Rubbed off some clearcoat -- what to do?
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Rubbed off some clearcoat -- what to do?
Someone keyed my daily driver on the right rear fender. The scratch went through the clearcoat, but not the paint.
So, I used Menzerna Super Intensive Polish PO83 on a white pad on my Porter Cable 7424. That didn't quite do it, so I went to a more abrasive orange pad. I did a little at a time, and it seemed to be smoothing out the scratch, but then I noticed I had rubbed off a little bit of the clearcoat.
Now, most of the scratch is still there, but the area where I rubbed off the clearcoat looks like a smudge.
Is there anything I can do about this (short of a repaint)?
So, I used Menzerna Super Intensive Polish PO83 on a white pad on my Porter Cable 7424. That didn't quite do it, so I went to a more abrasive orange pad. I did a little at a time, and it seemed to be smoothing out the scratch, but then I noticed I had rubbed off a little bit of the clearcoat.
Now, most of the scratch is still there, but the area where I rubbed off the clearcoat looks like a smudge.
Is there anything I can do about this (short of a repaint)?
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Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 438
From: Ponte Vedra Beach, FL
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Strikethrough
It should go without saying that you need proper lighting available when you’re polishing. Always work in good lighting conditions, and frequently check your work. Without it you may polish through (breakthrough) paint surface or friction ‘burn’ the paint by polishing in one area for too long.
Basically when friction heat (kinetic force) has compromised the clear coat and exposed the base coat. Paint often looks a slightly lighter colour; it’s usually concentrated on a small area or ‘spot ‘You will also be able to see a non-glossy patch (base coat) where the clear has been removed with the edges of the remaining clear coat being visible .
Areas of risk- bumpers, as they don’t conduct heat like metal panels, edges an seams and the paint in these areas is generally thin (masking tape is good insurance) Applying pressure and holding the polisher stationary for too long will cause friction heat to be concentrated, especially with a foam pad. Clear coat provides both ultra violet (UV) radiation and the paint systems protection. Repair any breaches in the clear coat system otherwise you risk the paint delaminating, which will then require repainting
Correction-replace the missing clear coat and ‘blend to match. Any areas that have been subjected to strike-through need to have another application of base coat sprayed to cover the problem, and then clear coat can be applied to provide UV protection.
The problem is that the new base will tend to lift the edge of the clear around the strike-through spot so you need to seal the gap in the clear coat before you apply more base coat. Seal the spot by using clear coat applied first and allow it to harden sand using finishing paper and then apply more base coat and finally clear coat the entire panel.
It takes some experience to blend the clear coat and a novice painter can cause additional problems until gaining the experience needed to do it properly. Spot blending clear coat is not something an inexperienced painter should attempt.
Hard to tell without pictures. But it sounds like a repaint.
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