Fixing DIY Clearcoat

Hey folks,

A couple years ago, I DIY color-matched my chrome grille. Did lots of paint and clearcoat (definitely overkill), with wet sanding and whole 9 yards. Looked great for a while, but fast forward to now, and it looks...weird. The color is still great (with the exception of a few rocks to the face), but the clearcoat has strange splatter marks, I guess from bugs, tar, or stuff like that maybe? Almost like whatever hit it made the clearcoat fade notably, but not chip or significantly discolor.

Anyway, tomorrow I plan to use 0000 steel wool to VERY lightly level the existing clear coat and then respray a new coat on. Do you think that should work, or is there something else I should do?

Thanks!

 

I would use a high number wet sand paper just like you did before. Don't sand through the clear, just enough to smooth it out. Then apply a new coat or 2.

 

Let us know what happens.

Usually, once it's gone, it's gone. And you get a do-over.

 

Yeah, I think the marks are just in the original clear coat, so that's why I thought a light sanding/buffing followed by new coats of clear should fix it.

I also suspect it happened in the first place because when I originally did it, I didn't leave time for the clear coat to cure enough (I think I drove it the next day and then a 2 hour road trip after that). I would think if I just leave it alone for a few days or a week or two it should last longer.

 

So far it looks a lot better than it did. Couple of spots I could've worked a little harder on, but definitely better than before.

 

I have a motorcycle that I have done a lot of painting for.


I painted all the cases fenders and some other parts. Unfortunately I have finger prints in the clear in many spots. The paint may be dry, but it still quite soft for a while. I find up to a week.