Clearcoat peel/chip

T

tssdetailing

New member
A silver 08 M3 came in the other day asking if we could fix a silver-dollar-sized 'hole' in his clear coat. It was obvious clear coat failure but the rest of the car looked stellar. I doubt this was a typical rock chip as it was very far toward the back of the hood. Is this something that i can just pour some clear coat into and let it self level, or will it only get worse over time? 
 
Typically in the body shop once the clear-coat is broken, refinishing is required. If the clearcoat is broken and it is very small ( stone chip size) you can perform a minor touch-up. 


With the clear-coat the size of a silver dollar is peeling, this suggest clear-coat delamination and most likely the problem with continue. If the car was repainted at some point this may also suggest an adhesion problem with the clear-coat. The cause could be numerous items from an incomplete cleaning prior to refinishing to incomplete mixing of the refinish materials, to improper refinish application techniques( waiting to long to apply the clear-coat after the base coat was applied)


 


There are also numerous other issues with attempting to touch-up clear coat. Each paint vendor ( Dupont, Spies, PPG, etc.) has their own products and formulas. Matching the hue or tint of the clear is almost impossible, hence the reason the auto collision industry typically does not attempt to touch-up just one area of a panel, the entire panel is clear-coated
 
While it's not the right way to do it, I've had half-@$$ed (heh heh, the cyber-nanny thinks this is an email addy) repairs like you were contemplating hold up indefinitely.  Never looked even *close* to how a proper fix would, but they didn't get worse even over many years.  But those "many years" were with me taking care of the vehicle too, and Ron Ketcham would point out that I don't live in the Real World.
 
Last year I had a 911 that had been repainted in its past, and the clear coat was peeling on the edges of some of the panels.  I asked my painter if he could just wet sand the affected areas and re-clear it, and he almost laughed.  He said there's no way he'd ruin his well-earned reputation by doing that.  He explained why and convinced me.  In the end, he took 2/3 of the car down to bare metal and resprayed it, matching the remaining factory paint perfectly.  An expensive proposition, but it was done right, as it should be on a car like a 911.
 
The owner is considering a full PPF hood wrap. Would the wrap keep the hood paint in place or will it delaminate under the wrap? I was actually thinking of cutting a piece of PPF to match the shape of the peeled area, use it almost like a shim or bridge, and then wrap over top of that. Might not look perfect, but then the that way the full PPF sheet won't have a crater in it.
 
tssdetailing- See what the wrap-experts here think, but I myself would probably touch it up with a bit of clear and then apply the wrap.  I can't see how it would continue to delaminate under the wrap, but then I don't really *know*.
 
Keep in mind the reason the clear-coat is failing. Chemical in-balance ( the chemicals that were mixed to create the clear), improper clear application (technique of the sprayer person or equipment) the improper time application of the clear ( clear was applied to soon or to late which results adhesion issues) the basecoat was not prepped properly or was contaminated and one of the biggest reasons ( UV).


In any case, the problem still exist underneath of a wrap. UV will continue to cause damages. The wrap adhesion to the clear might be extremely strong, "BUT" the clear-coat adhesion may be very weak to the base-coat. The UV will work on the problem causing the clear to lift of the base-coat. You "could still have lifting issues under the wrap.


 


I have personally seen the wrap and clear and sometimes paint lift like a bubble in the center of a panel. As P-nut has already mentioned there are very sound reasons why the automotive collision repair industry has basic standards of repair. ( Usually removing all of the clear and most cases the paint and primer/sealers underneath the paint and refinish an entire panel).


 


Bottom line, you get what you pay for! If your objective is "very" short term and economically the wrap works for a short period of time, that is your decision. In the end the panel eventually will need refinishing. Consider your options carefully. Hate to see anyone waste money for a economical repair that in most cases will not sustain.


my 2-cents worth.
 
hassyfoto - Interesting about your seeing the film lift/bubble up!  I'm probably spoiled by my apparent good luck with regard to cc failure continuing to worsen, just doesn't happen for me....wonder if my chemical decontamination (generally "ABC") makes a diff.


 


Oh, and Welcome to Autopia!  Your user-name gets me thinking about medium-format cameras.
 
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