I’m a total newbie when it comes to paint, and I’m hoping I can get some suggestions from the group.

As you’ll see from the photo, the 14 year-old car is losing its clear coat in a very strange pattern (my thought is that the previous owner got a bad paint job after an accident) and needs a total repaint, but the $$ isn’t available and probably won’t be for the next year or two. My thought is a polishing compound followed by a good wax, but I’m wondering if the polish is going to have any effect on the area without clear coat. Can anyone advise what can be done to take care of the car? I don’t mind spending an entire weekend ‘scrubbing & rubbing’ if there’s anything that can help.

 

From the looks of it you have no clear coat and significant oxidation. You could try some products (I'm partial to Meguiars) that might help some but short of painting it I think you will have to live with it. Go to a store that sells automotive paint (not an Autzone or Parts Plus type store) and ask them for suggestions on how to bring the finish back as much as possible. It will cost a little bit more than just polish and will entail major elbow grease but you might be able to make it look a little better.

 

This is what I did on our 98 V70 that was losing a spot of clear coat on its hood. I did not want to spend a lot of time or money but didn't want the area to grow until all of the clear was gone. I bought a spray can of Dupli.Color acrylic enamel clearcoat, removed the flaking lose clear coat, light sanded (something like 400grit) the area without clearcoat and about 6" of the adjacent areas with clear. I didn't mask out side the area but I recommend it. cleaned the area and sprayed a few heavy coats of the clear. Let it dry over night then wet sanded with 2000 grit the whole area. It turned out amazingly decent. I'd post a pic but the car isn't here now.

 

I can do a write up as to how to fix that... but its very possible to make that shine again:


This is the whole front end done:

 

nice paint job, lol. but seriously that impresive!

 

You can definitely polish that up. Its not gonna make much of a difference clear coat vs single stage they both polish about the same. If you can get a buffer and some decent polishing compounds like meguiars mirror glaze line (My napa has em) you can get that like new in no time. megs #83 & #82 are a good combo, the newer better versions of these compounds are megs m105 and m205.

 

I have a clear coat issue, too. Obviously I'm a paint idiot and didn't know how to take care of my metallic stock paint and clear coat. I had the car parked uncovered while I went to college and low and behold it messed up my car's paint, leather upholstery, and dashboard in certain places. Fortunately, the clear coat damage is only on the trunk (see picture).

Would bobec's suggestion ("I bought a spray can of Dupli.Color acrylic enamel clearcoat, removed the flaking lose clear coat, light sanded (something like 400grit) the area without clearcoat and about 6" of the adjacent areas with clear. I didn't mask out side the area but I recommend it. cleaned the area and sprayed a few heavy coats of the clear. Let it dry over night then wet sanded with 2000 grit the whole area.") work in this situation?

Also, if I need to repaint, does anyone know where to find paint to match the original?

Thanks for your help and I apologize for my paint newb-ness!

 

I have purchased paint from Paintscratch.com for 2 cars and have had good success repairing small to medium sized areas although I have not done an entire roof or hood. Paint Scratch will match paint to the color code on the plate inside your car. The color code plate on my car is located in the engine compartment near the battery. I just repaired a deep 8" scratch on my hood and you can't see it unless you know right where to look.

 

The suggestion of Dupli-Color will possibly make it look better. It certainly won't look factory or professionally done, but it would make a short term improvement. After the final sanding with 2000 grit, it will need to be polished to remove the sanding marks.

The key is that when paint starts failing, anything put on top of it won't adhere to the main surface. It will rise off with the topcoat that is on the way out. Removing the worst of it will help adhesion, but you have to be careful to not remove too much base coat (the color coat).

If repainting, any body shop supplier will be able to mix paint according to the vehicle's code.