so i screwed up my clear coat repair, thoughts?

[timaishu]

This isnt detailing related. But I figured maybe someone here could help.

So a quick background. The clear coat on my fender has been peeling for quite awhile. I saw this thread. Updated 11/21/11: Clear Coat Failure and Repair(with all pics) And figured I would give it a shot myself.

I bought Axis Pre-Clean, tack cloth, various grit 3m wet/dry sandpaper and UPOL Clear #1.

I first decided to try on my mudlap that was peeling a bit. It came out alright for the little prep I did. I wet sanded it with 1k, washed it, dried it and shot it with two coats. It came out with oranage peel, but it was nice and glossy.

So I decided to try now on my fender. I spend more time on this one. Spend about 4 hours across two days wet sanding and then today spraying the clear. The whole thing looks terrible! It has a really rough texture and has zero gloss. I dont know what the heck happened.

My process. Wet sanded slowly across those two days with 1k. Washed it several times with soap and water to clear it of sanded clear. Today, masked off my car and the spot to be painted. Wiped down the surface with Axis Pre-Clean. I let it flash over. Wiped it with a tack cloth. Shook the clear for two minutes and went at it.

I did 5 coats of clear waiting 5 or so minutes in between each. The first one didnt come out good, I didnt spray too much. Infact I sprayed too little. I didnt hit everything and I went a little fast. It looked like this. I probably should have stopped. But I figured maybe it would level out. Notice how dull and white it looks.



Anyways, here are in process pictures. Before:



Wet sanded:




After 5 coats, waiting 5 minutes between each.




It has a really rough texture and zero gloss. I thought maybe I screwed up the base coat? Nope, looks fine under the sunlight.


Does anyone have any idea what I could have done wrong? Yes I know I didnt do this properly. Should have resprayed the whole panel yada yada yada. I was looking to just do DIY repair with okay results that will stop the clear from peeling. Im just mystified as my mudflap came out fine and I spend maybe 20 minutes total with it. I spend a ton of time trying to be as careful as possible.

[opie_7afe]

what was the humidity like?if its over60% clearcoat/normal paint can turn cloudy. i'm guessing it has a sand paper texture to it, i've had it happen with rattle cans and usually its caused from being too far away from the surface you are painting and the paint partially dries then you lay on another coat and its essentially trapped. so what you would need to do is wet sand and buff it out. just level it off and then polish it and should be much better.

[LuxuryMobile]

In my experience with rattle can clear coat, I have had similar results from not spraying close enough. If the can is too far away I have seen those results. On several occasions I can remember having the can so close to the object being painted that I almost felt I HAD to be doing something wrong but I did achieve good results.

[timaishu]

Yes, it does feel like sand paper.

Well thats a bummer, your explanations do make sense. Sucks because the can said 10 inches. I did feel like I should have been closer but I figured I should follow the directions. It was hitting the paint more like a mist than a spray.

So you do think it can be saved by wet sanding and compounding it?

Or should I sand it all off and start over?

[embolism]

wetsand it with a sanding block (do you have higher grits than 1K? maybe 2K then 3K?)

then try a few passes with 105. Should feel much smoother. If not then you had to sand it again anyways so no biggie...

[timaishu]

Would something like this work?

Amazon.com: 3M 9248NA Sanding Block Kit, 2.75 in x 5.25 in: Power & Hand Tools

I can get these at my local autozone.

The highest grit I have is 2.5k. I dont have any m105 though. All I have is UC which isnt bodyshop safe.

I could go out and buy some locally. Or would I be better off just sanding it all off? Would it be hard to do?

[Twister]

was hitting the paint more like a mist than a spray.

That's the problem. You will need to sand it down and try again.

Maybe you should back tape that area to reduce the tape line.

[Ted S.]

wetsand it with a sanding block (do you have higher grits than 1K? maybe 2K then 3K?)

then try a few passes with 105. Should feel much smoother. If not then you had to sand it again anyways so no biggie...

[embolism]

that'll work

you just want to minimize the uneven pressure that you get when you fold sandpaper over onto itself.

Not sure how big a problem that premature drying caused though so if it's not clear after you sand and buff it then you'll have to sand it all off and try again.

[02nissanISR]

Timaishu sorry your having issues. But as others have said I think it's fixable, just more work than anticipated. If you can get 105 then get it and 205 to finish it. But if not I have removed sanding marks with ultimate compound (12 maybe 1500 grit). Keep me posted.