Is this legitimate?

[imported_Greg1]

This was posted on a BMW forum, a person posted a picture of their older 318 with red paint. The paint IMO looked very good and another member asked if the car had been repainted and this was the person's reply:

the paint is still original, except for the hood. the only other previous owner got it clear coated every single year he had it. i have no other solution, why its not faded yet like every other brilliant red e30.

Is this beneficial to have the car clearcoated every year or even legitimate because I've never heard of this before. Anyone want to shed some light on respraying of clearcoat? :nixweiss

 

[lalaland]

Never heard of this before...



I always thought that fading occurs in the paint layer because of UV interaction, it doesn't really have much to do with the clear coat...I could be wrong though.

 

[shaf]

Somehow I don't think you can or should get even one more coat of clear paint shot on the car every year. I believe eventually it'll get too thick, which is bad. I bet the person simply has no clue what they're actually saying and really means the previous owner took it in once a year for some kind of rip-off sealant job that has some fancy name that makes it sound like clear coat....

 

[Patrick]

bet the person simply has no clue what they're actually saying and really means the previous owner took it in once a year for some kind of rip-off sealant job that has some fancy name that makes it sound like clear coat....

My thoughts exactly...

 

[Scott P]

Damn...so much for my idea of selling "Crystal Clear Coat Armor" to folks with new cars....

 

[Re-Lax]

The guy across the street from me has more money than he knows what to do with has a new coat of clear coat applied to his cars yearly (Range Rover and Porshe). It's done at a body shop, so I don't know if they remove or thin out the existing coat, but I assume they know what they are doing. His finishes are flawless. It's not a sealant, which was my first question to him.

 

[Patrick]

Let him know I have ocean front property in the Mojave desert i will let go to him for 5k an acre, with a castle......

 

[Detailing NY]

No do not do that.

When spraying clear coat on your car it needs to be done the correct way.

Everything on the car needs to be r&i'd (removed & installed) this way the clear coat lays evenly on the car. If the clear does not lay right it will fail. When clear coat fails it will start to bubble and peel. Before you know it, it will start to peel off.



The best way to maintain you appearance on your car is to keep it clean and protect it. Adding more clear is not recomemded.

They only way i would add more clear is if the car was totally being repainted and you tell the shop to add a few more layers of

clear.

Even though clear coat is clear, it can change the color appearance on the car.

NYD

 

[imported_Smoker]

No do not do that.

When spraying clear coat on your car it needs to be done the correct way.

Everything on the car needs to be r&i'd (removed & installed) this way the clear coat lays evenly on the car. If the clear does not lay right it will fail. When clear coat fails it will start to bubble and peel. Before you know it, it will start to peel off.



The best way to maintain you appearance on your car is to keep it clean and protect it. Adding more clear is not recomemded.

They only way i would add more clear is if the car was totally being repainted and you tell the shop to add a few more layers of

clear.

Even though clear coat is clear, it can change the color appearance on the car.

NYD

There are numerous 'clear coat failures' but by far the two most common are peeling and microblistering.



The first is caused by the new clearcoat failing to bond properly.

Over time it seperates from the old paint and peels off.

Usually caused by the prep guy has missing sanding some of the exisitng paint and leaving it shiny, giving the new paint nothing to grip on.



The second fault is caused by applying the clearcoat when the paint is damp.

I dont mean its wet so you can see water droplets, but usually they wet sand the old paint down a little to give the new paint something to grip to and dont let the paint dry off properly (takes a day or so to be safe) before shooting the new coat.

The old paint absorbs a little of this moisture while sanding and holds it for a few hours.

The moisture stays trapped between the layers and over time forms tiny bubbles, usually in patches that appear above the old coat but beneath the new.





Hope that helps.



P.S. I wouldnt re-coat every year, i've seen cars that have been painted 2 or 3 times and they look like they've been dipped in plastic.



Yuk.