boogerschnot

Whats the best way to get rid of a couple of runs/drips in the clear coat. I know I can wet sand it but whats the best process? It on both of the door tops where the window line is (where your arm would be resting if your window was down) , Ive got pretty much a solid run down the entire length of the top of that pannel on both doors. The clear is thick up there so I know I can cut it down.. Help me out..

jcoby

that's pretty much the worst spot you could have a run. lots of compound curves. it's been a while since i've done this but here goes..

the basic process is this: get some 1500, 1800, 2000+ grit paper and find some way to back it up. sanding blocks, curved pieces of wood, whatever. you want to avoid using your fingers because you can easily sand a ridge into the paint. avoid sending edges and body lines. you can sand through them very quickly. leave as much there as you can for the buffing process.

cut your sheets to fit whatever your backing is. generally that means 3 equal pieces. throw what you think you'll need into a bucket of water.

i like to use a plastic soda bottle and drill a 1/8" hole in the top. fill with water and replace cap. you can also use a hose with a trickle of water.

for the deep stuff, use the 1500 and take 90% of it out. keep the area wet but not soaked. rinse the area if you get buildup. then switch to 1800 and repeat to get the next 15% off. then switch to the 2000+ grit to blend and do your final smoothing. after you're done with the 2000 there should be no discernible scratches. the sanded area should be smooth and hazy.

now you switch to your buffer. start with an aggressive compound to get most of the haze out. you should only be using enough to do the work needed - if you're slinging compound around you're using way too much. be careful around body lines and corners and wipe down often to monitor progress. switch to the fine compound and buff the repaired area and surrounding area to blend and shine.

TexasAxMan

I saw them fix clear coat runs on "Trucks" on SpikeTV. What he did was take a razor blade and gently scrape the run part down to where he could sand it very easily. I have never done this and am not endorsing it, but the guy knows what he's doing and his turned out good.

jcoby's way is what I would try, I'm just throwing out an option.

cprstreetmachines

Give me a call. Our detail guy can go to your house and do it if you want. He's the guy that buffed Rich's car.

cfd2bc

The razor blade is the way to go. It will level off the run even with the surrounding area. When you try to wet sand a big run like that odds are you will end up sanding more than the run itself creating low spot around it. I have done it with a very small sanding block. Like a 1" square piece of hard rubber, but the blade works great. You can do it a couple of ways. Take some 1/2 inch tape and wrap both ends of the razor blade leaving a space open in the middle. Then you just scrape the blade along the run so the blade is perpendicular to the surface. The other way, which I kind of like a little more, is to take the blade and bend it a little so it has and little contour. Then keeping the blade again perpendicular to the surface, drag it along the run. Either way, scrape off material until it is fairly even with the surrounding clear. Then break out the 2000 and then 3000 wet sand and buff.

fakesnakes

This is a fantastic tool set:

http://www.eastwood.com/painters-nib...-of-three.html

They allow you to dress down the run roughly flush with the rest of the clear, making it much easier to wet sand and polish the paint uniformly.

jcoby

scraping looks like it works great for runs but it sounds more like he has a long sag across the top of the door. does it work with sags? it seems like it would be harder to control and blend than sanding it out?

cfd2bc

JCOBY, I re-read the original post. I think you are right. Not sure the blade trick would work in that area. Sorry Booger. Sanding though, you will have to be very careful on the edges obviously but also to get it even. You could end up sanding "waves" into the clear especially if it is thick like you say.

chris66dad

Here is how to do it with a razor blade. Seeing it was very helpful for me.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hi7LT0OBOis
His Paintification dvd series is pretty good.
I tried a "paint file" on a small area but the razor trick worked much better. For a wide run on a flat surface a nib file would probably would work good
You can also use 1500 or 2000 wet sandpaper and a foam pad to level off the top of the run.

Good Luck
Ron

TexasAxMan

That's the guy! He dang sure knows what he's doing.

But if your problem is a sag, sanding would probably be best.