webthread

I have a factory green 98 Honda Accord EX and the clear is fading, disappearing from the roof near the back window. it was once a tiny area, but now it is getting huge. Is there an easy fix for this? How much should I expect to pay to have it redone, I don't want to respray the whole car. Or is it the actual paint peeling? When the car is wet, you can hardly tell, it just looks a tad cloudy.

It is in awesome shape except for this one thing, just had the timing belt done, new rotors, tires, brakes, etc.

Thanks

P_Adams

The roof requires re-clearing. (applying a new clear coat)
Basically, the entire roof is wet sanded; with particular attention paid to the edges of your delaminated area. They would then wash the panel and re-shoot the entire roof, blending into the rear sail panels and the 'a' and 'b' pillars. Once dry they would buff with a fine compound blending the feathered areas to the surrounding paint.
A paint can of clear isn't going to cut it, particularly a horizontal surface like a Hood, Roof or Trunk. It's very hard to hide imperfections on a horizontal surface.

P

BLKFLSH

The clear coat is going to keep peeling, even if you sand it a little and paint over it. It may last a little while, but will eventually peel again. I tried to sand and paint over a nissan truck that was like that. After a couple of years it started peeling the paint that I sprayed over the clear coat. Something was done wrong in the painting process, and the clear coat will not stay adhered to the paint. I see many different car makers have had this problem. I think the clear coat would have to be totally removed, for a new paint job to last.

P_Adams

The repair proceedure is determined by what caused the failure. If it was from Ultraviolet degradation (adheasion loss from insufficiently thick clear coat) yes; it must be mechanically sanded to the color coat (green, if I remember correctly) and then the clear coat would be reapplied.
If the failure was predicated by (of all things) water dripping on the same spot over the years*, you can follow the proceedure I spoke of.

Gm had a hidious paint problem on vehicles manufactured with the two-part system manufactured at certain assembly plants in the early '90's. It was so bad that it wasn't the clear coat that failed, it was the color coat (it would peel to the primer). Surprisingly, it was b'cuz the c/coat wasn't thick enough (not enough protection from UV).

The repair I spoke of was that prescibed by GM with regards to those vehicles with clear coat problems (white patches / frosted edges), where there was no damage to the color coat.

What can you take from both Blkfish and my posts? Take it to a bodyshop.

P

BLKFLSH

Yea P, I've seen some Corsica's that look like rolling clouds lol.

twobit

Have you been taking care of the car? Waxing? Washing? Just regular every day things or do you just let it rot away?

P_Adams

I can't tell you how many Buick Lesabres we saw with clear coat damage from water damage. It was like someone had put a zipper thru the clear coat, parallel to the center of the car; a neat, perfectly straight line.
One customer got so pi..sed about it that we had to have the Factory Zone Rep get involved. It was hilarious when we drove to the guys house and asked him to park his car. - side of the house, right under an overflowing gutter. Drip, drip drip. Warranty consideration denied.

P

Yup, Regals, Centuries, Park Avenues, GMC & Chevy S10 Pickups and C/K Pickups too....a real mess.

webthread

Thanks guys, yeah, we wash it, but probably don't take care of it like we should. We used to live in SoCal so we never really even thought about it, but one year in sun of the Durty South and it went like crazy.

How much dinero do you think I'm looking at to have it redone? I'm not sure how much longer I will keep it before I get a new one, I'm thinking about getting a newer civic. thanks guys

twobit

If ya live near some salt water, it won't help so you need to keep extra good care of your car. Salty air destroys cars :-\

brads94accord

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by webthread &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Thanks guys, yeah, we wash it, but probably don't take care of it like we should. We used to live in SoCal so we never really even thought about it, but one year in sun of the Durty South and it went like crazy.

How much dinero do you think I'm looking at to have it redone? I'm not sure how much longer I will keep it before I get a new one, I'm thinking about getting a newer civic. thanks guys </TD></TR></TABLE>

its amazing the difference it makes when you take care of your car and how long paint will last if you wax it atleast once every few months. especially when you live somewhere w/ lots of sun exposure. my paint on my car looks great because i wash it about once a week (once every too weeks in the winter) and i try to wax it once a month w/ some meguiars NXT..and clay bar once ever 6-8 months.

Dzaccord

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by brads94accord &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

its amazing the difference it makes when you take care of your car and how long paint will last if you wax it atleast once every few months. especially when you live somewhere w/ lots of sun exposure. my paint on my car looks great because i wash it about once a week (once every too weeks in the winter) and i try to wax it once a month w/ some meguiars NXT..and clay bar once ever 6-8 months.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I do the same procedure with both of my Accords; a 94 and a 98. The 98 paint is in excellent condition but the 94 has the same issues that the thread creator mentioned. I had the 94 about 2 years and I have always washed and waxed it but I still ran into these issues. I have just wetsanded the roof and sprayed it over and recleared it. It looks decent but I plan on having the whole car done professionally with the factory color in the spring. I just didn't want the NC winter to effect the the roof more than it had.

P_Adams

Actually, the North Carolina winter will have more of an effect on your successfully driving around rather than any damage to your paint.
The three main protagonists for this condition are:
1) Clear Coat applied too thin.
2) Excessive Buffing and reconditioning. (Buffs the Clear Coat too thin)
3) Localized erosion.

There are continued arguments over the benefits of applying waxes. I believe it to be useful; it can avoid oxidation of the surface (oxidized red paint? Ewwww) and adds a slight UV barrier, as long as it remains.

P