Greetings! I have been lurking in the shadows for a while taking in all the info the experts on this forum have offered during my projects. My latest is a question about paint, specifically about clear coating. I had some touch up work done a year or so ago and without any warning the shop decided to "clear" the left front fender after they repaired the paint damage. The truck (41 ford) has a really nice "flame" job on it (wish I could say I did it, but I didn't) and the truck has never been cleared at any stage of the project. With the now "one off" front fender the casual observer can tell something isn't matching. I tried contacting the original shop that did the work to ask this question but I have moved out of town and they seem to be out of business. My question is, I want to clear the other front fender and hood but I don't in any way want to damage the "artwork" done by the original owner. From all I have read, you need to at least scuff the paint before you clear it or it just fails in a short period of time. If I used something like 1200 wet sand would that suffice for the prep or does it need to be more drastic? Appreciate any tips for proceeding. Since I can't "undo" the clear on the one fender I can at least make it more consistent across the front. And, of course, like most people who have the fenders off, you can't just clear it and be done. You have to put a fancy paint job on the inner fender as well just to get your moneys worth.... Geeze..... never ends...
This stuff: https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/company...t-Paint-Prep-Gel/?N=5002385+3293193987&rt=rud with the white pad will work with less risk of damaging the edges of the artwork.
They cleared the fender after blending new color into the old in the repair process. Commonly done now in collision repair. If you accept the COLOR of the repair than clearing the remaining panels will achieve a uniform look. Know that clearing will not hide a poor COLOR blend. 600 grit is generally used to prep for clear.
That's what I had read that 600 was the "right" choice. I'm going to try the gel approach on at least one fender and see how it turns out. I already have some 600 pads and they feel much rougher than I expected. I had this truck "chosen" for a Disneyworld car show a couple years ago and people seemed to like the "old school" type of flames so I'm trying to keep them in good shape. But, like me, they are getting old and can't take too much abuse! ;-) I notice you do custom work, in particular louvering. I would show up at your shop if you lived closer to Florida! I have been searching for a way to vent heat out from under the heat trap they call a hood on the 41 fords with minimal cutting, etc. My biggest problem is with traffic. I can watch the gauge climb sitting at a traffic light. I've even shut it down in heavy traffic more than once. With the current rebuild I'm doing I may end up with no fewer than 3 fans under the hood. 2 on the radiator and one sucking air through the fenderwell that is on a switch. I tried using ducted air with a marine fan inside it with not much success because it didn't move that much volume. Thanks for the info. I'll let you know how it turns out......
Does the left front fender have flames on it? If the shop was able to repair and clear the left front fender, take it back to them and have them clear the rest of the truck. Any louvers on the hood would no doubt ruin your flames if you go that route.
Ray there is a who does louvers thread here on the HAMB. There may be someone near you who punches louvers.
I have done auto body and paint for a living for a little over 30 years. When you are prepping the panels to clear over your flames 600 grit is the lowest grit I would go. It might be better to go 800-1200. I would start somewhere inconspicuous on the fender where the flames and the cars main color ARE NOT meeting and see if the lighter grits are prepping the car properly. But no matter what grit you choose prep where the flames and body color meet very carefully as it can be very easy to sand through the flames. If the edges of the flames are pinstriped they can be really easy to sand off. The lighter grit scotch Brite pads are good for this type of thing. Also wet sanding I find to be a bit gentler for this type of thing. If you go slow and watch what you are doing you should be fine.
The flames go across the front (almost white at the lowest level) then to degrees of yellow then to red, etc. They cover both front fenders, the hood and both doors. Whoever did them did a really nice job. The shop I mentioned seems to have gone out of business and the owner was a friend of mine but we've been out of touch for years. For the louvers I thought maybe back near the firewall but on the sides of the hood (there's room outside the flame work). I don't like the idea of "rain" without some kind of "catch" underneath holes on the top.
Thanks! I agree. I DO have some pinstriping as part of the flames. If it were easier to remove the clear coat on the one fender I'd do that but I'm stuck trying to match it. KenCs reference to the gel product with the "softer" scuff pads is probably where I'm going to start maybe on the bottom edge of the fender and see how it works out. All this to protect the original work! If I mess it up, the truck will be candy apple!
I'd get as much wax off before I started doing any scuffing. When you hit it with clear you might get some silicone reaction.
I agree... I've got a Prep product that removes waxes, etc that I'm going to use before and after the scuffing process. If this works out I just may do the cab and bed to finish it off. There's some touch up work needed for the running boards so I'll have some paint work to do there. At least the cab(except the doors), bed and boards are all "black".
The gel product is a good idea I didn’t think of. We have used different versions of it over the years- it gets used a lot when we get bumper covers that are raw unprimed plastic it really scrubs them up good and washes away the surface contaminants. Also go lightly on the first coat of clear coat over the pinstriping it is almost always oil based one-shot. But it does usually cover nicely- especially the older it is.
I would would either leave it alone or take to a really good shop that specializes in this kind of stuff. Sorry but I'm getting a vibe that this is not going to end well.
It all depends on if their are flames in the areas where you're wanting to clear it (sounds like there are) and how the flame paint and blending was done. If light air-brushing or fading of colors was done, you can easily damage the faded part of the paint and make a mess out of it. Be very careful as you start the process - paying particular attention to what is happening to blended/faded areas. Given that the last shop cleared the other fender - it should be able to be done - but pay close attention to everything. If you're not an experienced painter - I'd take it to somebody who is - or you may need a much larger amount of work done to "fix" it . . . like a whole new flame job!
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