What is the best way to remove the clear top coat? My paint looks like it in good condition, but some of the clear or chipping off and I just want to respray my car. I was thinking of just removing all of the clear down to stock paint, then scuff it, apply sealer, primer, paint, and clear. What tool would be advise?

 

Modified by Andy R at 9:57 AM 2/1/2007

 

If your clear is chipping chances that some of the paint is dead. The next step is really up to you if you want to strip the paint or not. But, if it was me I wouldn't gamble because it will bite you on the *** later on. If you plan to strip the entire paint off the car I recommend using air plane stripper to make life more easy.
After that use Metal Prep on the bare substrate to prevent rust, also Metal Prep aids in better adheshion when epoxy or surfacer is applied on. Remember factory base coat is about as thin as a sheet of paper so when painting u want to build up the surface to about 2 mils then apply the amount of basecoat and clear to your liking.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by dude_123 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">If your clear is chipping chances that some of the paint is dead. The next step is really up to you if you want to strip the paint or not. But, if it was me I wouldn't gamble because it will bite you on the *** later on. If you plan to strip the entire paint off the car I recommend using air plane stripper to make life more easy.
After that use Metal Prep on the bare substrate to prevent rust, also Metal Prep aids in better adheshion when epoxy or surfacer is applied on. Remember factory base coat is about as thin as a sheet of paper so when painting u want to build up the surface to about 2 mils then apply the amount of basecoat and clear to your liking.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Paint is dead? please elaborate
No need to sand clear all the way off. Just sand the clear away until it stops flaking. Stripping your paint would be a waste of time. There is nothing wrong with spraying over existing paint.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by dude_123 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">If your clear is chipping chances that some of the paint is dead. The next step is really up to you if you want to strip the paint or not. But, if it was me I wouldn't gamble because it will bite you on the *** later on. If you plan to strip the entire paint off the car I recommend using air plane stripper to make life more easy.
After that use Metal Prep on the bare substrate to prevent rust, also Metal Prep aids in better adheshion when epoxy or surfacer is applied on. Remember factory base coat is about as thin as a sheet of paper so when painting u want to build up the surface to about 2 mils then apply the amount of basecoat and clear to your liking.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Please dont listen to this. This is wayyyy overkill and you will end up hating yourself down the road. Using stripper on the car would be pointless and extremely messy. Under the factory paint is a e-coat which protects against rust. If you do not replace that with a suitable corrosion protector your asking for trouble. Also its called a DA (dual axis sander) which would be your best bet...and why the hell would you use compound to strip paint? Your paint job will come out like **** when your contaminating the paint by embedding that compound into the newly sanded paint. Then you will know the reason you have so many fisheyes in your paint. Also there are so many different primers, surfacers, surfacer primers one could use which would vary in thickness. To properly do it you would be applying coats, blocking it down, applying coats, blocking it down to where you need be.

 

best bet... dont listen to H-T for paintin advice... talk to an auto body shop, or body shop supply company. i do auto body and DIY auto body 9/10 looks like ****, and what you had before looked better. not to mention it will cost you less to have repaired what is there now, than if you try to do something yourself.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 92LSVTEC &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">best bet... dont listen to H-T for paintin advice... talk to an auto body shop, or body shop supply company. i do auto body and DIY auto body 9/10 looks like ****, and what you had before looked better. not to mention it will cost you less to have repaired what is there now, than if you try to do something yourself. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Dont listen to HT? There is quite a few good body men on here. I do this **** for a livin. And I have already givin him a ton of info. There is nothing wrong with learning it, so by telling this guy to take is somewhere else is just dumb. Everyone has to learn at one point why not now?

