Quick check - Universal Clear and Re-Clearing

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GeoffW65

Promoted Users
I am a hobbyist and so Just need quick guidance.

I'm resurrecting an old Camaro and have to do a couple of spot blends on the rear quarter and front nose. I am thinking that the right thing to do on the nose is to actually re-clear the hood as well (tell me I'm wrong...I'll understand) so that I get a consistent blend.

With spi universal clear, if I simply scuff the existing clear (which is in good condition and unlikely a factory clear...it's pretty thick) with, say, 800, and then clean and spray clear, do a stand a good chance of it coming out ok? I'm assuming I need no binder or other layers for this to work.

What other steps should I be taking? I do NOT want to re-base the hood as it has stripes and other details (it's a 2002 Camaro SS hood).

Any advice or help for me?
 
I have no advice on your question as I've only done complete paint jobs, and only two of those.

But, it cracked me up to see an '02 Camaro called "old." I guess it is 20 years old.
And in 1977 my '57 chevy was "old," so I guess it fits.
 
Uh, yeah... good point. You're welcome for the laugh! For what it's worth, it's the newest project car I own (by decades). It's probably "older" in my mind because I've had it sitting in the yard for a year and it's dirty.
 
New cars last a lot longer now than they did decades ago. I remember one of the guys I worked with in 1965 bought a new car and said he was going to make sure it last 10 years, by parking it in the garage. That was in salty Michigan, but I'm driving a 20 year old now on the same roads that lives on the driveway.
 
Dean Jenkins said:
I have no advice on your question as I've only done complete paint jobs, and only two of those.

But, it cracked me up to see an '02 Camaro called "old." I guess it is 20 years old.
And in 1977 my '57 chevy was "old," so I guess it fits.
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I remember sitting at a traffic light with my boys. They starting screaming from the back seat, Dad, look at that old Mustang! I was baffled, finally figured out they were pointing at a mid 90s SN95.
 
You guys crack me up, but let me peel the conversation back toward my application of universal clear potentially cracking up and peeling... Anybody else have advice? :)
 
@GeoffW65
If you are blending color you want to then re-clear the entire panel. If you just are re-clearing a panel, 800 will work OK, 600 would be better. Sand enough to flatten most of the texture, then use a grey scotchbrite pad (3m 7448) and some sanding paste (Scuff Stuff or similar) and go over the entire panel to be cleared. Rinse and proceed. Spray at least 3 coats if you are planning to cut and buff.
 
dhutton01 said:
No need to reclear hood in my opinion.

Don
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Say more because you are speaking to my first hunch. I started by thinking I would not reclear the hood. I needed to correct some spider webbing in the paint on the nose and front bumper, so will be spraying new color, including stripes, and clear on the nose. I assumed that I wouldn't need to blend the color given the angle of the nose to the hood, but am worried about the competing "sheen" of the clear.

The nose is directly adjacent to the hood (of course). Is it fair to try to get away with just painting and clearing the nose and then just doing a great buff job on the hood? Here's the nose after a quick hit with the DA to knock down some of the spider webbing. Not anywhere near ready for paint.

acc351be_984f_43dd_8002_744662deb595_8caa90d82b241b897f2da8748cf56f1d769a5f1c.jpeg
 
I misunderstood. I thought you had already sprayed clear on the hood. Maybe one of the pros will weigh in, I’m just a backyard hack. Matching factory peel is an art.

Don
 
When you cut and buff new clear,it does lose some 'luster' as opposed to 'as shot'.
Your plan to buff the Hood will help as long as you have clear to buff on It.
Some OEM factory Clear doesn't like to too much machine buffing so watch yourself.
As for the orange peel,use a crappy gun or use a touch more Fluid.
 
Doing collision most of the time I never worried about matching peel. I did work at a Euro Collision Shop where the Owner worried about those sort of things, but even there I didn't worry too much about it. No one ever complained about slick paint. Very difficult to actually match the peel and in your case I would consider it a non issue. Worry about getting all the spiderwebbing out of the cover, making sure the paint adheres and doing a good blend. Getting the clear to lay down nice. Those are the things to worry about.
If you are planning to blend the bumper cover, don't. What I see there you will have issues doing so. You are going to have to retape and spray two colors anyways. Do the whole cover.
MikeK said:
When you cut and buff new clear,it does lose some 'luster' as opposed to 'as shot'.
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Not my experience. Done correctly it has more.
MikeK said:
As for the orange peel,use a crappy gun or use a touch more Fluid.
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For more orange peel, you want less fluid and slightly farther away from the panel. Keep the air pressure the same.
 
Actually at this point based on the feedback k above I think I’m going to pull the front bumper cover and refinish it off the car. Thanks for that feedback.
 
Chris_Hamilton said:
Doing collision most of the time I never worried about matching peel. I did work at a Euro Collision Shop where the Owner worried about those sort of things, but even there I didn't worry too much about it. No one ever complained about slick paint. Very difficult to actually match the peel and in your case I would consider it a non issue. Worry about getting all the spiderwebbing out of the cover, making sure the paint adheres and doing a good blend. Getting the clear to lay down nice. Those are the things to worry about.
If you are planning to blend the bumper cover, don't. What I see there you will have issues doing so. You are going to have to retape and spray two colors anyways. Do the whole cover.

Not my experience. Done correctly it has more.

For more orange peel, you want less fluid and slightly farther away from the panel. Keep the air pressure the same.
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You are a pro: would you reclesr the hood on this case? No damage on hood.
 
Chris touched on this, but I would be most concerned about the spider webbing, Usually those are cracks in the paint all the way down to the plastic cover. That paint will need to be removed down to the plastic or it will just be an issue in the future. They are caused by the bumper getting impacted beyond the flexibility of the paint.
 
Yeah. The repairs I’m making relate to a rear end collision that caused the front to tap the car ahead. The spider webbing is from the tap. The car was totaled due to the rear but I’ve been rebuilding it (cut and weld job on the rear body panel underneath all the Camaro plastic) and have the rear replacement parts to prep and paint too. Less blending back there though (or at least less obvious…I need to blend a small dent in the very back quarter and so it won’t span two panels or be adjacent to older paint).

Here’s my plan on the nose. I need to take the front bumper cover off the car. Then take it down to plastic gently. Then Spi epoxy. Then a bit of sanding to bring things to a good base. If that’s smooth enough I will shoot some reduced epoxy for sealer and then base, stripes, clear.

I’m glad it doesn’t sound like clearing the hood is required. I guess worst case will be if the hood doesn’t clean up well I can shoot it later.

I appreciate all the advice.
 
Been a while so I can't remember if the front cover was urethane or TPO. Make sure you test a small sliver of the cover in a glass of water to see if it floats or sinks. If it floats you need adhesion promoter on the bare plastic. If it sinks you don't.
 
For more orange peel, you want less fluid and slightly farther away from the panel. Keep the air pressure the same.
Click to expand...

Interesting. Thanks.
I'm generally not a big orange peel replicator so I'm not well versed in It but what I have done myself was from too much Fluid or a crappy gun.
 
since you are already working the area, it may be worth sanding down those headlights and clearing them at the same time.
 
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