Clear Coat Trouble
 

I was clear coating my bodies today, and all of them turned out great, except for my Bit Lancer Rally Car. It turned out pretty grainy, not really shiny like all of the others. Did I add too much clear coat? Why did the car turn out grainy?

thats happened to me too!
Help us!

sounds like it didn't get enough spray or an even spray.

you can fix it, just apply another very thin/light clear coat, depending on the grainy feel and look, you might need to do it several times.

it's better to do several very light coats than 1 thick coat or you could cause the paint to ripple.

Here is the Lancer compared to my Gloria, a good representation of a clear coat. Do you see how the Gloria is very reflective, and the Lancer is grainy? CabWabo, I've already tried adding more coats, but nothing happens. But take a look for yourself. Is this paint job saveable?

the thing is, i wouldnt compare the lancer to the skyline body because with the skyline it has metallic paint, so of course it will look duller. compare it to a normally-painted car and c what u think.

Make sure paint is dry then use an Ultrafine (600- 800grit) sanding sponge (any auto paint store /some parts stores or ?)
Next either use a bucket of water or a sink and lightly wetsand your old topcoat until you have a dull smooth look.Won't take much and let the sponge work not you. I suggest a sink for the size , just sand it under the running water. Wet sanding even between coats should be done if you want that nice even wet look.
Finally (assuming the clear is compatible) apply2-3 coats making sure the last ones"look" wet not grainy before letting it dry. Don't force drying times either w/ heat etc. Bake jobs on carsare only used w/ paints that depend on the heat to cure. Other paints have specificevaporation times for the bases and each is designed to give best finish for it's application if used right.

SSure hope my celicia doesnt come out that way

Huh?:confused: :confused: I compared the Lancer to a Gloria body and the Lancer is the one that looks bad. Whose thread are you reading?

See, I would do that, but that Lancer has stickers on it that I think would come off wet sanding. Or maybe the clear coat will protect them form getting wet.........I really don't want to take the chance.

If you do it right, it will turn out great. My red Celica is shinier than ever with a clear coat on it!

id recommend wet sanding then clearcoat again. my lxx came out crappy when i added clear to them, but i lightly sanded and after a few more coats, they were ok

maybe u didnt shake the can of paint well??????

naw, lxx uses crappy paint that chips off, i guess its another reason for them being cheaper than bcg's

Huh?:confused: :confused: I compared the Lancer to a Gloria body and the Lancer is the one that looks bad. Whose thread are you reading?-Ugh!


i wasnt looking closely, it is a gloria body. but i meant that if you compared the lancer to a metallic gloria body, then the lancer would look duller. i didnt make myself clear, my bad.

yea, I think it's save-able...
I think I'd try more even coats of clearcoat before I wet sanded - just my thoughts on it

Yup, clear coat it a couple more times then wet sand it and coat it again. The original problem may have been finger oils on the car before you clear coated. Make sure they are super clean before clear coating. Could be the type of paint is different too. A nice thick coat of clear so you can wet sand will protect the decals and you can put a nice slick coat over that. Just sand with super fine sand paper and use a very light hand. Keep it good and wet while you sand and clean it thoroughly before you put that last coat on there.