Miata Clear Coat Issues

Discuss anything after that final masking comes off.



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PostPosted: Sun Aug 27, 2017 6:12 pm
Last year I acquired a 1990 Miata with its original paint. It had been driven in the desert near Palm Springs before I owned it. It had a few minor scratches, but overall it was in pretty good condition.

I live right next to the beach in San Francisco. There is a lot of sand, salt air and moisture. After a short time oxidation spots began to appear. I was told that the early Mazdas did have a clear coat, so they were prone to these types of issues when in its current environment (by the beach).

I had the car detailed to remove the oxidation, and now I am wiping the car down every other day so that no sand accumulates, but already there are small oxidation spots appearing.

I thought that getting a new paint job with a clear coat would solve the problem, but I was quoted a price of $1800 from Maaco. They said that a single stage paint job wouldn't do me any good, the paint would still oxidize this close to the beach; the cheapest option with a clear coat was $1800.

So my questions are:

A) Is the Maaco advice right? Does the paint job need a clear coat to survive in this environment?

B) Does the Maaco quote sound right for the paint job?

C) What other options do I have besides getting a new paint job? My neighbor suggested that I use Blitz by Chemical Guys. Is this any good? If not, what products do you suggest?

Thanks in advance!

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PostPosted: Sun Aug 27, 2017 10:57 pm
So you are dealing with an original paint job that is now 27 years old and pretty much sun baked for most of that time.....then it is put in your new corrosive environment..... It's a wonder there's any good paint on it at all. Once oxidation has started you are pretty much done. Nothing will delay it, stop it, make it stable. Price from Maaco is pretty typical for what they do to it.... quick machine sand, prime, economy base color, and economy clear. Masking only as needed and no disassembly. And yes, they are probably telling you correctly about THEIR single stage paint.
Do yourself a big favor here....get online and try to find 3 local paint companies from big to small (local DIY kind of garage painter would be good for a quote) and get quotes. Have them put in the quote what they do and if they warranty their work. You should be seeing things in that quote like disassembly, masking, Da sand to bare metal, epoxy and 2k prime, any need bodywork, base color, urethane clear coats, and finally cut and buff. Even with a car as small as a Miata though get ready for some sticker shock...with where you are I wouldn't be surprised to see more like $3000 to $5000 for an enduring quality paint job......
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