Can someone explain how I fix this?

Hello All, I have done so much work to my 996 since I�ve gotten the car and I�m proud to say I was able to do all the work myself with some time and patience. The last challenge I�m facing is the paint on my car. The clear coat layer is peeling off horrendously. The base coat is 100% okay. Can I buy a buffer, buff off the damaged clear coat, add new and polish a new coat? Is it that simple? What sandpaper grains would I need? I just want an idea of the procedure. This picture is from when I got the car, but before I washed it and restored the headlights in the pic. Thank you in advance.

I don't think that's going to buff out. I've never seen anything close to that on a 996. Did someone leave that car in the desert for 20 years?

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Previous owner left it parked in the driveway, uncovered, in California, for 5 years. So I�m sure you can piece together why it looks this way.

Find a professional detailer and see if they can bring one section of the car ( e.g. the hood) back to life. If they can, you can either pay them to finish the rest of the car or give it a try yourself. You may find the paint is more damaged than you think.

There is zero chance you are fixing that. That car needs to be repainted.

Patina! Leave it .

Clearcoat peeling means the whole coating system has reached last stages of failure, unfortunatly your only option of repair is replacement.

I remember when you first posted about the car. The body looked straight. Paint technology has come a long way. I would take it to the local Maaco shop and see what they can do as far as repaint. I looked at a few cars they had painted at the local Greenville SC shop and I was surprised how good the paint jobs were for the price. After you get it painted, buy a decent cover. As you can see, the sun destroys paint. I should add that as por944trs said, the paint is shot. All of those areas will need to be sanded to bare metal prior to repaint or the new paint will develop issues quickly. The Maaco folks will not want to paint on top of that, even with a light sand to smooth it out.

I'm in the paint/coatings business and will confirm what others have posted... find a good shop and have this professionally repainted if you want it to last and look good.

To do this right will cost dollars....instead, get some kid to wrap it with some crazy color and make this car unique...will cost less than a paintjob I imagine.

Generally German cars wont peel like that when the paint is factory. I feel like maybe the cars had some poor paint work done up front

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About $2,000 here in L.A. to wrap it!

I just talked to previous owner and found out that clear coat isn�t factory. I should�ve taken a picture of how it looks currently. I�m sure your thoughts would maybe change because a lot obviously peeled off and all most all discoloration came off because most of it was just dust. Naturally. Going to a shop would 100% be the best thing to do, but it would also be the most expensive thing to do. Call me cheap but both economically and just emotionally I guess, I enjoy doing all repairs myself. Makes me enjoy the car more. I am just going to wet sand off all the clear coat. Anyone have an idea of what grit I�ll need to just get the clear coat off?

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Wont the bad paint be fairly visible because of all the uneven surface?

Is there any way I could color match and get that in a rattler? I�m pretty damn good with a spray can.

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If its metallic I seriously doubt it. If you did it in a solid color then spent a long time sanding/smoothing and polishing.....maybe, but it would be a ton of work. If you're worried about cost you could perhaps do the prep work yourself, so sanding down the old paint etc, before taking it to a shop for priming and painting.

How can the clear coat not be factory? Does that mean the paint is also not factory?

By far the most costly and time consuming aspect of any paint job is the preparation of the surface. Shooting the base coat and clear coat is the "easy" part. You can buy some tools and supplies, watch some youtube videos, and spend many many many hours sanding. It will not be easy to do it right. There are only two kinds of paint jobs: done right and everything else. A professional repaint is your best option. You can try and do it yourself, but 95% of the time it won't work out. Paint isn't like mechanical work, it's a very specific skill that requires a lot of practice and experience and paint booth to do it right. YMMV p.s. I think you're looking at a $5,500 - $8,000 paint job depending on your location and shop.

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Cat was stolen and there was some cosmetic damage to the clear coat. Insurance had the shop do the clear coat only. Gonna reach out to them and see exactly what they used.

