My daughter has a 1998 Accord 185,000 miles. She has had it for 5 years and we did quite a bit of repair, so I would think it should be good for another 3 years at least ( tranny, starter, alt, timing belt, etc...).

SO...I would like to make the car look nicer, but the clear coat is flaking badly. I checked this forum and also Youtube. All kinds of opinions, but would like some feedback.

1) Can I just simply sand (vibrator sander) the clear coat off (leaving the original paint on) with say 220 grit? Car is dark green and I would like to make it the same color.

2) Then prime exposed metal only, or do I really need to prime the whole car?

3) Should I use something like acetone to remove oxidized paint?

I really don't care to do a "professional" job, but would like to make it look nicer. I do have air compressor and sprayer.

 

If you're going to paint the entire car, just scuff it up with a scotch brite pad to put a key in the surface. Then make sure nothing is loose and it's clean before you spray it.

 

Are you planning on spraying the entire car with base coat and clear coat?

 

Good question. It does make a difference. My Dark Elm green 99 Accord could use some new clear coat too, but the finish is rough due to previous owners.

 

I mainly just want to put paint on, no clear coat. I know I need to get the white parts of the clear coat off with 220grit. Just not sure if I need to get ALL of the clear coat off.

My guess is that I should take the clear coat off along with 1micro meter of paint off to remove the oxidization. Then clean real good and prime the whole car. Sand lightly with 400grit then paint with 3 coats.

I want it to look good, but not looking to make it "professional". I expect to have pits and other imperfections showing and I can live with it.

 

Most of the work in painting a car is in the prep work and having a clean surface to paint. Block sanding down the clear, so it is even, will make the final paint job look better without much more effort. This will be tricky, because you don't want to block sand the base coat and completely remove it. I'm not sure how much sanding you would want to do on the base coat, but definitely minimal.

Not sure of the condition of your paint. If the base coat is still on the vehicle, you may be able to sand out the oxidized clear coat and feather it into the good clear coat. Use your block to level out all the good clear coat, then just spray clear coat on the car.

If the green base is missing, then you have to blend in the base coat, then clear coat.

I don't know if I'd go with single stage paint.

One site I've watched for paint/body work is diyautoschool on Youtube. He is a unique individual and swears/rants a lot, but his paint jobs turn out really well.

 

This is the real hard part/problem with trying to blend areas of clear coat, with areas of no clear coat. You can sneak up on the edges of the old clear, and then blend the edges to the base coat, but keep in mind the base is very thin. On top of that, if the clear coat is already peeling, then you have to wonder how good the rest of the clear is bonded to the base. I only say that, because you're going to put a lot of time sanding the clear to prep it for a fresh coat, and the last thing you want to have happen is sections of that old clear seperate. I hate to say it, but in reality you might just be better off repainting the entire car. Do the prep work yourself (or with your daughters help), then have someone like Macco paint the car in the color you want. Or maybe talk to someone tat Macco, and see if they know someone who does body work out of their garage, and would be willing to prep it for paint, or even paint the entire car.
Just my take on it. YMMV.

 

In my case the green paint is good except at the front of the rear wheel well openings (rust), but the rest of the car has a lot of scratches (some pretty deep). In my case I'll probably block the car with either 320 or 400 wet/dry sandpaper, and re-clear the entire car. But, I've got to shoot the hood of my wife's car first, as it's currently a junkyard hood we picked up in Texas, and the paint was worn/sunburnt on it, and will need to be sealed in order for it to survive a Michigan winter.

 

Thanks everyone... I didn't realize the factory paint was that thin! I will just take off the white parts of the clear coat, then light sand everything and wipe clean, then prime the bad areas (not alot). Then try the paint... but now it's rather cold, so I will wait til March.