the_invisible said:
I talked to a few bodyshops and none of them would simply "redo" the clear on an entire car. The only time a bodyshop spray clear over an existing paint is when they blend the clear coat of a repaired area with the existing clear coat.
I think the reason they do not simply respray the clear is because the sanding process may level down the paint unevenly. On an entire car this unevenness will be very obvious. And simply respraying clear over existing paint will cause shading and spotting.
My G35 was recently repaired for vandalism on the rear quarter panel. The painter did an excellent job prepping and painting the repaired area. The blending looked nearly invisible. They extended the clear coat from the rear quarter all the way to the C-Pillar, where the clear coat blending ends. HOWEVER, despite the excellent job and effort spent on painting, the bodyshop buffed out the area where the clear coat blend line ended, in order to eliminate the clear coat blending seam line.
They overbuffed the seam line and burnt through the clear coat as well as the paint at the corner of the C-pillar. I discovered this damaged area 90 days AFTER the repaint when I was waxing the area. I told the bodyshop manager and he said that he would have a look at it, and if he confirms that the problem was of his making, he would fix it for me. Because the area has some missing paint, they cannot simply "redo" the clear. They will have to repaint the entire area.
ok. well somewhat right and somewhat not. they could simply sand it down and reclear... how do you think the car looks after the initial wetsanding and clear coat? they have to sand it to remove heavy orange peel and nib out any dust particles. same thing, and when you spray clear coat, if the clear under it is uneven, the clear self levels (based on what kind of clear they used and how fast the activator is, and what the humidity and temperature is in the booth) as they lay it down. a straight body (no dents or pits), and if a new layer of clear is thrown on it, you wont see any "waves".
and your body shop trying to sand and buff out a clear spray line is the sign of a bad bodyshop anyway, the paint isnt skilled in blending if he has a paint line. a skilled painter will feather the clear, consisiting of a full layer of clear extending outward, then do a 25% thinner to 75% clear mix, and lay that down farther out toward the area without clear, then 50% 50% and finally end it feathering out the clear to basically make it look like overspray would look, but the clear "overspray" on top of the existing clear gives you zero "line" to sand and buff out, preventing an inexperienced painter from trying to buff away the line.
you could find a shop to re-clear the paint, just need to find the best one for it. and to be honest, if no one will do it, you can remove all of your trim on your own, remove the headlights and taillights to save money and time, and the most they should charge you for a base+clear job would be around 700ish for the time and supplys. if your skilled enough in wet sanding and buffing, then you could save even more, and do the wetsanding, buffing etc and do it yourself.
aside from this, if the paint gets marred easily, why not invest in a power washer and hook a water supply up from your hot water inside, it should remove about 98% of the dirt on the car before washing after doing a foam bath, which should effectively eliminate marring unless the mit or foam grout sponge your using has things embedded in it that you arent seeing
