clear coat

[olds350]

I have 2 small spots (less than the size of a dime) on my '96 328 where the clear coat has come off. Other than taking it to a professional body shop, has anyone tried to repair some thing like this themselves?

I know I'll have to feather the edges of the clear coat so it won't leave a tale tale sign of the missing clear coat.

Anyone have any suggestions on how to repair clear coat?

Suggestions?

Thanks

[blkongry]

I have had friends who have done this with relative success. They went down to their local professional automotive paint store and purchased some quality paint pre-mixed and loaded into a CO2 charged spray dispenser. It was kind of a slick little system... like a rattle-can, but with the quality paint of your choice.

The hard part is the prep work. To get it to come out right, you need to really be good at your feathering and prepping. I've shot a few cars in my time... all black in color, and it is absolutely amazing (not in a good way) what features show up in the paint that you couldn't see in the primer. At a certain angle, I could see faint little feather marks of where I had done some body work. Depending on your abilities and the color of your car, your job could be more or less difficult, and the results more or less satisfactory. If you find a good automotive paint shop, they should be relatively insightful regarding giving you advice on what you need and how to do it.

[supertack]

These Autovisuals pens come in clear coats. I'm waiting til spring to do my touch up work, but I've heard great things about them. My plan of attack it to get (1) pen in my color, (1) clear coat pen, then finish the repaired area with this Langka product that makes the repair nice & smooth, as opposed to that 'bubbled up' look. Here's a couple links dude.

http://www.autosharppen.com/index.htm
http://www.langka.com/nfhow.htm#top

[BigD9146gt]

Thats a tough one to fix. I've worked in a few body shops, both doing body work and paint work. My opinion would be to use some 1500 grit, and go down to a local body shop that would be cool with giving you some left over Glasurit (most likely BMW OEM paint) clear and dab that in the spots. you could also use a model paint sprayer with the little cup. let it dry for about 24 hours, then use a small block of wood and some 1000 grit to knock off the high spots, then finish off with 1500/2000. Then buff by hand with a rag and some buffing compound, finsh off with swearl remover. Buffing should take off any overspray around the painted area too. I've taken body/painting classes at the local JC, painted two cars (I tip my hat to you blkongry, black is a mo-fo to get to come out right). Thats how i go about repairing any chips that i have. Hope that helps, good luck. Don.

[blkongry]

Thanks BigD... I must be a sadist though... good Lord, the time I spent out block sanding, filling, feathering, on and on... then just to see it show up in the paint! And so it goes for a black car.

The only other thing I can add is just for you (Olds350) to be prepared for a slight mismatching in color. Paint fades over time, even black (or should I say 'especially black'), and if you repaint a panel, the rest of the car might look slightly gray in bright sunlight. You're spots should be small enough that you won't notice it, but it could show up as darker 'blemish looking' spots. I guess the only color that doesn't fade is white, since white is the absence of color, and reflects more sun/UV than other colors. Good luck!