Re-spray of clear coat.
 

Hey peoples...

My ride is a dark blue pearl '99. The clear coat is only JUST starting to wear off, two quite small areas on the roof to be exact. My question is to those in the know regarding resprays; is it possible to just have the clear coat resprayed without going back to the duco itself? Don't really wanna fork out $4k+ for a whole respray.

Yes, I could do a shop-around here in Bunbury, but I would like to have the experiences of members posted here for background info, before I take the step of getting local quotes.

Any sound information greatly appreciated.

Cheers, Wayne.

It always comes down to the skill of the painter engaged.

Is it possible, yes, but don't you think it's a little extreme going from a roof repaint to a whole car? If they're quoting a full respray it may be grounds for 'all-the-best', but without seeing pics of the entire car it's very hard to tell 'I am assuming the $4k is for the entire car?'.

[QUOTE=mARC;831182]It always comes down to the skill of the painter engaged.

Is it possible, yes, but don't you think it's a little extreme going from a roof repaint to a whole car? If they're quoting a full respray it may be grounds for 'all-the-best', but without seeing pics of the entire car it's very hard to tell 'I am assuming the $4k is for the entire car?'.[/QUOTE]

Thanks for reply mARC...

My thinking is that, being that the car has never had a respray from factory to my knowledge, and concerned that it may be the case that the whole clear coat may be on the way out, I might as well bite the bullet and get a fresh clear coat all over, if that's what I can get away with. A whole re-paint is not within budget at this time.

The rest of the car is in reasonably good condition, but as mentioned above, and if a respray of just the clear coat works out much cheaper for the whole car (as opposed to a whole new respray, paint & all) rather than just the roof, I would give it serious consideration.

My younger son's Celica GT4 was done here in Bunbury panel-by-panel rather than the masking method and it cost $3.5k, which was a damn good price and a top finish. Still looks terrific! Unfortunately the guys that did it (Ultimate Panel & Paint) have since since gone out of business, or I would go straight to them.

Just wanting to get ideas from trusted members on here; thanks for letting me know that a re-clear coat is an option with $$ savings as a result.

You're welcome.

From my experience 'all be it some time ago', issues with clear coat occur due to the following reasons:

- Area is consistently exposed to large volumes of sunlight;
- Something was placed/exposed on the area and weakened it;
- Excessive compounding 'heavy polish';
- Has resulted due to a repair in an area nearby 'when a part of a panel is refinished, in order to get the area to blend in with the rest of the panel the entire panel is shot over with thinners, this is why you sometimes see blotches on paint work'.

I've never heard of an entire car being re-clear-coated but then again I'm not up to date with current refinishing technologies 'I thought this was only the roof we were talking about'.

In regards to working on a budget 'also taking into consideration doing it all in one hit to save future rework', I'd still go with just getting the roof fixed, having the entire car buffed whilst there, and then using a quality polish and just being regular with it.

I'm a big fan of the Autoglym range as it just works, or TurtleWax, Meguiar's appears popular but never seems to achieve the results I want and 'to me', is overpriced for what it promises.

The current trend these days seems to be to vinyl wrap or plastidip roofs (and bonnets) when paint or clear coat expires.

If the damage is just on the roof itself (in between the weather strips) then it would be fairly easy to just paint the roof because it's a seperate panel to the rest seperated by the weather strips.

Then a good machine polish on the rest of the car would see the colour be more in line. Especially as the roof is at a completely different angle to the rest of the car and you just won't see the marginal difference in colour.
It's also only a single days work for a decent painter. Anyone that tells you otherwise is just ripping you off.

Not possible. If the damage has oxidised and peeled the clear coat, then u may be able to get it sanded back to the factory primer and then paint a layer of base coat and then clear.

Once one surface has started the rest won't be far behind. I don't think it's possible to just take the clear off and bits that are missed could break down under your new clear coat.

my rear bumper is also starting to slightly do it .. is there a way to slow it right down at least ?

From my experience...no. You can try and mask the problem by having someone come out and detail it but damage is damage at the end of the day and once all the sealants have worn off it will still look poopy. With the abundance of body shops around in Perth I'm sure a quick visit to a few would end up with a quote that isn't too bad.

Painting the roof and bumper is not very demanding labour wise, I resprayed my old vl turbo however, I only used acrylic, not 2pak. It's not very difficult as long as you take your time and the prep is on point. Seeing as your car is getting quiet old now, I'd personally do it myself if money is an issue.