A little clear coat problem

[mattw]

So this weekend I was spraying my doors and a number of other things.. I laid down 3 coats of base and 2 coats of clear on Saturday.. Then I let everything dry overnight.. Sunday morning I lightly sanded the clear(to remove any imperfections), cleaned the doors with wax and grease remover then attempted to shoot another coat of clear... Everything was looking really sweet until this started to happen:

The only thing that I can figure is that the wax & grease remover was reacting with the clear coat and caused this to happen.. Here are the products that I used:

Has anyone ever seen anything like this before.. It looks like I will be sanding all of this out and reapplying the base coat + clear..

Luckily there were some parts that I decided not to reclear on Sunday(they had no imperfections) so I did at least get something accomplished this weekend..

The gate is shaved as well as the glass. I made this little bubble to replace the handle on the glass:

-Matt

 

[NecroWolf]

Re: A little clear coat problem

how'd you make the bubble? that's pretty cool. and i'd say you're right on the reaction with the clear or it was still damp there

 

[mattw]

Re: A little clear coat problem

I actually made the bubble out of a piece of 1/4" mild steel.. Then I drilled and tapped the two holes through it.. Then I just took a smaller piece of sheet metal and welded it to the one side.. took it to the grinder and woked it untill it was as symetrical as possible... Here is an in-progress pic:

 

[myclone]

Re: A little clear coat problem

W&G remover between clear coats is what did it. I never EVER go over a vehicle with any type of chemical between clear coats or base clear (a tack rag if some dust was stirred up but only in an emergency) without baking the car or wait a few days.

I usually dont wait between coats either since anything can settle on it over time and the only time I have a break of any significant amount of time between applications I either wait a few days to let the solvents evaporate or bake the car in the booth. Waiting/baking lets the solvents evaporate so when I go over it with W&G remover later the finish is cured enough that the W&G remover cant get into the pores of the previous finish and FUBAR the next coat.

 

[mattw]

Re: A little clear coat problem

So if these things sit all week they should be good to sand down and shoot again next weekend? Why is it that the W&G remover will react with clear but not a base coat? I wish I had known that... Do you think it will suffice to just sand the reacted areas smooth then rebase & reclear or do I need to completely sand away the reacted material until I am down to the primer?


Thanks,
-Matt

 

[myclone]

Re: A little clear coat problem

So if these things sit all week they should be good to sand down and shoot again next weekend?

That depends... If youre doing all the paint and body work yourself then Im sure youre aware of how temprature and humidity affect curing times. That being said if the temps arent cold then you should be fine after a few days but the colder it gets the longer the cure will take.

Why is it that the W&G remover will react with clear but not a base coat?

Could be any number of things from the chemical make up of the clear vs the base, temprature, something air born settled on the finish during the break in coats, to possibly something in the rag you used (fabric softener from washing the rags is one of those things BTW).

Do you think it will suffice to just sand the reacted areas smooth then rebase & reclear or do I need to completely sand away the reacted material until I am down to the primer?

Id sand it smooth and at least try to recoat since its not really gonna make things much worse at this point if it doesnt work and youll only be out a few extra pieces of sand paper.

BTW, what kind of rag/applicator were you using with the W&G remover anyways? Ya werent using some of moms/wifes towels were you? If so then make sure they werent washed using fabric softener or soap with fabric softener in it since that could actually be the problem rather than the W&G remover itself. If youre working in a dusty/dirty enviroment then pick up a box of tack rags (theyre like cheese cloth) at a body shop supply store and try those between coats rather than W&G remover.

Just keep in mind that all that rambling is just my opinion and Ive been wrong once or twelve times before .

 

[mattw]

Re: A little clear coat problem

BTW, what kind of rag/applicator were you using with the W&G remover anyways? Ya werent using some of moms/wifes towels were you? If so then make sure they werent washed using fabric softener or soap with fabric softener in it since that could actually be the problem rather than the W&G remover itself. If youre working in a dusty/dirty enviroment then pick up a box of tack rags (theyre like cheese cloth) at a body shop supply store and try those between coats rather than W&G remover.

Thanks for all the info.. I was using paper towels to apply/remove the wax and grease remover. Also, I have been using tack cloths as well...


Thanks,
-Matt