AutoBody101.com

Hello, I’m new to the forum and to auto body work. I purchased an old Land Rover as a fixer upper to learn the craft. There are a few spots on the top of the vehicle with clear coat issues I’d like to resolve. I’m not looking for perfect, necessarily, since mostly out of site, but I do want a solution that at lest conceals the issue from catching the eye and stops the bleeding. Below are some photos of the issue. I’m hoping wet sanding, followed by compounding and polishing will do the trick. I’ve never done it though, so I’m looking for confirmation and tips. Thanks everyone.

Nope, not happening. That is delamination of the clear coat, very plain and simple.... Wet sanding would only thin it and pull off more coating. Compounding/polishing would finish ripping through down to base. This is not just failure of the clear coat but failure of the base paint to hold on to what is left of that clear as well. Considering that it is a Land Rover I would think you would be going down to bare metal for a complete repaint. Failure of some surfaces like this means that the rest of the paint failure is not too far behind.

Thanks DarrelK. Well that certainly sucks, was hoping to avoid forking out the money needed for a professional paint job. So no other solutions, huh? The paint on the rest of the vehicle is shiny like new, so it’s interesting those spots failed in that way. I’m going to take it to an auto body shop next week for evaluation.

Yeah, I really don't like to tell people that but once delamination starts with a modern clear coat there is usually just nickle and dime fixes that just don't work. Maybe you can just get by with some panel/blending work there but don't get your hopes up...... when pro shops see this they aren't too keen on just trying to work this stuff out with their rep. on the line.