hi, while color sanding i noticed an area of numerous very fine pin holes on only one part (gas tank) that was bc/cc black ppg (used 2082 clear). reshot the clear but it still is there when i sand,is it possibly in the lower coat of clear and will need to come out entirely?? would like to finish this project but this tank is giving me headaches!!! thanks in advance,joe

Probably solvent pop, this happens when solvents deep in the layer can't escape and become trapped, forming gas pockets which give you pinholes. Basically the deep clearcoat isn't cured enough before you put more on... could have been a run, a lot of different application problems could cause it... since you put more clear on it'll be much harder to sand them out and you might want to just live with it. If it were me I'd sand it out and if you break through shoot a little more basecoat and re-clear. Solvent pop is a problem with cheap **** clears, when using dupont chromaclear I've never seen it pop, and I've laid it on thick and had huge runs, still no pop. But I've seen it all the time with cheap stuff.

i used ppg 2082 clear & 2085 hardner which is one of their best and quite expensive to boot....i did shoot it when it was hot and humid out, i plan on sanding it down to the b/c and reshooting it all but i really wanted to know what caused it. thanks for your input it sounds like that could be the cause....i will make sure to let the paint sit the requried time to recoat(clear) as the mfg suggests.....thanks,joe

I don't have any proof to back it up, but I think solvent pop is caused by more than just the clear stage. When my paint jobs pop, I put on my Sherlock Holmes hat and think about every step of the job that I did. I usually decide that I used a hardener or reducer that was too fast for the temperature and didn't let it flash enough. I think that it's usually a problem with all the solvents not coming out of the base before the clear goes on. It's a little more common with guys that paint at home. You guys don't have the air flow in your garage that I have in a booth at work. They can definately be frustrating and I feel for you. If you're going to paint it again, better to be safe than sorry. Take it down all the way and follow the tech sheet to the letter. Make the third time a charm.

Yeah, I agree, I think solvent pop has more to do with all those factors as fumesniffer says. I know it may sound stupid but I think one thing a hobbyist painter does have is time, so I do test panels, check temps., humidity, etc. and make notes to get consistent results when I paint a spot repair or an entire car. I rarely run into any of the problems (fisheye, sovent pop, orange peel, etc.) that most of the other hobby guys run into in my neighborhood. The best paint job is truly buried in the details.

I think the #1 factor in solvent pop is the quality of the clear. I've never seen chromaclear pop yet, not once, whereas this other cheap clear I use pops every time I get a run.