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We have an 04 Spyder Eclipse. The top coat appears to be coming off some parts of the hood. However, the paint below it appears fine.
A few body shops want $ 450 to remove, strip and repaint the whole hood, which seems about right for the work.
My question is if just the top coat is coming off and it is a small area, is there a way to get it up and respray a new clear coat of some kind? Not looking for a factory finish, but something that is just better than how it looks.
The problem with using just a clearcoat over the existing coating system is chemical compatability as well as interlayer failure now in progress between the existing clearcoat and the color coat; ie, if you apply a new clear coat on top of existing clear coat, then the adhesion is no better than the existing clear coat to the base coat.
Even if you were to remove all the existing clear coat to the base color coat to prepare it for a new clear coat, you've got the prospect of chemical interation which will fail in short order. You'd spend much more labor time to do this and still be at risk of a failing system.
The best and easiest way to deal with the problem will be to strip and repaint as the shops have quoted to do.
The problem with using just a clearcoat over the existing coating system is chemical compatability as well as interlayer failure now in progress between the existing clearcoat and the color coat; ie, if you apply a new clear coat on top of existing clear coat, then the adhesion is no better than the existing clear coat to the base coat.
Even if you were to remove all the existing clear coat to the base color coat to prepare it for a new clear coat, you've got the prospect of chemical interation which will fail in short order. You'd spend much more labor time to do this and still be at risk of a failing system.
The best and easiest way to deal with the problem will be to strip and repaint as the shops have quoted to do.
Are most shops actually doing a chemical strip for this or just DA sand down into the primer?
Are most shops actually doing a chemical strip for this or just DA sand down into the primer?
Depends upon the shop ... with the last decades of enviro hazards re methyl chloride/waste stripper & waste paint disposal, as well the more resistant coating systems making chemical strip a longer process ....
many shops will DA sand a small area such as the hood. With modern vented discs and vacuum systems, it's not as tedious and messy as in years gone by.
As well, there's a number of excellent vacuum sand blasting systems that work like a charm, leaving a very nice "tooth" to the metal surface and virtually no mess. I used a Vac-U-Blast unit a few times for this (in boatyards and on some car panels) and they work like a sweetheart. Some shops have siphon blast guns and electric vacuum cleaner set-ups which work OK, and some have Sponge Blast or Water Blast systems which also work very well. My preference on a car panel would be the Sponge Blast, but they're pricey for the occasional use; last time I rented one, it cost $2,000 for the week plus the cost of the 185 compressor, sponge media, and the recycler unit rental.
Of course, there's still a lot of shops just using an un-vacuumed DA and letting 'er rip, still very effective.
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