Clear Coat Prevention?

So my wife's SUV has a few minor clear coat spots that are starting to develop. Not making me happy. They are luckily on the roof (no surprise there) but I want to prevent them from spreading further.

What can I do? The car only has 60,000 miles on it and it's a 2001.

GRR!!!

 

The 4 Runner has rust spots on the roof, it SUCKS! It's the roof rack's fault . Hmm to prevent the spread, not sure...hopefully someone can chime in

 

any pics?

 

I will have to take some pics for sure so I can show you guys...

 

Yea, I'd love to see pictures of it as well. I can't remember where I read this or perhaps it was someone telling me this but you can wetsand the spot down all the way to the paint and then re-spray the clear coat? Don't quote me on that though as I can't remember the source, nor if it was a reliable source.

Everything is treatable but it's just a mater of knowing the process and not to mention price.

I'm looking forward on hearing more feed back on this topic.

 

You can wetsand the paint down, as Nica said, and have them respray the area with clear.

 

Interesting, I wonder how much that will set me back...

 

Well the best I could offer is that you maybe do the wetsanding yourself, take it in for the clearcoat...mind you, if the roofis on its way...the rest of the vehicle might not be that far out either....

 

No, you're right, it is on its way. I can already see it coming down on the side of the vehicle, right under where the roof rails are.

It's not making me very happy. Time to get rid of it...

 

Would I be OK going over it with PO85RD on a white pad? I do want to polish out the paint as it needs it.

 

You sure can do!

Oh, and what car is it? so new car have CC failury, thats not good!!

 

It's a 2001 Ford Explorer Sport. Really really nice condition inside and out, driving by my wife since new. It has 60,000 miles on it now.

So I can still polish it, even with the clear coat failure?

 

Wow my wifes TSX is 2005 and has 60K miles .... ur wife needs to talk to my wife....

Speaking of my wife, her old Honda had the same peeling clear. I just took a razor and scraped it off. It didnt come back. NOT GIVING ADVICE! Dont know if this was good or not, just telling you what I did! :buffer:

 

Wow, 60K miles and it's a 2005? That's quite a bit of going back and forth, HAH!

Thanks for the advise on the paint. I looked and it's not covered under warranty any longer, even though I'd still like to see what the Ford dealership has to say about it.

 

Oh so who ever said that wasen't out to lunch, it makes sense if you think about it but I just wasen't sure that's all. Thanks for confirming that crossroad

I've heard of this being done too, using a razor blade. I wonder if it's just a layer of the clear coat that has dried up and craked but underneath it there is still a good layer of clear coat..keep in mind that the clear coat is thin, very thin.

 

When I did it, it was straight to the paint, no more clear left. My wife liked the dull paint better than the bubbles on her car.

She would not give her car up for the life of her. I had to just go and buy the TSX without her consent, she eventually gave in the the Navi and the AC that works.

 

Yea I assumed it would go straight to the paint mmmm...interesting though. TSX's are nice, but I can understand here not wanting to give up her vehicle lol.

Hey have you ever posted pictures of the TSX? I don't remember seeing any

 

One issue with the DIY fix ( sanding it and respraying it), is that it won't look quite right. If you think about, what makes the reflections so nice is level paint. When you are respraying a car by hand it doesn't turn out as even. IMO the only choice would be to 1. live with it 2. respray the whole thing. I have seen my fair shares of "clear coat repairs" with varying degrees of success, but I would never recommend it. From all of the ones I have seen the spray can is the worst and the airbrushed is the best, but it isn't something that will look good from 3 feet away, but 10 feet would be no problem. One other reason why I would respray the whole panel is that the clear coat is already thin surrounding the spots. If you have the whole thing resprayed then you return to a uniform thickness across the panel. Razor blades....that just sounds scary! You would be using a mechanical device to chip away at your clear. If you are lucky, your clear coat is as thin as a sheet of paper...chipping away at it...well just sounds like a bad plan to me. Just my $0.02. Do things the right way the first time saves money and all the hassle.

 

You can indeed restore that panel by wet sanding and then clearcoating.
I have a couple examples of this being done on my website. The most dramatic was a Jeep that had clearcoat peeling like a bad sunburn. Here is the link:

Restore Faded Paint and Fiberglass Gelcoat

We do things differently. We did the whole detail thing when we started in Texas 30 years ago. Clearcoat "detailing" with clearcoats developed to restore ANY faded or oxidized surface to like new color, shine and luster. It was simply a better way. We make things have beauty for years not months. We use a 1500 polishing glaze once in a blue moon, only to put showroom DOI on a boat, RV or airplane. The shine we get normally with Vivilon is quite adequate for most customers. But, that option is available if a customer wants/needs it.

I have an article on fiberglass gelcoat restoration for boats & RV's here:

Restore Like New Color & Shine to Faded Fiberglas Gelcoat

and, one a bit more technical but written for a general audience for a trade magazine on why auto paint fades here:

Why Vehicle Paints Fade

The information may change your perspective or just give you a few ideas that will help in your business. I hope so. Good luck!

 

you could wet sand it to the color and spray new clear over the whole thing. then wetsand i and polish it out bt that is alot of work and a roof respray wouldnt cost a whole lot especially if you got a shop to trade for a polish/ prep of a car or two.