What to do with bad clear coat?

[aantalis]

I have a low mileage original survivor (that still has 2 original Michelin XW4 tires). Unfortunately I painted the hood 20 yrs ago but the rest of the paint is original. Now the rest of the clear coat is finally peeling. I hate to remove the original wood grain and trim to do a proper paint job. Do I just tolerate it or are there other suggestions?. I don’t want to devalue the Jeep if possible.

[Stuka]

The paint under the clear will polish up and look pretty nice.

You can wet sand the clear coat off (with like, 800 grit, maybe a bit more course if needed), and then buff the paint underneath. Its going to be some work, but it should look a lot better than with half peeled clear.

[tgreese]

Mmm. In my experience, the color coat is thin and soft and not necessarily catalyzed. It's also not glossy, and I expect you'll polish through it before you get any shine. I'm not so sure you can do much with it. It's probably less work to strip/sand and repaint than to try and save what's there.

Devalue? Any sane buyer will value a solid repaint of the original color over a failing clear coat. I would not expect patina to be a thing for these cars. You're not going to damage what's there by whatever you do - it's already ruined.

The clear coat fails due to UV exposure, and anywhere hidden should be in good shape. This means you can keep the doors shut and only refinish the exteroir. If you do it yourself, be sure to mask and block the door and hood cracks. Your spray will go through the cracks and leave overspray on the door gaskets and engine compartment.

If you have doubts, I suggest you join and post on the autobody101 paint forum. The guys there have helped me with this topic, and there's plenty of professional and amateur experience represented that can give you a better assessment. https://www.autobody101.com/forums/view ... 2b7a559daa - suggest you search for "failed clearcoat" on that forum.

[tgreese]

And I would not consider removing the wood. Careful masking would be a much better choice. The paint underneath the wood is hidden from UV, and will be factory fresh. No need to repaint there.

[aantalis]

Thanks for the advice.

[letank]

When the clear coat is thinning, the paint tends to absorb water, it may accelerate spot rusting. At least it seems that your ride sleeps indoor.

The paint under the wood is indeed pristine... but fades rapidly when exposed to the UVs... my rides sleep outside!

[aantalis]

Yes, has been indoor since 1998. That’s why I can’t explain the worsening clear coat. Thanks for everyone’s advice.

[tgreese]

Yes, has been indoor since 1998. That’s why I can’t explain the worsening clear coat. Thanks for everyone’s advice.

Kinda think it's typical of BC/CC from this era. You list this as your daily driver, so it must have been out in the sunshine some of its life. Given which surfaces are failing, clearly (pun intended) it's the sun that's causing the problem.

What's the color code?

Suggest you check the link I posted above. Seems like every 10th post there is about this topic.

I look at your pictures and the way forward seems clear. I would present my plan to the guys at the forum above, and ask if it seems ok and practical and how it could be improved.

[aantalis]

Thanks Tim. I have 3 FSJ. this is my hunter green 91 cream puff. Sees less than 30 days of sun annually.
I’ll look into your suggested link. Life is getting in the way at this moment.

[tgreese]

Huh. Glad if I was any help.

Suspect you could not have stopped it, and it depends on the quality of the paint (metallic flake?). My black '95 VW has the same problem, though it's seen much more weather than your GW. Wish I knew more about the process and chemistry. Somehow the CC lets go of the BC, or vice versa.

Here's another useful forum - http://www.spiuserforum.com/index.php?t ... etal.4729/
I have used the SPI products; the products were good (NB an amateur's assessment) and support from the local distributor was outstanding. The hot rod guys seem to like the SPI products very much.

[MilesTexas]

Hey there,

I am having the same issue on my Wag. Found this company out of Lubbock Texas. Selling a polishing wax and the sealing wax. It is really easy to apply, just have to use some elbow grease to apply it. Definitely doesn't bring it back to 100% but it makes it hard to notice from 10 feet. Here is some before and after photos. This is about two days work and has a lot of room for improvement. For 100 bucks and maybe 5 - 10 hours of work... I did a whole car in way worse shape

Website - https://lukatdetail.com/

Before:


After Full Side:


Front Panel:


Close Up:

[SJTD]

There are videos on youtube showing repair to clear. I haven't watched them. I figger my '98 Dodge is to far gone since the primer shows in some spots.