Like to do it yourself you say?? Want to do it cheap? http://www.instructables.com/id/Pain...ith-Rustoleum/ http://www.hotrod.com/articles/hrdp-...get-paint-job/ http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/in...topic=101762.0

You can’t hurt it much more so this is what I would try. Go to your local “you wash” and try the “power washer” there or get a low pressure electric power washer. Karcher or Harbor Freight 12-1500 psi, and power off the loose clear coat. Don’t lay into it from 1/2” or you could create sheet metal problems, Angle it from 8-10” away. Dry it off and evaluate where it is. Then get some 400 - 600 grit wet paper, start with 600, and lightly sand the surfaces that need more attention. You could then try to clear coat it, l wouldn’t, or get a good past wax and put a couple coat s on it to seal it and call it a day until you decide to repaint. If you have a salvage yard nearby bring your sand paper & spray bottle of water and ask if they would let you practice on a bent panel. That will give you a feel for how fast the paper cuts. https://www.walmart.com/ip/Karcher-K3-Follow-Me-Electric-Power-Pressure-Washer-with-4-Wheels-1800-PSI-1-3-GPM/38277717?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=1172&adid=2222222222702637091 5&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=t&wl3=42969891992&wl4=pla-81462247472&wl5=9003748&wl6=&wl7=&wl8=&wl9=pla&wl10=8453398&wl11=online& wl12=38277717&wl13=&veh=sem

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Exact process I was looking for.

To address your question about rattle cans my local automotive paint store will mix a color by paint code and put it in a rattle can for you.

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This is currently my car now.

If this were my car I would go the the FLAPS and get one of the finish restoration products like NU-Finish and spend several hours cleaning the car to remove all of the loose clear and then apply the product exactly as directed. Good luck and please update the thread with whatever solution you select. My second choice would be a wrap in some interesting color like Club Blau.

I'm surprised by how much clear you got off. A little sanding on the remaining clear and the base coat and you could spray it with clear and see what happens. You might get a decent 20 footer out of it!

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What shop is that? I have some small bumper damage that is bugging me and I want to fix it but don't want the hassle of a full teardown etc. Plastic filling and local repair plus spray might be ok, however my cab is silver so might be hard to match up right?

What is wrong with chemically stripping it to bare metal and starting over as a professional would do?

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Have you removed the hardtop yet? What does the softtop look like?

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I think ^^This^^ is the best way to "do it right"...

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I did that on my Datsun 240Z. Stripped it right down to bare metal. I would never do that again, it's simply too much work. Chemical strippers don't work as well as air tools, or even a nylon brush on a drill. It's super messy and alot of cleanup. As soon as the panel hits air it starts to oxidize you have to etch the metal along the way (i used por-15 MetalReady). Then clean then prime. And I don't think most body shops would touch it if you brought a self stripped/primed car in for paint. They would still have to do alot of prep (sand your work down, use a proper primer, bodywork, etc.). I even made my own spray booth and bought all the gear. I tried painting a few test panels and it was acceptable...but not great, so I got professionals to finish it. Theres alot of good advice on this thread, but if you decide to go down that rabbit hole, you'd be surprised at the time and cost to do it right. Heres a link to the process for the old datsun, its involved but you'll see what its like to remove paint and deal with it. http://www.ontariozcar.com/ozc/forum...k-s-z-progress

Chemical strippers can be a nightmare, especially for the novice if you are attempting to do a large area. There is a reason professional shops with decades of experience rarely use them. The bottom line for this car with the extensive clear coat failure is this, there is only ONE way to properly paint a car, sand, base, clear coat. This concept of "sanding off the old clear" and then simply "respraying the clear" will not work, period. It will not last and the clear coat will fail again badly. It might last one year. The chances a novice only sands off the clear and never touches the base coat is zero, so there's that. Long story short, a professional repaint is necessary. Any other solution simply won't last.

Just do this You Tube

You Tube

You Tube

Prep and painting is a bitch, it took me two weeks to properly paint my center console. That�s why I think plasti dip paint is best option for you. It�s cheap and not permanent so it will give you time to save up for a proper paint job.

Remember all the GM cars driving around in the late 80's / early 90's with entire panels of clear missing? Those cars were painted on Friday and cleared on Monday and the clear failed because too much time had passed between for that process to bond. As previously mentioned, there is zero chance the clear will bond, even if you could somehow get it off without destroying what is left of the base coat. If you are not going to fix the paint properly you are better off either plasti dipping it or wrapping it.

