Getting clear coat off
 

My Z appears to have been repainted partially at some point in the past--and not done well. The clear coat is bubbling/peeling on one of the quarter panels, so I'm thinking I'll just respray it myself.

I was planning on taking that section all way down, priming/painting, call it a day; however, I was talking to a guy yesterday that convinced me to keep the base paint and build on that. Anyway, he said his paint guy just uses a razor to get the old clear off, scuffs up the existing paint and then does the respray.

Anyone know of the best way to do this--getting the crappy clear coat off with a razor, that is?

Your current respray is probably failing due to poor prep. Do it The Right Way.

Absolutely. What would be "the right way" in your opinion? Painting is a new realm to me...I've done bumpers, wheels, minor stuff like that, but never painted body panels. I'm a DIYer at heart, though, and would love to try my hand at it.

My only painting experience is with bicycles... but ... sandblast, acid bath, neutralize acid, zinc chromate primer, du pont imron from 6 different angles (needed for tube shape for correct coverage w/ no runs), clear coat, let harden under slightly warm lights (about 100 degrees).

Depending on how bad the bubbling is, you may be able to get away with something like wet sanding and then a clear coat... but I doubt it. Of course, if you take it down to bare metal, color matching may be problematic...

A local body shop could probably do it good for you for under $500....

The bubbling is BAD. So bad, I wouldn't even consider wet sanding (I fixed some of the imperfections on my 944 by wet sanding). And it's now flaking, too.

Actually, local body shops are quite pricey. The cheapest quote I've gotten is $1500. I could get a "friend" to do it for about half that, but thought it'd be cool to give it a go myself. If terrible, then I'll pony up for a pro. I can get the paint for under $200.

Any full paint job that is quality will cost 4 grand or way more. Much cheaper and it will be a second rate job.

I agree with Doing It Right.

That means strip down to base and start over with correct prep. Otherwise you'll just have bubbling under your fresh paint.