E-Bodies.org Cuda Challenger Forum

My car was painted close to 8 years ago and now it's almost ready to hit the road this summer after many bumps. I talked to my painter and he owes me a polish on the car. He said since the clear is old it will be hard to polish. He suggested that he wet sand it and reclear it. Then polish it. The paint is very very nice @Cuda Cody (https://forum.e-bodies.org/mlist/cuda-cody_1) can confirm this  , I can read off of phones reflection in the paint. There are some light scratches and very little swirl marks.  The car is at the point now where  nothing needs to come off to be done.

From what I recall the car had 3 coats of clear put on it. It was polished when painted then right before I picked it up. If he polishes it now would I be in danger of getting low on clear in the future? The car is black so I know it will need it in the future.  Will wet sanding and re clearing it make a big difference over just polishing it? Will it make the paint hold up better? The price isnt rediculas as he is giving me a deal, I imagine because it will make his job easier as well. Is this worth it of will I only see a marginal increase in the end over just having it polished.

Thank you

Quote from: Shane Kelley on February 25, 2020, 07:46:16 AM
If the car is together and almost ready to hit the road there is no way I would re clear it.  It can still be polished after all these years. The surface will be harder than fresh paint to polish but it can be done.

I agree with Shane, spend the extra time to wet sand and buff what you have before you consider pulling off parts and bagging up the car for more clear.

Quote from: 7212Mopar on February 25, 2020, 08:11:25 AM
Polish and ceramic coating?

That's what I was thinking too....Seems to be the latest rage...I guess it depends on how bad the current imperfections are :thinking:

He stated NOTHING would need to come off to do the re-coat. Ceramic coat is a giant pain if anybody ever has to do any touch-up.  It has to be sanded off to remove it! :alan2cents:

By the time you remove trim,masked the car up,wet sand clean and spray the clear then cut and buff it will be twice the labor then just a cut and buff.Talk to different body shops and look for a seasoned pro to do the cut and buff.Just my thoughts.

Only reason to wet sand is for orange peel, dirt or other imperfections, sounds to me the paint is very nice and just a good buff will make it like new again. Buffing will take a bit longer as the paint is harder but not a big deal. If you were to re-clear to do it right the car would need to stripped down of all the trim, bumpers etc. which is a lot of work for little gain IMO.

My car has the windows in but NO stainless,  bumpers , grill , side markers or door handles are on the car yet. I'm still a few months away from driving the car plus we still have foot of snow here.  So nothing would have to come off the car. Now would be the perfect time to have it done. There is a few minor issues with the car and the paint is very. I know the painter personally and know I would be getting a decent deal. He said 1200 Canadian to wetland clear and polish once done. If the result would be even better than I have now plus would save me re clearing down the road it would be something would consider, if the results would be only minor as my paint is good then i need to re consider.

There is a few things to consider, how much clear was applied when it was painted. How much was removed when it was wet sanded or cut as some call it and buffed.There is a device that can measure the depth of the finish. Black shows everything and swirl marks are hard to get out. clear coating over clear flows out like glass, minimum cut and buff. if done properly de-nub and spot buff. if there is still an ad-acquit amount of clear on the car than leave well enough alone  :alan2cents:

I'll see if I can get it measured.  I imagine that it being polished twice so far and a third time if I dont re clear it would be down a coat forsure

@Shoooter (https://forum.e-bodies.org/mlist/shoooter_13)  If there was a significant amount of orange peel and dust/dirt removed the first go around it would be close. Three sec ions it could burn through to the base. $1200.00 is a good price, good clear and materials is half of what he is charging you.   

Quote from: Shoooter on February 26, 2020, 06:56:25 AM
They both said polish it first before taking parts off. But I have no parts to take of so......... :notsure: If the end result will be better I might re clear it just because it would be nicer,  or I cam have him test polish it. He wont wet sand and just polish it

Than you have your answer, the imperfection's, the chance of buffing through, and he won't wet sand, That tells me he believes the clear is getting thin.  :alan2cents:

I would never polish clear that is soft and easy.  It's best to wait months before you sand and buff it.  The clear coat needs to off gas and pinch up so even if he put more clear on you would need to wait for it to completely dry which can take many, many many months.  The clear NEEDS to be hard when you sand and buff it or it will just pinch up on you later.  Sure, it will look good when you pick it up from the paint guy and he'll be happy he got to sand and buff easy soft clear, but a year later your car will look like it has a bunch of orange peel in and then it mostly likely won't have enough clear to get it all out. :alan2cents:

So yes, multiple coats of clear and even re-clearing over clear will give you a great deep finish, but it has nothing to do with when you cut and buff it.  Either way, you'll need to wait for the clear to be super hard before you cut and buff if you want it to hold up and look good for a long time.

I always keep a little bit of the clear in the bottom of a cup after I paint a car so I can see when it's ready to cut and buff.  The cup on the left is about 3 months dry and the cup on the right is over a year old.  You can see the clear coat shrinks a lot so if you cut and buff your car with soft clear (a few weeks after it's been sprayed) it will still shrink a lot and ruin your flat polished clear coat with orange peel a year later. 

You need to wait for all the off gassing and shrinking to finish before you cut and buff if you want it to look good for the lifetime of the car.  The longer you wait the harder the clear will be to cut, but the better it will look and it will stay looking flat and straight longer too.

Also, the more clear coats you put on when painting, the more time it takes cure and more shrinkage you will get.  That's why most factory clear coats are paper thin so they don't have much shrinking (orange peel) and it looks pretty okay for the life of the car. 

I did what Cody did after I painted my car. Left some clear in the cup and kept measuring it. It's amazing how much it shrinks and how hard it gets. I surprised it doesn't pull off the car it shrinks so much. I'd be more worried sanding threw the paint and trying to match it up again.

So with the gases coming off the car how long would you have to wait for it to be safe to put the billboards on?

Quote from: Shoooter on February 26, 2020, 12:38:30 PM
So with the gases coming off the car how long would you have to wait for it to be safe to put the billboards on?

I would give it a week.  :alan2cents:

A week should be fine (if it's in the sun or a heated booth), but two weeks would be better... and a month would be better too.  But why hurry with those billboards?  Unless you're planning to have the car ready to drive a week after painting I would wait months before putting them on.  Put them on near the end of the build.

I didnt know what time frame it would be so I asked. The painter said at least a week minimum.  I'm getting close to finishing the car and I'm hoping this is the summer it will happen. It's been a long road but I'm down to a list of polishing the trim, accurate exhaust,  bleeding brakes, installing the trim, bumpers and grill then I would need the billboards on. If I put the billboards on absolutely last it would be probably 3 months after the clearing.


I would post pictures of the car but paint is hard to see from a picture if it would benefit from a wet sand and re clear.

Quote from: Shoooter on February 26, 2020, 12:38:30 PM
So with the gases coming off the car how long would you have to wait for it to be safe to put the billboards on?

Paint manufacturers recommend 30 days before applying decals or wax. The result of applying decals to soon are bubbles that will never disappear due to the solvents still creeping out. You can cheat this time frame depending on temperatures but if you want to play it safe wait 30 days.  :alan2cents: