Clear Coat Question

[DougMay]

Looking for help re spotting in clear coat. While buffing out a scratch on my 2009 Ford F-150, I caught an edge on the hood with the buffer. I know, really dumb move. Buffed through the clear coat. Paint is okay. The spot is about 1" by 1 1/2". Question is - what is the best way to clear coat the spot? Or do I just live with it? Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[greg0303]

Re: Clear Coat Question

I think it would be better to put the clear coat back to prevent peeling. My touch up kit came with base color tube and clear paint tube. I'm sure who can buy it for your car as well.
I usually level touch-ups with finishing disc on DA sander and M105/ M205 combo on rotary.

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Clear Coat Question

Buffed through the clear coat. Paint is okay.

Well, no it isn't actually. Clear coat is just clear paint and it's what gives the gloss and UV protection to the underlying base (or color) coat. You really should do what you can to touch up that clear other wise you run the risk of it failing at the point you buffed through. That failure will be in the form of the clear beginning to delaminate from the color at that spot, and once this starts there's no stopping it.

You may be able to locate a good spot repair guy who can spray some clear on that spot and you can buff it to a shine once it's cured. Check with a local higher end used car lot as these places usually have "a guy".

[DougMay]

Re: Clear Coat Question

First, thanks for the advice. Question is - why can't I brush or spray the clearcoat (I have seen discussions of brushing small areas). I can buff it out. Assuming that I can handle it, what would the prep be for clearcoat? Boy, am I paying for my mistake!

[greg0303]

Re: Clear Coat Question

As Mike said if you want your surface to look like nothing happened to it you need to respray it. Your base coat was touched as well so to blend a new layer of base/ clear to fit nicely in that area would be really hard.