I garage my CC all winter--which, this year in Michigan was mild--and roll her out when I was sure the snows were gone for the year. I noticed a few pock marks in the clearcoat, but they've been there for years.

Then it rained. HARD. And was cold. Then rained again. And I noticed that there were flakes of clear "plastic" being washed down the roof and hood. A few rain showers later and it came off in sheets.

To my horror, no matter what I did, once it got rolling, the clearcoat just floated right off the paint until it looks like you can see here (and my photo album):


Oh the horror... the horror..


I've seen these cars with sanded-looking panels, and now I guess I can see first-hand how they got that way. Still, is there anything to be done? Is there a way to make it look less ghastly (apart from stripping off the rest of the clearcoat and "wrapping" her)?

[And "repaint" is not an option.]

Thanks in advance...

 

Sadly I believe you would have to repaint. But I hope someone else can give a definite answer. It's just I think I've asked this question before to my grandpa and I believe his answer was no. I once thought I could do something or sand something but the problem is I think it's to late. Have a good Sunday and from the lines of your car it seems 25+ years old, I would say that's good. Shoot these Toyota's now a days lose Their clear coat in about 4-5 year out the dealership.

 

One more thing if you didn't know wrapping would come apart every 5 years or so depending on the quality so keep that in mind because you have to it again or get a retouch how ever that works. Nothing beats paint.

 

Unfortunately repainting the panel is the only cure. Body wraps are almost expensive as paint. Try Maaco they do a decent job and less expensive.

 

I think you already know the answer... :-(

A suboptimal solution might be to sand the edges of the clear to the point of good adhesion then rattle can clear over the exposed areas.

I'm not a paint guru though...

 

That an idea I've thought of before. Color matching would be the hardest I thought. I would like to know if anyone has tried this and thier results.

Macco does do good work but I've heard to go for the better package for best results.

 

What brand clearcoat was on that car? I cant say i have ever seen one rain storm do that. Ive heard of acid rain but this is crazy. Perhaps really cheap paint and a very poor job of applying it? It definately need a good paint job, i wouldnt wrap it myself. Good luck.

 

If a new paint job is out the question then may be take a look at this guy.
https://youtu.be/7AJ1JVl7yTY

 

Paint on 80s cars delaminated (clear pealed off) after five to ten years in the sun. I owned a 89 Bonneville (charcoal gray by the way) that did the exact same thing. Only solution is to strip and repaint. ~BOB

 

Sun had already caused the clear coat to loosen but you have always taken such good care that it stayed in place.


It was probably the expansion/contraction from cold and sudden temperature changes that started the final delamination process. The panel vibration from the rain finished it.


Something similar happened to my wife's 1978 Bonneville. That was part of a string of events that GM came up with in the 1980s to ensure my determination to never buy another GM vehicle (used cars, 1973 and earlier excepted).

 

That is definitely a bummer.

If you decide to take it to Maaco you can get a better paint job by removing all of the trim yourself and sanding it.

I've seen a lot of cars with factory paint that chips, delaminates and comes off. If you have the car repainted you might consider a single stage paint.

 

I remember in the early 90's being at Myrtle Beach sitting on the balcony. Parking lot was to the right and conversion vans were the hot ticket. Every one had the roofs peeled/faded. GM had lots of paint problems back then.

 

The early years in which Basecoat / Clearcoat were first beginning to show up ,all companies experienced bad Clearcoat problems". The paint companies had to find improvements for these problems,and it took a while to get it right. The only one that held up from the beginning was DuPont and it was taken off the market for giving people lung cancer. I painted a boat with it back in the '80's and it still looks great,and it apparently didn't hurt me ,even if I didn't wear a respirator. Not smart.
Larry

 

It wasn't just GM that had issues, they all did.

 

This may be a stop gap fix that will work for you for awhile. Take a look..... Tedd

 

Eric ,I agree totally on it being all brands,not just GM. They all had this problem in the early clear oats. Tedd ,looks like the You Tube
Article must have "peeled off", just like the clear coat. Larry

 

I'd strip as much of it as I could and take it to MAACO, forget the wrap.

I was quoted $2400-2800 to wrap my car. The guy told me material cost was about $11sq ft. I looked online and an entire roll of the wrap(375sqft) was $538 (Avery SW900) it was like $1.50 a sq ft. Talk about a rip off. I just couldn't risk buying it and trying to do it myself. ....

 

Its not the cost of the wrap its the labor.

 

I understand the labor cost, but that's ridiculous. His cost of material is still 5x what a whole roll is and that's general public price. I'm sure he's paying less as a business.