A friend o mine told me that I can simply prepare the surface of my cars and paint a new clear coat over the base coat which is still intact. Will this work?
Chris
For the 1987 model year Jaguar switched to a clear-over-base paint system. So, re-applying clear should work for your 87. However, in 1983 Jaguar was still using their thermoplastic acrylic paint system, which from all that I’ve heard does not work well with the base/clear paints; successfully repainting usually involves going down to bare metal first.
Good luck,
Andrew
1987 Series III 4.2
Portland, Oregon, USA
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All paint work depends on preparations, Chris…
Any deficiencies in the groundwork/base coat will glaringly show up - and it is wise to test the clearcoat,/basecoat with the for compatibility at some discreet spot. Likely little problem with the 87 as Andrew says - but clearcoat over an imperfect previous clearcoat may give a disappointing result. For the 83 clearcoat success is unlikely - there are no shoprtcuts in painting…
Frank
xj6 85 Sov Europe
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Thank you very much for this information, Andrew.
Chris
Thank you very much for your response, Frank.
Chris
All above is good stuff. I can only comment from my perspective.
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My 83 is a Thermoplastic car. Original as far as I can tell. Imperfect? Yes. Presentable, yes. Only an are on the left side of the bonnet is a bit dull. Over where the DOHC’s exjhaust manifold was!!! it responds to polish and wax a bit, but not nearly as nice as the rest of the car.
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My 79 Chrysler Cordoba was clear coated. It suffered some on it’s hood. It responded well to polish and wax. No issue on the roof at it was vinyl.
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My 88 Tbird’s red/maroon was super shiny when I got it in 89. although I polished and waxed it, the clear burned off. Unlike the Cordoba, the color coat did not respond to polish and wax.
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The “Miracle Auto Paint” place down the road claims they restore burnt clear coat for a reasonable price.
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Both GM and Ford had issues with clear coat. GM stood up well under warranty. Ford not nearly as well.
Carl
hi Chris
While not a big paint and body man, I had researched the same in the past…
In the end, no, it can’t. It must be surface sanded and repainted in its entirety again from scratch. New base color coat(s) and clear coat(s).
I had a Hess XJS convertible with the red oxidized.
Sure you can wax and buff the heck out of it with wax/water and it will hide clear coat effects … until it rains.
I’ve never cared much about paint honestly on my older Jaguars, they have the single stage stuff and now, well, it can even add a lot of charm and character of the true die hard enthusiast, rolling restoration type.
But clearcoat stuff on later cars makes cars look horrible.
Find an independent on the outskirts of town, etc.
Hispanics do outstanding work generally and have a real eye and craft for paint and body work, and are far less expensive
Thanks again, Frank. I really appreciate your comments.
Chris
this process is incredibly common in Oz, even on late model vehicles.
the answer is a definite no, according to my mate who has a pro body shop 40yrs+…he does a lot of cut price repairs to, so he would know. I have asked him several times why such later model cars (post 2000) delaminate the clear coat, he just shrugs
I personally did a repair on a '74 door which was clear coat over aegean blue metallic, and its still good after 10+yrs, but it was only a small area…I just sanded and blended very carefully…very difficult to do large areas.
that is one of the major reasons I repainted my car in solid color 2pac, despite it COB being what is almost always used these days (also it was solid color, not clear coat originally)
I dimly recall one explanation as to why the earliest factory efforts at clear coat failed. And, they did that “big time”.
The time delay of application of the clear to the color is super important. It must be just right to get a good bond.
Too bad, that the classic olds enamels and nitro cellulose “paint
jobs” are gone. Each responded so well to “compound and polish” on even badly oxidized paint.
Carl
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