and adding the Yeti is brilliant! Well done. I think your ‘97 on the other hand would be a great candid, when the time comes, for a quality rattle can resto. For about 200 bucks for paint, masking materials, sandpaper and a couple days well spent in my garage, I was quite pleased with the results. It’s far from perfect, but for the money you can’t beat it! Oh as to your earlier question, definitely take the hood off, I know it’s a pain in the arse but you’ll get a far better result in the end. (I’ve also enclosed a couple of pix of the hood, there was quite a bit of orange peel right after I sprayed it, but with a little cutting compound and wax It look pretty much like the rest of the car park)

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On the 97, If I ever stop running up mountain roads at 40mph, catching branches and flipping rocks, I'll probably go there. Maybe.

 

[FJ80993]

It's been a few years since I painted my hood. The color matched area is holding up well still. The black center had faded and needed a touch up. I decided to try some vinyl this time. Ordered up a 5x6' sheet of satin black 3M vinyl and applied it to the center area and also wrapped the hood scoop with the same stuff. I just did this a few days ago so we'll see how it does over time. But I'm happy with how it turned out. The edge is a little rough but that's the underlying paint, not the vinyl.
Hood vinyl by Adam Tolman, on Flickr

Hood vinyl by Adam Tolman, on Flickr

Box Rocket, the scoop and side intakes look awesome! Did you add them simply for cooling, or are they part of some other performance function like a supercharger?

 

[FirstToy]

That's awesome work!
I have some clear cracking on my fenders, I just sanded lightly and sprayed clear over it- to keep it from spreading.

I already have the primer, color and clear to do the job right but may wait and get the 2K clear instead.
The single stage clear seem pretty durable but baking in the sun, 2K might save me doing this twice....

I realise this is a three-year-old thread, but wanted to say thanks to MDarius and Box Rocket for sharing their rattle/can fix for peeling clear coat, a problem that seems to plague many of our 80s, including my ‘97. My situation was almost exactly the same as theirs, peeling clear coat on the hood and fenders. I’ll admit I was a tad apprehensive in the beginning, but after seeing their results I decided to give it a try.

The first thing I did was order my paint, four rattle cans of primer, four cans of the factory colour coats, in my case I needed two, Desert Dune and Moonglow, I also ordered eight cans of 2K clear-coat that comes with it’s own activator that mixes a catalyst inside the can before you use it. (2K clear coat is what they use at auto-body shops and is far superior to any of the crap you’re going find at your local auto parts store.) NOTE: 2K Clear-coat is nasty stuff, and requires you to use a dual cartridge ventilator!)

Then I pretty much just follow their lead in regard to workflow, sanding, masking, primer, colour coat and finally the 2K clear-coat.

Beyond that, I would highly recommend you take advantage of YouTube videos that are specifically about painting cars with rattle cans, there are tons of them and some are quite helpful.

Lastly, if I had it to do over again I would go the extra step and completely remove the hood and stick it on a couple sawhorses! As it turned out it was almost impossible for me to reach far enough to achieve an even spray pattern on the middle/back section of the hood, especially when using rattle cans!

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[Montainya]

So, I picked up a 92 to fix and flip and the clear coat on the hood and fender flares is terrible. I know some people black out the hood. That's kind of a market for whether people like it or not. Aside from an expensive commercial repaint, what other solutions are out there? What else have you done or tried? Post up your pics!

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I'm curious to know how this worked out for you. This is an awesome thread, and I recently got a 91 with the same issue. I got it for a decent price and looking to fix it up on a budget.

 

[MDarius]

I'm curious to know how this worked out for you. This is an awesome thread, and I recently got a 91 with the same issue. I got it for a decent price and looking to fix it up on a budget.

I just embraced it and made it a high school car. I trashed the flares as the fiberglass was cracked or broken on a couple, filled the holes, followed @BoxRocket's paint prep advice (mostly), then put some stickers over things I didn't want to fix. Not everyone's cup'o tea, but it worked for my purposes. Definitely did NOT go the restoration route

Edit: To be fair, the spray paint went on smooth, looks great, and has held up well. I think doing the hood the same way would look good.