When it comes to preserving the brightness and color of your car paint job, it is vital that you keep up the clear coat. Once the clear coat rubs or fades off, the paint can become very vulnerable. If the paint starts to fade, you can even end up with rusting and corrosion on your car body. This is obviously a very serious problem. This article explains how to protect your car by touching up the clear coat.
Prepping the Peeling Clear Coat
In some cases there will be a definite line where your clear coat is peeling away from the paint. It becomes flaky with little edges that you can easily scratch and peel away. Before applying any new clear coat, you want to fix these edges. The key is to use some extra fine auto body sandpaper. You just want to sand the areas where the clear coat is peeling away without actually sanding off the paint. This means you need to sand with very light pressure. Some auto body sandpapers even suggest that you get them wet to reduce friction and prevent scratching the paint. This is definitely a good idea because you don't want to rub off your paint and create a more complicated job for yourself.
Applying the New Clear Coat
You can find all types of clear coat auto body paint. Spray-on clear coat is okay, but you can do more precise work if you just use a bottle with a brush. Spread the clear coat onto all of the areas where the old clear coat has chipped off. Make sure you overlap it with the clear coat that is still adhered to the paint. It won't do your car any harm to apply extra clear coat. You might love how the new coat gives your car a new shine.
Matching the Finish
Initially the clear coat might not match the existing finish. Often, the new clear coat is too shiny. But, don't worry about this because it will fade over time and blend in. Some people will try and fix this problem by using more auto sandpaper to lightly buff that sheen off of the clear coat. This is not a good idea because it can ultimately expose pores in the paint.
In the end, preserving the clear coat on your car paint job is a vital and affordable do-it-yourself job. By keeping it up yourself, you can prevent hefty professional paint repairs. Check with a shop like Black Horse Auto Body Shop Inc for more advice.
