Fixing sun faded paint? (truck, sell, Chevy, Civic)

[Swampmonster]

Originally Posted by Army_Guy

The most common cars I've seen that happen to are Nissan's and Hyundai's. Is that just me?

Would the best prevention be to keep the surfaces waxed?

Not really...waxing is surface and the seperation is between the basecoat and the clear topcoat..paint tech really sucked early on when auto manufacturers switched from a single stage acrylic enamel to a base/clear multiple stage paint...today the have it down pretty good but it sure took them a long time to get it right...you're looking at roughly $350 for materials if you go back with base clear..since its an older ride you can 220grit scruff it off really well and shoot it with the same code paint in acrylic for around $150 and it would look great for what it is..if you or a buddy have the tools that would be your best bet..just do it yourself.

Check out TPG GLOBAL and you can get fairly decent prices on there unless you have a wholesale account somewhere and can do better going that route.just remember that painting is 95% prep work if you want it to turn out right but its not that difficult to do yourself

[fatboy42]

Does this lead to rust if it's not taken care of soon?

[vmaxnc]

Originally Posted by fatboy42

Does this lead to rust if it's not taken care of soon?

As long as the paint hasn't been penetrated, no. But unprotected paint has a limited lifespan.

My '95 F150 Stepside has the same issues on the roof and over the rear wheels. The pic in my files shows as being rotated 90 degrees to the right. Don't know why this one is off.

[Tourian]

Originally Posted by Army_Guy

The most common cars I've seen that happen to are Nissan's and Hyundai's. Is that just me?

Would the best prevention be to keep the surfaces waxed?

In my area it is typically black Hondas and Mitsubishis that do that. But I guess it could be any brand since the tsunami taught us that apparently all the worlds automakers get certain pigments from Merck in Japan.

[Swampmonster]

Originally Posted by Tourian

In my area it is typically black Hondas and Mitsubishis that do that. But I guess it could be any brand since the tsunami taught us that apparently all the worlds automakers get certain pigments from Merck in Japan.

And add to that the fact its hot as hades down there in the summer and that black soaks that heat up like a sponge..that doesn't help much

[little elmer]

Late 80s to early 90s Fords were notorious for it.

[Tourian]

Maybe but silver and reds do it too.

I think they just all were doing it wrong back then. Maybe the procedure or materials have gotten better but in my opinion pain jobs on cars have gotten worse. Maybe they don't oxidize like that any more but most cars have very thin paint that chips easy. I blame the EPA and the treehuggers for forcing automakers to use weak water based paint and less of it.

[Mack Knife]

Make it a landau roof. You can probably do that for about $50 if you do it yourself. It will be a different look but if done right, can really improve the appearance.

Landaus used to be the rage a while back but if your car is non-descript it could work nicely. Just do the center section with the peeling clear coat. Light sand it and then top it.

Here is one other thing to try and it also can work. Get some car wrap material. You can probably find a very close match or use a contrasting color than looks good. $20 bucks and you're done. It will take about 20 minutes to get it on. Just follow the directions. You can make it very presentable, even at a 5 foot viewing distance. It will last longer than the rest of your paint plus you can take it off later. It will be weather proof and won't fade.

[DontLookPhoto]

I have to add this, (but I am no paint expert). If the car has been painted correctly and has a good quality clear coat then regular waxing and keeping the car in a garage as much as you can will help you get the longest life out of the paint job and help keep up the resale value of the car up there.
If one neglects their rig the value will drop.

We buy really cheap old trashers and drive them until the wheels are about to fall off and we really don't care about our rigs looking good. We do live in Montana (on a reservation) where half the cars on the roads are covered with mud anyway. We are more concerned with the cars mechanical condition and the under-body rusting away from the road ice chems.

[duster1979]

Originally Posted by Army_Guy

The most common cars I've seen that happen to are Nissan's and Hyundai's. Is that just me?

It's just you. I see it on vehicles across the board. But that doesn't mean that Nissan and Hyundai didn't have clearcoat issues on runs of cars that just happened to be shipped to dealerships in your area.

Would the best prevention be to keep the surfaces waxed?

Clear coat delamination usually starts below the clearcoat rather than above, so in most cases if it's going to happen there's nothing you can do about it other than fix it after the fact. But if you live in an area with intense sun and the car sits outside a lot the chances of the clearcoat burning through from above are greater so keeping the car waxed would help in that situation.

Originally Posted by Coldjensens

Earl Schieb. "Paint any car any color 299.95." Of course I have not heard those ads for a while, maybe they are gone now.

I remember when it was $99.95, and that really doesn't seem that long ago. The company is still around but I don't think they run those advertised repaint specials at a set price anymore.

I used to sell paint to an old-time bodyman who told me that Earl Scheib used some king of proprietary paint that wasn't an acceptable substrate for anything else on the market, so if he got a car in for repair that had an Earl Scheib paint job he would have to strip it down to the factory finish in order to get the new paint to stick.