Guest re-reatta Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 The paint on my '90 red coupe appears to be cracked under the clearcoat. This is all over the car. I want to get it painted soon and was wondering if this will affect the new paint. Do I have to strip the paint or sand down to bare metal? What is the best approach? The car doesn't need bodywork, just paint. Any suggestions?Thanks in advance.Kevin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KDirk Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 Kevin,The bad news is that to get a proper long lasting paint job the cracked/compromised paint (or more likely the clearcoat) will need to be stripped prior to repainting. I am facing this myself. I'm having my 91 repainted the 1st week of April, and I have the "crackling" effect in the clear coat on the hood, roof and trunk of my car. Horizontal surfaces are most affected by this it seems. Based on what I was told, it will not be taken to bare metal. Since the clear coat is the problem, at least on my car, they will only remove as much material as needed to get a paintable surface.The body shop that is doing the work told me that they would not paint over these areas without stripping the damaged clear coat, as it will simply transfer through the new paint. I trust their expertise, as they have a very good reputation locally, and restore many classics. They have a very impressive gallery of previous work hanging in the office there. His estimate for my repaint is $2500-3000, labor and material. Note that I am removing bumpers, all trim, lamp lenses, lock cylinders, door handles, emblems, etc. myself thus saving a fair amount of labor. I will also be reinstalling all of this myself after the repaint is done. Note that I will not be removing windshield or rear glass or any portion of interior except for the carpet edge strip around the door openings. Door and trunk weather stripping will be removed.The body shop will be using urethane primer and paint, they are not yet prepared to count on the long term quality of newer water-borne paint processes, and I tend to agree with their reservations on this. One other thing to consider is the pin-striping. I have opted to have the pin stripe (painted, not tape) put on before the clear coat. This will prevent rub-off of the pin stripe over time.Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but you will be much better of in the long run if the car is properly prepped before repainting. KDirk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hank Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 Kevin, Having my 91 repainted and striped last year by a an outstanding local body man $2500.00 is about the minimum for a really quality job. Mine looks like new. and is a head turner, being silver it is easy to see shoddy work. there is none on this car. the history of this car was checked clearcoat from what appears to be some old collision damage, and a poor repaint. now looks better than the 91 I sold prior to Katrina that was immaculate, but went under 34ft of water in the storm surge of the hurricane .Best of luck .Hank Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest steveskyhawk Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 Google "soda blast" or "media blast" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Reatta1 Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 I am having a partial repaint done on my 88 for the same reasons, checking in the clear coat. I am only getting the hood, roof, trunk lid, front valance and front fenders done. The independent body shop doing the work has a good reputation, has done other work for me, does restorations and custom work and is very very reasonable. Original estimate was for hood, roof and trunk lid for $550. In looking at the car when I took it in yesterday, we decided to also do the front fenders because of a few chips and some fine scratches in the leading portion. That will add about $125 to the job. I am also leaning toward having the striping put back on before clear coating. He will be sanding it down to the original primer and possibly bare metal in some areas, depending on how bad the cracking and chipping is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jcc3inc Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 I also have a 91 with "crazed" silver paint. I decided to have a go at sanding off the clearcoat myself and respraying the clearcoat. Problems: I was unable to tell when my sanding was thru the clearcoat and into the color coat. Result, I went thru the color into the dark primer then tried to touch-up with a spray can. The results of the touch-up are BAD!!!. Each touch-up looks very silver, unlike the surrounding paint. My redo of the clearcoat is also unsatisfactory as, when in the sunlight, you can still see crazing of the clearcoat. Conclusion: I cannot get a decent job in do-it-yourself redo of the clearcoat (and touchup looks lousy too).Regards,Jack C. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest re-reatta Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 Thanks for the info. I guess you all just verified what I suspected, but hoped otherwise. Also wondering what to do first, carpet or paint. I'm thinking carpet first, but not sure. Any thoughts?Kevin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest daveagain909 Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 Paint first, the guys painting will be in and out of your car and could cause problems, if you carpet later, then it looks good and if it gets messed up you only have yourself or you passengers to blame. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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