Paint chipping

[tparker]

I painted my car a couple years ago, which I think turned out nice. However, the paint seems  to  chip easily. The original  paint took a beating. I'd throw wrenches on the fender without thinking twice and no damage to the paint. But the slightest bump results in in a chip.

Is this typical with 2 stage paint? Or did I mess up something in the hardener mix or something? There isn't any other problems, it just seems brittle. Probably not  an easy to answer, but just currious if any one has experience and any thoughts.

[Marty]

What kind of primer did you use before the base coat was applied?

[tparker]

sorry for the late reply, I was out of town and then dealing with a blown Jeep engine. Ugh. I thought I had the primer can but I  don't see it so I don't  recall the details  but it was House of Kolor. I have heard they are pretty good, and the shop that recommended it seemed  to be legit. But what do I know. I was trusting them. I sprayed 3 coats and then reduced it down for the sealer. Not sure if that was one, two, or three coats. Whatever was the recommendation.

I figured the issue would be with the clear, but maybe it was primer related. I painted the whole thing in 3 days so I should  be within the chemical bond period between coats, paint, and clear. My thought is I may have mixed the hardener in correct and it became brittle. Not sure if that is a thing.

How tough should the clear coat be? Maybe it is normal. But I thought Clear Coat is tough.

[Marty]

Don't mention it I've been there many times.

Just my thoughts, but a friend of mine had the same issue with his 1965 Mustang 2+2. Apparently, the painter had used Lacquer primer instead of what he was supposed to use. (He's out of business now.) Base/clear does not adhere very well to lacquer, so the finish is not durable and it chipped way to easily. Thats obviously not the case with you if you used the House of Color system. Thats a very good product.

The only other thing I can think of is maybe that you didn't apply enough clearcoat or you did an aggressive cut and buff, and you may have removed to much material.

If you didn't mix the clear correctly, I think you would have had other problems other than just the easy chipping.

Tough one to trouble shoot.