Shooting clear

[RogerFlemming]

Hello

I generally work on refinished tin, so this is my first attempt at working over a factory finish. On my daily driver, 02 Volvo S40, I had been compounding the hood, however, there are so many craters from rocks/bird droppings/etc that even working up to more aggressive pads/compounds will not remove em without going through the clear. It’s a black metallic so when the wax dries white, it really stands out. anyway... if I use a wax/grease remover to remove the existing wax - scuff with 2000 - can I just reshoot the clear and fill these craters? Does the clear need anything special to be more free flowing or anything like that? Anything else I need to take into consideration?

Thanks

[Steve g]

Hello

I generally work on refinished tin, so this is my first attempt at working over a factory finish. On my daily driver, 02 Volvo S40, I had been compounding the hood, however, there are so many craters from rocks/bird droppings/etc that even working up to more aggressive pads/compounds will not remove em without going through the clear. It’s a black metallic so when the wax dries white, it really stands out. anyway... if I use a wax/grease remover to remove the existing wax - scuff with 2000 - can I just reshoot the clear and fill these craters? Does the clear need anything special to be more free flowing or anything like that? Anything else I need to take into consideration?

Thanks

No, you shouldn't do it like that. You apply a uniform coat of clear over everything, which means that the chips will still be there. You applied as much clear around the chip as you got in the bottom of it. It doesn't fill the chip, it just rounds out the edges. But more importantly, the bottom and sides of the chip area have not been properly prepared to receive paint and risk loosing their new clear, leaving an even deeper hole. You could try dabbing some clear into those pits to fill them, then sand and buff them out. It may look better, but not perfect and if they fall out, no big deal.

The proper way to repair that is to sand the chips feathering the edge out into the surrounding area. Shoot a filler primer and block sand to bring the surface back to level with the surrounding area. Apply color blending into the surrounding scuff sanded existing color then clear the entire panel.

If there are lots of chips it is sometimes easiest and best to simply strip the area and start fresh. The front of the hood and bottoms of the doors on an Aurora I had were so bad that's what I ended up doing. Less work in the long run.

Steve g