It always humors me when someone asks for help on a technical forum and people tell them to let a professional do it. I think that is advice that belongs on the enthusiast forum, wherever that is. I just got my butt kicked trying to paint calipers. It's hard. And getting a smooth finish with a booth to keep all of the dust off of it is really hard. But keep up your efforts. Even if you fail, you will learn something in the process. And that's a win.

You don't have much to lose... I think you said you got the car for free. It isn't like these are super valuable cars in that kind of condition. Sand it down as best you can, wipe it down with some lacquer thinner and hit it with a single stage paint. Lots of thin coats. It won't be perfect, but it won't have a peeling clear coat anymore. And you'll learn a lot in the progress.

A few thoughts: First, insurance companies often have a "lifetime warranty" on any repair work. If the PO went through an approved repairer with his insurance company, then the insurance company and/or repair shop should fix it. It's a disgrace that they used only clear as the "solution" and they own that problem. If, on the other hand, the insurance company cut the PO a check and he elected to go the cheap route of getting only the clear redone, then they wouldn't cover that. Second, I had a BMW that was like this that I had "recleared" when I was just out of college and lacked the funds to do it right. It looked great for a while, but after a couple of years it started to crack/peel because (I think) clear doesn't bond as well with fully cured paint. In my case, it seems like they put on the clear too thick, my (complete) guess is that it would have lasted longer if they had applied the clear coat thinner so it was less impacted by the slight expanding and shrinking of the paint surface from winter/summer temperature changes. Third, unless it's just photo anomalies, it looks like the color on the base coat is faded in some areas, so it doesn't seem like clear alone would fix it anyway. If it was me, and I was determined to do it myself, since you have to mask off everything to do clear anyway, I would mask everything off, then hit it with a thin coat of basecoat (it's easy to get factory matching paint) and then follow that with clear coat. You don't need a lot of base coat because the metal is already protected -- just enough base coat to even out the colors and to add a layer of uncured base coat that the clear coat will bond to. If you did everything right, and prepped well (got off all of the clear to have a perfectly smooth starting point), what you would end up with would probably be very close to a legit full paint job in terms of looks and durability. I'm assuming a new layer base coat will bond to cured base coat far better than a new layer of clear does (hopefully somebody will correct me if I'm wrong about that).

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I had the hardtop off for about a month. Soft top is in perfect shape except screen is coming off on bottom right a bit.

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I prefer doing all the work myself. Now thinking I can make it look new without professional help is for sure out of the question. But it can only look better at this point. I�m applying the nu-finish after I sand all the peeling edges and will keep you guys posted. Nothing personal but working on my car myself makes me appreciate it more than just taking it to a shop.

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Why would you think that? If you can get all the clear off, mask the entire car (which you would need to do to apply clear coat anyway), hit it with a very thin coat of factory color-coded base coat blue to even out the base color, and then top it with clear coat before the base coat fully cures so the clear actually bonds to the base coat. I agree with prior comments that removing or sanding off only the clear layer is usually very difficult, but since your clear coat reshoot never bonded to the base coat, the rest of it may just peel off by hand or through the aid of a pressure washer. If you polish it with Nu Finish or any other polish, you won't be able to paint it later without stripping every bit of polish off. Unless the exposed base coat has been previously polished, the surface under the clear should be pretty close to "paint ready" with light prep.

So I washed it and lightly bladed off all the clear coat I possibly could. And I got the results I wanted. To look better than it did. It looks revamped. To solve the whole clear coat thing, down the road I will get it repainted after I take some painted classes at my college. Nu-Finish helped a lot. When the sun goes down a bit I�ll be able to take some good pictures and show the difference.

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You Tube You Tube

Hadn't seen this before, but 2-part clear in a rattle can (have 48 hours to spray after releasing hardener) -> Amazon Amazon

wow, that's something else. i've got some MINOR clearcoat on my aston and have opted to respray entire areas, there's no easy way about this if you don't want it to turn out like a hack job. goodluck to ya.

