Base coat clear coat air dam and fender valence

[oneblueyedog]

I got tired of my front valence and one of my rear fender valences being all stone chipped and bent and cracked. The rear fender valence was blistering in the rough undercoat area from a cat overheat at one time.

I took both off. stripped them to bare metal. The car had a repaint and the galvanization had been removed from the front valence.

I brazed the crack and some odd holes. I beat out the dents and skimmed on bondo (no more than 1/16 thick). I I primed the panels and wet sanded them to prefection. I then covered the perfection with paintable rubberized undercoating in the correct areas. This being the whole front air valence and the bottom part of the fender valence.

I then primered over this. It has the horse apple texture. I am spraying the silver base with a touch up gun. I read about the fog technique and I'll do that too.

I have not bought the clearcoat yet. I read about the marine epoxy as being more durable. I was going to buy Glisten PC from POR 15. Reason being, I want a clearcoat that is the most resistant to chipping. I know the POR 15 on my swaybar is. I figured the Glisten is too since people use it on polished parts and wheels.

I almost think I could roll the clear on with a foam roller since the surface is so orange peely. I remember these cars in the showroom back in '78. I thought it was ugly. My parents had an AUDI 5000 turbo with body schutz in the same areas to protect from rock chips.

Anyone have any clearcoat preferences /ideas for these abused areas of the car?

Lee 78SC

[fuelie600]

What kind of basecoat did you use? Usually the BC & CC are a system, and must be applied within a recoat window to bond. If you wait more than an hour or two, you might not get it to work.

Also, most BC/CC products contain ISOs. Do you have a fresh air rig?

[oneblueyedog]

I was going to use a charcoal mask for the basecoat and spray outside.
I was going to forego the system approach to experiment with a clearcoat that might perform better against chips and impacts from pebbles. It's a panel, so if it doesn't work out, I strip it and try something else.

I was kind of halfway kidding when I said I was going to try a foam roller. The surface is greatly textured from smooth. I think the clear will flow out as it has a curing time of 5 hours.

The system clear (PPG) is great but it can't stand up to the impacts. What can? I wanted to experiment and find out.

I know the manufacturer frowns on this behavior.

So I'm just wondering if anyone has gone down a similar path.

Thanks

[jester911]

Lets see some pics

[oneblueyedog]

I'll post them tomorrow!