# Why Is My Clear Coat Dulling?!



## waqasr (Oct 22, 2011)

Im a little confused as to why all the bits ive painted up are starting to dull and get pitted? When i complete painting them they are very nice and shiny after wetsanding and buffing, but after a few months they turn dull and not so smooth. Heres what i mean.

BEFORE









AFTER


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## cactusbob (Jul 3, 2006)

Have you clearcoated your lights? Can't imagine it would last too long on them anyway


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## waqasr (Oct 22, 2011)

i tinted them and clearcoated them. Same with my spoiler and its become the same.


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## Andyb0127 (Jan 16, 2011)

Did you use aerosol paint to do these. If so this is a common problem with 1k products they look great when you first do it. But gloss levels will drop after a while.
Did you prep them correctly because with 1k products any thing tha was impregnated into the surface before spraying should of been flatted out. To me it looks like as the paint has dried it is drawing/sinking into what ever was underneath. Also did you apply nice even coats of clear laquer no dry areas, if it was dry when flatted and polished it will look fine after a while it will leave what looks like tiny Pitted areas, or the opposite did you apply it to heavy as what you would of seen is the clear coat going on white then drys clear, when polished leaves tiny white dots it's the solvents trying to escape as the paint drys, leaves tiny micro blisters. Again when polished will leave little white dots.

Also with the rear lights did you flat them, or apply a 1k plastic primer them laquer them.


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## squiggs (Oct 19, 2009)

Not a personal attack .... 
.... but a few 'simple, non-professional' products often won't do what people expect them to do!
I don't (and will never understand) why people think they can without any specialst knowledge or experience of how certain products react on different substrates/coatings/surfaces simply buy a few rattle cans and expect it to look as if a professional did the job!?

The solvent in the rattle can has '_etched_' (in this instance read as 'degraded' 'melted' or 'attacked') and undermined the interegtory (the chemistry within the plastic) of the light cluster.

If you're lucky you maybe able to wet sand it back and then polish it back further (easier with a da) to the original finsh. (Don't whatever you do use a solvent to clean off what youve put on - it will only make matters worse)


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## DrDax (Apr 16, 2009)

+1 for squiggs, if you don't have the correct primer clearcoat for plastic - never spray plastic unles you are confident of no reaction, chemicals will often eat into plastic. 
I would have wet sanded and polished. 
Lights on my fiesta look better than new and they are 2+yrs old and 27k miles, I just polish every so often. 
If lucky, wet sand back(maybe 600 or 800 to remove damage then p1000), finish on P2000 then polish to mirror finish.


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## waqasr (Oct 22, 2011)

Yea ive used mipa 1k clear. This is the process I used:
Flat light 800grit
Clean with white spirit
4 light coats of tint spray, 30 mins wait between coats
Flatten last coat of tint with 1000 grit
4 light even coats of clear with 30 mins between coats
After 24hrs of drying flatten with 2000 and 3000 and then buff up.

Could me using white spirit to clean have caused any problems too?

I could wetsand and polish again but if it happens again theres no point really.


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## Black-Hawk (May 25, 2012)

800 very agresive for that application, a grey scotch pad would have been sufficient, shouldnt need flating between final coat and clear coat (1000 to coarse for this any way), why did the tint require a clear coat, tbh iv'e not come across a 1k clear that holds its gloss,(depending on how much lacquer you've applied) if i were you id go over it with 1500 grit wet with a double density block and machine polish back.


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## Black-Hawk (May 25, 2012)

Just noticed you flatted with 2/3000, what did you use/process? could just be you just put a gloss on it and not fully corrected the flatting.


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## waqasr (Oct 22, 2011)

I used 800 to remove the letters on the lights so it was all flat. 1000 I thought was ok to remove any orange peel in the tint layer...to buff up I used a rotary with foam cutting pad and menz po203s and re85 on a finishing pad


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