Just rub it down with boiled linseed oil and tell everyone it is vintage patina that you don't want to ruin with a repaint....

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I would argue that paint work is significantly different (especially when you are talking about painting an entire car) than advice on more straight forward repairs. For instance a novice DIYer could replace their own brakes, suspension, seats, water pump, etc. and get it right the first time. If the DIYer has the right tools and a lot of time those types of jobs have a very high (almost 100%) success rate. A DIYer could also paint their own car. I have attempted to paint an entire vehicle and the end result was okay, but obviously not professional. The tools and time required to do it right are quite extensive (paint booth). The difference with paint work is tools and time isn't enough, actual experience is also required to do it right. I have never encountered anyone who has sanded or sprayed an entire vehicle correctly their first time, or even come close. People who have one or two years of full time experience screw it up all the time. Hanging parts is one thing and for the novice is just usually takes 4 - 5 x longer. Painting is an acquired skill and I don't think anyone can do it right the first time. The OP seems to be looking for a "quick fix" or a "shortcut" and that simply doesn't exist when it comes to painting an entire car the right way. I agree that the OP would learn a lot if they attempted this job on their own. And that is one kind of win. But you have to pick your battles.

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All this^^ + Expectations are a big part of the equation. If you're expecting professional results without a real painting setup (clean room with vac system, good compressor with water removal, etc. ect. etc...) and little to no experience, you're fooling yourself. There's a reason that it costs $10k for a good/thorough auto paint job. Smaller jobs are obviously much easier to achieve professional results on. It doesn't mean it CAN'T be done with reasonable results - it can, and you might even fool an untrained eye. The guy with the green TT just did it in his garage with a couple fans, but he's evidently been doing this sort of thing for a while. Wet sanding & polishing can also cover for a myriad of painting "sins"...

Sure, but the guy got the car for free, and doesn't have anything to lose. A simple home respray can be fine, maybe not perfect, but this isn't some concourse car. I've painted several cars with varying levels of success. A lot depends on how high your expectations are. I choose to not do bodywork anymore, but it's just because I don't enjoy it. If you take your time, you can get a passable job done, even as a first timer.

Suggestion for the OP, start with the hood, try painting the hood yourself. You can easily remove the hood and put it on a couple of saw horses to work on. It's a fairly flat surface which is also good. Sand it down. Get it really smooth with at least 800 grit or even better 1000 grit sand paper. You can purchase "ready to spray" primer, paint, and clear coat 2K, from this vendor http://www.automotivetouchup.com/spray_paint.asp . It will cost you about $140 in supplies (including respirator for spraying the clear coat 2K) and you can see how it goes.

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^^^^^^^^^ THIS ^^^^^^^^^^ Starting with the hood is a great idea! I also did not realize 2k is also available in color-matched basecoat. I still think (but happy to be corrected if I'm wrong) that, if you can get all of the clear off, you could avoid the primer layer and just put a thin coat of basecoat over the existing basecoat (just enough to have enough for the clear to bond to) and then hit it with clear. My suggestion above presumes that the existing basecoat will be a solid foundation for the thin basecoat that goes on before the clear. Basecoat is very flat and I think it is a solid base, but it would be great if an expert chimed in. If this approach is valid, you would end up with something very close to original paint in terms of paint thickness because you would only be adding a tiny bit of basecoat to the factory paint as a result of reusing the factory primer, most of the factory basecoat, and replacing the clear layer (that has already been removed). If you start with primer over the existing paint, the paint when you are done will be much thicker than factory because you need a primer layer, a much thicker application of basecoat to cover the primer color and, and then the clear. The paint will be very thick unless you strip it down to metal or at least primer first. As several have mentioned, prep work is probably 5 times the work, and much more difficult to get right, than spraying on the final base coat and clear layers. If you can reuse the base coat, all of the paint prep is already been done and it is done to factory standards. Hopefully somebody will comment whether or not spraying a thin layer of new base coat over the existing is a viable foundation.

VW bus I painted back in 2004 in my driveway. Looks better in the photos than it did in person.