# Flaking clear on a bonnet



## SuperchargedLlama (Apr 25, 2008)

Afternoon chaps,

I'm after a bit of advice. I've got this issue on the bonnet of my fiancee's 2002 Polo (thumb for scale):










It's a minor area and I know that the proper solution is to get the whole bonnet resprayed. But it's a 14 year old car and I'm not going to go through that expense on it as it's just not worth the money. What I do want to do is sort it so that it doesn't get any worse and does look okay - I had another area like by the B pillar - this and got it smart repaired, but they won't do that on the bonnet due to blending.

I'm after some suggestions on how you guys would tackle this given the above criteria, all help is welcomed as I'm not sure where to start.


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## steveo3002 (Jan 30, 2006)

all you can do is scratch off the flakey bits and carefully brush on some clear as neat as you can 

chances are if its failed there it will go in other spots too


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## SuperchargedLlama (Apr 25, 2008)

steveo3002 said:


> all you can do is scratch off the flakey bits and carefully brush on some clear as neat as you can
> 
> chances are if its failed there it will go in other spots too


Correct, it has gone in a couple of other places - one was smart repaired but I'm not paying £250 each time another bit reveals itself.

Regarding removing the loose stuff, would you go at it with something like 2500 grit wet and dry, then brush on some clear, flat that back and then polish it up? I've got a DAS6 Pro with pads from cutting up to finishing and poorboys SSR 3 up to 1 so I should be able to knock out any sanding marks. I do also have a silverline rotary should I need more correcting power but I suspect I should be fine with the above.

So...is that passable or a bit overkill?


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## steveo3002 (Jan 30, 2006)

personaly i would chip the loose bits off with a finger nail , maybe the lightest of tickle with 1500 to soften the edge , but dont keep sanding thinking it will feather out as it will most likley just start falling off again

the carefully brush on a couple of coats , quick tickle and polish and accept its all yo can do without a proper repaint 

would it be worth keeping an eye out for a used bonnet in the right colour?


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## SuperchargedLlama (Apr 25, 2008)

steveo3002 said:


> personaly i would chip the loose bits off with a finger nail , maybe the lightest of tickle with 1500 to soften the edge , but dont keep sanding thinking it will feather out as it will most likley just start falling off again
> 
> the carefully brush on a couple of coats , quick tickle and polish and accept its all yo can do without a proper repaint
> 
> would it be worth keeping an eye out for a used bonnet in the right colour?


Good shout on the spare - that could work a treat 

I think I'll go with your approach there, just patch it up so make sure it doesn't get worse really.

I was wondering what clear to use - or put another way, if I was to go at it with a bit of Humbrol model paint clear as opposed to a car specific clear (which wouldn't be 2K anyway) do you reckon I'd be okay? I just happen to have some lying around.


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## steveo3002 (Jan 30, 2006)

i guess theres no harm in trying it 

all you hope for is to seal out the weather and slow things up from getting worse

otherwise get a rattle can and squirt some in the lid , if you leave it a while the solvent will start to evaporate and make it a little bit less runny


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## SuperchargedLlama (Apr 25, 2008)

Bringing back a thread from the dead here - I've now got a few more patches that have failed so I'm going to give them a go.

One area is significantly big enough to require spraying rather than painting so I was after a little advice on the best approach there.

Lets say I chip away the flaking/loose clear. I suspect I then need to key up the surrounding area (lets say that there are affected bits in a 6" square area - looks as if there might have been a scrape from another car in the past). My question is what sort of grit level would you do the keying?

The next step is spraying on the clear. Which actually probably means that next step is to actually mask up the area to protect from spray drift - am I right in thinking that you don't just mask up tight to the area you're looking to repair but a wider area so try and avoid hard lines in the clear, and in the process of polishing it back you end up getting rid a lot of the spray drift anyway (and claying can help here)?

This leads me to one final question - how long would you leave it before polishing rattle can lacquer (such as this - http://www.halfords.com/motoring/pa...ray-paints/halfords-clear-lacquer-spray-300ml). And assuming that you flat that back with something like 4000 grit prior to polishing?


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## JCoxy (Dec 21, 2011)

Whole bonnet needs spraying, if that little piece is flaking chances are the whole bonnet may not have good adhesion, I bet with a high pressure air blower the whole clear will flake off in sheets


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## steveo3002 (Jan 30, 2006)

its flaking because its failed ...eventually all of it will come off 

either sand down beyond the clear coat and attempt a diy paint and clear coat job 

or

find a used bonnet


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## SuperchargedLlama (Apr 25, 2008)

Ah yes, I should have been clearer, these other patches are on other areas of the car - I'd totally agree with you otherwise.

Basically I just want to keep the car sealed so rust doesn't set in. It's a 2002 Polo so it's about 14 years old now. Always been washed well but never protected so it's pretty tidy - no rust at all which is fantastic (not to be unexpected with a VW of that era I guess).


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## VIPER (May 30, 2007)

Probably not what you want to hear, but I totally agree with what's been said here so far. I once had this happen on a Mk.3 Granada's boot and C pillar and as much as I tried to chase it with repairs for months on end, it just crept and crept, getting ever larger and other bits failing soon after, even nowhere near the original bit. 

Personally, I'd source a replacement bonnet in the same colour and just swap it, rather than trying to prep and repaint (especially now at this time of year, with the colder temps and higher humidity - although I'd assume you've got somewhere inside to do it?). I know even a supposedly 'same colour' bonnet from a breakers yard or ebay won't match yours, so you'll have a bit of polishing to do, but even if you went ahead with the painting, you'll still have that job to do anyway to get it to blend in with surrounding panels once it's all hardened. Unless you really do fancy tackling it of course? 

Actually, I've just read your last post again and seen that it's not just confined to the bonnet? Ahh.....bummer  Erm.... Doing spot repairs might keep the moisture out for a while but even with the best will in the world it's still going to look a bit of a mess and if the clear's failing in various areas, it could literally start going anywhere at any time and, a bit like I was with that old Granada I mentioned, you'll be at it forever. Only proper solution is that full repaint but I totally understand you have to set that against the value and age of the car. Given it's otherwise rust-free as you say, and assuming it's also mechanically sound and will be with you for a while yet, it's got to be worth it?

Sorry I can't offer advice for an easy fix to this, but I wish you all the best with it and will check back to see what you've decided to do and how it's going


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## SuperchargedLlama (Apr 25, 2008)

No problems there Viper, your (and everyone elses) advise has been spot on.

I think what I'll do is top up the two coats of OptiSeal I put on it last weekened every time I wash (which seems like once a month atm) it so it stays nice and sealed up. We're probably only going to keep it for another couple of years so I think I'll just keep an eye on it and do the odd spot repair if it gets properly bad in places.

Like you say, at the moment it's going to be a crap time to do it because of the cold and humidity. The patch I did on the bonnet came our reasonably well - not great but it's sealed and stable at the moment. The same cannot be said for the A pillar. It has gone very matt (not through swirling, more like it's frosted - it's definitely the clear).

No bother, I was thinking of trading it in rather than selling it privately because of this body work issues.


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