 

Ok for the guy that told him to use compound to remove the clear then just reclear......U need to stop giving bad info..
I hate reading these type of post.Please take your car to a REAL BODYSHOP and have them paint your car.I work at a body shop.I cant tell u the amount of times everyday that i see cars that have had **** jobs or bad repairs done.You and your car will be happier if u let someone with a little know how do it

 

Paint is dead? please elaborate
No need to sand clear all the way off. Just sand the clear away until it stops flaking. Stripping your paint would be a waste of time. There is nothing wrong with spraying over existing paint.[/QUOTE]



exactly. stripping your paint down to bare metal is a totally waste of time and a lot of money for materials that needs to go back on the car. in your case if you just want to respray your car use 400-600 on the so called dead paint area then wet sand your whole car with 800 but ez on the edge and corners (scuff it with 3m scotch bright). good luck

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by mike9571 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Dont listen to HT? There is quite a few good body men on here. I do this **** for a livin. And I have already givin him a ton of info. There is nothing wrong with learning it, so by telling this guy to take is somewhere else is just dumb. Everyone has to learn at one point why not now? </TD></TR></TABLE>

and so do i. and im saying unless you have someone with some experience with you there, (to show the tricks, and details) odds are its not going to look that great. and i personally know, that if someone brings me a car they already tried to fix, its going to cost them more to fix what they already f'd up. all im saying is, its more hands on, and attention to small details than it is "sand the clear off, and re paint" what about solvents, cleaners, lift tape masking, all that other **** that makes a professionally done car look that much better.... just IMO

 

you get what you pay for, and personally its worth DIY for a street car thats gonna get raped by rouge shopping carts. From personal experience, wet sand it with 400 grit, careful not to get valleys and low spots from your fingers (enter sanding block). Once you got it sanded clean off the dust and what not and get PPG DX330 (Wax and Grease Remover) and wipe it down. It's good enough to be sprayed trust me, it'll be more than nice enough for street use.

DO NOT STRIP THE CAR!!!

 

i would acid bath the whole car if you want to get the clear off. might take a little paint off too though

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by goonslude &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i would acid bath the whole car if you want to get the clear off. might take a little paint off too though</TD></TR></TABLE>

You had better be joking. If not, the STFU and get out.

 

well ive only painted stuff twice, so take my advice at will, but i also used a scotch brite 3m to rough up the oem paint. then i used bug and tar remover(is this the same as wax and grease remover?) wiiped it down after that and started with my basecoat.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by blackeg &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">well ive only painted stuff twice, so take my advice at will, but i also used a scotch brite 3m to rough up the oem paint. then i used bug and tar remover(is this the same as wax and grease remover?) wiiped it down after that and started with my basecoat. </TD></TR></TABLE>

dood the clear is delaminated...u want to sand the entire thing down to 600 at least and feather out all the spots where the delamination or chipping clearcoat is happening, use wax and grease remover, tack rag it, then hit it with a nice primer surfacer. i use ppg k36 spray it on pretty thick so you can block out all the bs dust nibs, waves or potential sags and runs from the primer. then youre ready for base...i guess the k36 can be used as a wet-on-wet sealer...have no idea wtf that means but i didnt use sealer wheni painted my car..i jsut shot the base right over the k36 primer and nothing bled through...so i guess im coo haha

have fun prep work is the most time consuming.....spraying the base and clear is the easy part ahahh

 

Thats not true. There is good advice and bad advice.

dont use stripper like the above guy stated, you will hate yourself and its not necessary.

As for you clear flaking off, you dont want to just SAND the clear down and repaint because that clear is flaking off for a reason. Get yourself a good DA air sander and just sand all the clear off. You want to leave as much basecoat as you can. (basecoat=factory color).

Now you have a few more options.
1) if all the basecoat is still on and intact, you can spray another few coats of color and then clear.
2) when the basecoat is sanded, put a SEALER down. The clear coat can be coming up for many reasons. One could be due to some chemical reaction with the basecoat, so a sealer will stop that from happening...


bahh, tired of typing.. GET a ****** book and read... ahaha...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ...Lost &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">you get what you pay for, and personally its worth DIY for a street car thats gonna get raped by rouge shopping carts. From personal experience, wet sand it with 400 grit, careful not to get valleys and low spots from your fingers (enter sanding block). Once you got it sanded clean off the dust and what not and get PPG DX330 (Wax and Grease Remover) and wipe it down. It's good enough to be sprayed trust me, it'll be more than nice enough for street use.

DO NOT STRIP THE CAR!!!

</TD></TR></TABLE>

the only good advice that came from right there, is dont strip the car...

if you are going to do it, use a wax and grease remover BEFORE you start sanding. otherwise, you are just sanding that crap right into the material that is already there. and DO NOT use 400 grit prior to applying color. you will see all the scratches, 600 is the most aggressive you should use without using a primer/sealer. but my advice is still not to DIY.