Clearcoat may not be visible on your vehicle’s paint job, however, you will definitely notice when it starts to deteriorate and show signs of damage.
The clear coat on your car will help to protect your car from corrosion, dust, scratches, and general environmental damage that occurs over time as well as give an overall sheen to your color.
However, this coating can wear away over time and leave your vehicle exposed and vulnerable to permanent and costly damages.
This often leads many people to remove clear coats from their car and reapply a fresh and effective layer to keep their car looking in top condition. In this article, we look at how to remove clear coat from a car.
Unfortunately, it is unavoidable to entirely prevent the pits and scratches that can form on your clear coat and this can lead to ugly peeling. When coupled with the sun’s UV rays that degrade the coating you get that familiar off-white appearance.
Although sometimes it can be an issue with the factory and their application times between covering the base coat with a clear coat, generally the problems arise after a longer period of time due to weather and driving conditions.
Removing a clear coat from your car is a much cheaper task to carry out at home, but you will need a few tools to get started. This method won’t be as long-lasting as a professional job, but can still provide a sheen and remove any visible damage to your pre-existing clear coat.
You will need:
If you wanted to apply a new layer of clear coat on top, then here are some easy-to-follow steps.
Top Tip: Make sure to wait a few weeks before waxing your car after this clear coat to prevent any damage from occurring.
You can take your vehicle to a professional body shop in order to get the best quality results including stripping and reapplying a primer and basecoat, but this is not a cheap option.
Despite the price, it will provide a long-lasting finish and often an impressive quality finish, but there are ways to re-create this appearance at home, but they won’t be as long-lasting.
In the early 2000’s it was more common to see a vehicle’s paint job deteriorating from delamination and peeling clear coats. This was largely due to poor paintwork and fortunately, over time the use of higher-quality primers and paints has led to a smoother and long-lasting finish.
The duration in which your clear coat will last is dependent on the conditions and surfaces you typically drive your car in. Road debris can easily chip away and create areas in which moisture and other damaging factors can penetrate under the protective coat on your vehicle.
Clearcoat can also easily be degraded through exposure to the sun’s UV rays which leads to paint damage. This can easily be prevented by being mindful of where you park your car, and the amount of direct sunlight your vehicle is in.
The amount you spend to fix a peeling clear coat can vary anywhere from $500-$10,000 depending on a lot of highly important information. If you only have a small area of delamination on one panel of your vehicle then you are likely to spend no more than $1000.
However, if your whole car has multiple coats of peeling then you are likely to spend upwards of the higher figure.
When multiple coats of paint are peeling this requires the whole vehicle to be sanded down and reapplied over the base coat. But in the worst scenarios where the base coat is also compromised then this would take considerably longer and involve processes such as paint matching and further sanding.
When mixed and diluted appropriately WD-40 has been proven safe to use on your vehicle’s paint job and it won’t dissolve your clear coat.
Some people opt to use 800-grit sandpaper to remove the rough clear coat before applying a new coat on the freshly prepared surface.
Rubbing alcohol can cause serious damage to your paint job and can remove the clear coat leaving your paint job susceptible to damage much easier.
You can apply a layer of clear coat over a previous layer, however, it will not properly adhere without proper surface preparation and will leave an uneven and ugly finish compared to a proper application.
The clear coat on your car is a hidden hero making sure your vehicle looks shiny and new at all times. It also provides the necessary protection from UV rays, debris, and other damaging properties that can cause your vehicle to look worn over time.
Removing your clear coat doesn’t need to be a difficult task and you can save yourself a lot of money by making sure that you learn how to properly and effectively remove old clear coat from your vehicle before applying a new layer on top.
