Hey guys,

I just recently bought a new XJ and overall the paint is in good shape with the exception of the hood. The paint looks like absolute crap. This isn't my Cherokee pictured but the hood looks pretty much the same: http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1033/...3baf69a9_b.jpg. It's a 96 and the color is a dark blue.

I've seen several sites that sell OEM matching spray paint for touch up purposes but I'm not sure how it would look to do the whole hood with it. Also, what else should I do? I'm guessing a clear coat wouldn't be a bad idea either as well as some primer to start.

Until I can afford a real paint job, will spraying it myself look okay or would I be better off leaving it with hood cancer?

Thanks

 

Just my opinion, but I wouldn't leave it to keep rusting. Expecting to get a rattle can finish,on that large of an area though, to look decent would be a challenge.
Why not go with a contrasting rattle can color, just to get you by for a while. Flat black maybe?
Then find someone to strip it, and do a nice job when you can afford it.

 

I assume your hood has succumbed to the typical clear coat fade/peel. You should be able to wet sand the hood, buff, then spray with high quality rattle can clear.

The factory match colors are usually off. If you want to spray new paint, go by a paint shop and get some made.

 

maybe a dumb question, but how would i sand just the clear coat off? I'm assuming what you're suggesting it sand away clear coat and reapply. Won't the paint come with it though when I start sanding? Do I have to wet sand? I don't have access to wet sander.

 

^^this... I wished the PO would have just wet sanded mine and did that, much easier and look better to... instead he primed over it looked horrible so I stripped it down to metal and in the process of complete paint...

OP you can go to a Sherwin Williams Auto paint store and they will mix up your color in a large rattle can designed to do just what your talking about, if you want to chose that route... if you have a compressor and a gravity fed gun just buy a quart of base and some clear and you're good to go..

but If its just the clear coat I'm with Warrior on this one..

 

Water will allow the sand paper to glide over the paint. This will greatly reduce how much paint you go through. Wet sanding doesn't require any special tools besides sand paper designed for wet sanding and, well, water. I like to spray the surface to be sanded with water then continuously dip the paper in a bucket of water. I would never use a power sander on a vehicle, let alone the finish.

More than likely your hood is missing most of the clear coat. The wet sanding will essentially be used to clean the paint and remove/smooth existing clear. I would suggest using 800, 1200, then 2000 grit paper. Stuff the the auto store, not the hardware store. This will take a LONG time to do by hand, but you minimize the chance of blowing through the thin paint.

The result won't be perfect, but it should look much better than a spray bomb of matched or unmatched color. Should be relatively cheap too.

 

you just want to use 1000 grit wet sand paper, run a trickle of water from a garden hose as you lightly sand the clear coat edges and the entire hood..you wont have to worry about the paint unless you keep sanding on it and burn through it, be mindful not to burn thru...

buy some clear then hit it with that, couple coats. then take 1500 grit wet sandpaper with same water system and lightly sand all the 'junk' from the air and whatnot, then buff it with a quality 3m or equivelant compound....

better than new....

 

thanks guys for the clarifications. i've never had to do body work like this so i'm pretty clueless. who'd imagine wet sanding was as easy as using water and sand paper...

my last question is about the clear coat. any suggestions on exactly what to buy?

 

i lied, i thought of another question

as i'm sanding away the nasty looking clear coat, how will i know that i sanded enough? will i no longer see what looks like nasty white build up and start to see the blue paint coming through again?

thanks for answering my obvious questions; i just don't want to f... er screw this up

 

there are a lot of variables where you can spend a gob of money.. my suggestion is goto an auto paint store and tell them your situation.. they'll hook you up

 

you can feel it, also while its wet it will look like finish paint until it dries

 

It isn't critical that you remove 100% of the existing clear. As long as the entire area to be recoated is baby butt smooth with no irregularities you should be good to go.

You will also have to buff the sanded surface of the hood prior to spraying new clear. The sanded surface will be dull and flat, buffing will bring its life back and the new clear will protect it.

There are thousands of write up and suggestions over the net regarding a failed clear coat. This is just the first one I found:
http://www.meguiarsonline.com/forums...-look-less-bad

 

I'd bet a body shop would paint it for around $100

 

thanks all for the advice. as far as body shop goes, Maaco quoted me at $300ish. I've heard bad things about going with their cheaper paint jobs.

 

Most Maaco's are franchise so its hit and miss if they are good or crap.I would be more worried about the rust in the rockers then the paint job on it.Have you looked at plasti dip before?You can get a kit to paint the whole jeep for about that 300 bucks depending color. https://www.dipyourcar.com/home.php Its not permanent like real paint but will stay on a long time.