thirdmotio

I'm doing some paint job and just applied clear coat but the can sprayed blobs of clear coat and surface looks very bad and uneven. I understand that i can sand this down with 800 grit. My question is, can I apply clearcoat again after sanding it down or should i compound it then apply another layer of clear coat??

Guitarman

If your intention is to re-clear the panel with new clear, then yes, you should wetsand (use a foam block behind the paper to give an even pressure and cut) using 800 grit, then degrease and respray. No need to compound. Compounding before painting again would be bad.


If on the other hand you just want to flatten the bad clear and try and get it looking good so you DON'T have to repaint (if that's even possible ) then you should wetsand with 1500 or 2000 grit and then compound & polish it out. That's basically called "colorsanding".

Make sense?

thirdmotio

The can sprayed ridiculous amount of clear coat and surface is really bad right now... I'm gonna try sanding it evenly then spray another layer of coat with a different clear coat. Using different clear coat shoudn't really matter rite?

Guitarman

It shouldn't matter as long as the type of paint is the same. You don't want a clear lacquer over a clear enamel though, that's for sure.

You likely sprayed enamel, so just use another clear enamel and you should be fine.

By "blocking" the bad clear, you should get it flat enough that a good layer or 2 of new clear will brings things back as they should be.

Don't rush the sanding step though, take your time and make sure that old clear is thoroughly scuffed ( and flat too) with the 800 grit. You don't want ANY areas that are still even slightly shiny, or your new clear won't bond well. Good luck!

thirdmotio

I sanded down all the blobs, drips and the shiny areas with a 1000 grit. Now the surface is smooth and even but its got scratches all over and the whole thing looks grey (its on black paint)... Do i need to sand it down to a point where there arent any scratches anymore? This seems nearly impossible with this grit im using.. Or is it ok if i apply clear coat over this after degreasing it??

Another question, while i was sanding, those little chips of clear coat that got peeled off got smudged all over leaving these white marks. I tried sanding these down too but they're so hard to get out. I had to use extra pressure and while peeling that part off the peel from that white mark got smudged again and made other white marks... oy..
I need to get rid of these white marks rite?

i never knew sanding clearcoat was this hard..

Guitarman

1000 grit is the upper limit of what you can get away with for scuffing up clearcoat before respraying more over it. It's a bit on the fine side, but you should be ok. When you go finer than 1000, the new paint won't be able to bite into the old clear as well, and it can delaminate. That's why 800 is best (IMO) but if you've really dulled it down with the 1000 you'll be fine. Others use 1000 sometimes and do ok.

The grayness and scratches you're seeing will disappear when you spray the new clear over it. I know it seems illogical, but trust me, it will work.

It kind of freaks people out that you can spray over a dulled scratched finish like that and have clarity again, but you'll see, it works.

As long as the scratches aren't too deep, the new clear will fill them in. You may have to colorsand the final finish then compound & polish, but it all depends on just how perfect you need it to look.

EFMJR

iTrader: (4)

Did I read right on the first post, that the can (as in spray can?) just blew out blobs of clear? If this is the case That is why I never use spray cans on a car, I recomend getting some good clear coat and even if you go down to your local chepo (ie.harbor frieght) tool store and pick up a inespensive paint gun or they even sell gizmos that dont need a compressor and go that way. The guns wont last long but are cheap enough to get the job done and toss away when it goes bad. I have never had any sucess with the spray can auto paint, but I also do reserch and development for a paint company which I have to spray out samples of paint all the time in small scale though. I have learned the hard way how to spray especialy preping the samples to recoat. Pay attention to the directions for your paint because there is a window of time that if you recoat at the wrong time you will have a serious mess. It will look good at first and youll go walk away and come back to a nice wrinkle finish that is hard to sand off. Also about the white spots after sanding, was the paint thoughly dry when you sanded or did it clog up the paper? If so the the paint was not thrugh dry. hope this helps you some and sorry to go on and on but I have made these types of mistakes before and just hoping to help you out. If you got any questions I will try to give you advice just pm me