chopolds wrote:Not making sense here, when you say "you don't want a freshly painted car", but want to clearcoat the car. It WILL look like a freshly painted car (and in your case, with possibly mismatched paint underneath the clear, where you tried to touch it up.)
Takes one day to DA out the car, shoot 1 coat of sealer, 2 coats of paint and 2 coats of clear.

chopolds wrote:Not making sense here, when you say "you don't want a freshly painted car", but want to clearcoat the car. It WILL look like a freshly painted car (and in your case, with possibly mismatched paint underneath the clear, where you tried to touch it up.)
Takes one day to DA out the car, shoot 1 coat of sealer, 2 coats of paint and 2 coats of clear.

Have to agree. Plus, from what I can see in the photos, I think you're likely to find a bit more rust than you seem to expect. Not much more work to do it properly.

chopolds wrote:Not making sense here, when you say "you don't want a freshly painted car", but want to clearcoat the car. It WILL look like a freshly painted car (and in your case, with possibly mismatched paint underneath the clear, where you tried to touch it up.)
Takes one day to DA out the car, shoot 1 coat of sealer, 2 coats of paint and 2 coats of clear.

Much as the rat rod/patina guys do, clear over a normal 40 year wear finish is not the same as a new paint job. The idea is to prevent the scratches and blemishes from degrading further. This is one of those things that you either get it or you don't, and it's perfectly ok either way since it's a matter of preference. As I prefaced to start with I'm curious how to do the wrong thing the right way.

NFT5 wrote:

chopolds wrote:Not making sense here, when you say "you don't want a freshly painted car", but want to clearcoat the car. It WILL look like a freshly painted car (and in your case, with possibly mismatched paint underneath the clear, where you tried to touch it up.)
Takes one day to DA out the car, shoot 1 coat of sealer, 2 coats of paint and 2 coats of clear.

Have to agree. Plus, from what I can see in the photos, I think you're likely to find a bit more rust than you seem to expect. Not much more work to do it properly.

Nah, whole reason I bought the thing is it's practically rust free by 40 year old VW standards. The big question I hope to answer via my remote inspection camera is why the upper rear bulkhead seems to try to rust from the inside out and show at the seams. This one is juuuust starting to show it, but they all do eventually. My pet theory is water is entering at the body seams for the B pillar and rear glass panel after the seam sealer goes south. Be interesting to see what the innards look like. The front fender wells and strut towers are mint which is fairly uncommon, the pickup and Cabriolet had double walled steel there that the rabbit/jetta did not so they tend to have more problems with such. I fixed one once, never again.

badsix wrote:

wolf_walker wrote:

badsix wrote: ?

i fully understand the clear coat. id sand it with 500-600 wet. have you thought about maybe adding some flattener to get a satin finish?
Jay D.

I have, yeah. Might be a little less dramatic looking.
Ideally, I'd like it to look just like it looks now with the exception of the few spots I want to fix like the door trailing edges and the primer spot on the cowl a previous owner did for no apparent reason, but have a fairly permanent protective coating I don't have to re-do every few months. It would clean up and shine now but the number of scratches on it would probably ruin a buffing pad lol. It's in an odd state.

OldFatBald wrote:Sooooo, why not just clean it real well, wet sand 800, shoot some clear and see what happens.

If it falls off, take it to bare metal.

Meanwhile, drop a K20 in it, and add some nice rims and rubber!!!

That's kinda what I was thinking but wasn't sure if that was at all a valid approach from a technical standpoint. How important is the grit of the sandpaper? I've heard everything from 500 to 1000 now.

The problem you have is that the clear on there is old and very thin.

If you use too coarse a grit, it will easily sand through to your base coat and then you are looking at stripping to metal.

A light gray Scotchbrite Pad #7448 used to dull the surface of the clear might be a better choice. It is equal to 800-1000 grit sandpaper but the design and material are less likely to cut through the clear.

Basically you rub the clear coat just enough to remove the shine. Wipe it down with a good quality automotive Wax and Grease remover, making sure to wipe that off with a clean shop towel before it dries. This will remove any contaminants.

Let that flash off for 30 minutes and then shoot your clear coat.

Either way, you are taking a risk spraying over the old clear.

I am not a fan of matte finishes on anything other than a trailer queen.

'68 Coronet R/T wrote:The problem you have is that the clear on there is old and very thin.

If you use too coarse a grit, it will easily sand through to your base coat and then you are looking at stripping to metal.

A light gray Scotchbrite Pad #7448 used to dull the surface of the clear might be a better choice. It is equal to 800-1000 grit sandpaper but the design and material are less likely to cut through the clear.

Basically you rub the clear coat just enough to remove the shine. Wipe it down with a good quality automotive Wax and Grease remover, making sure to wipe that off with a clean shop towel before it dries. This will remove any contaminants.

Let that flash off for 30 minutes and then shoot your clear coat.

Either way, you are taking a risk spraying over the old clear.

I am not a fan of matte finishes on anything other than a trailer queen.

That makes sense, I saw reference to gray scotchbrite on google somewhere too.

Is the type of paint/clear on there now or what type of clear I would use important?

You will want a Urethane based Automotive Clear. It will come with an Activator.

Personally, I like what they call Euro Clear as it cures to a more scratch resistant finish.

wolf_walker wrote:That makes sense, I saw reference to gray scotchbrite on google somewhere too.

Is the type of paint/clear on there now or what type of clear I would use important?

The grey scotchbrite and 3M Scuff-it is a great option. Make sure to rinse well prior to the W&G remover.

Check out Tamco's 2104 clear.