Touching up an unknown paint

[thompsonbr87]

While removing anti-chafe tape from the flap, I managed to pull the paint off in a few spots (maybe 2"x2"ish). There are also some scratches and rash spots that could benefit from some attention. I've looked through the builder's log, and unfortunately wasn't able find what the original builder used, so I decided to try a base & clear coat. I've got the color matched pretty well, but the clear coat isn't shining up the way I expected. Is there a better approach to this? Any suggestions for other products I might try or gotchas I might have missed?

[ShookieRV7A]

I’m no painting expert all.

So I’m curious what prep process you used when you were doing the clearcoat on your flap? Did you scuff it? What grit? Which clearcoat? Did you degrease the entire project area? Some of the clears are satin some are extra gloss (just a thought).

From what I have learned over the last few years and from what I’ve learned painting my homebuilt camper and now my -7A is this...

When trying to clear over clear and when blending that, you need to scuff the area you’re going to re-shoot with clear. So for example, if you want to repaint your 2” x 2” area, I would scuff the area around it before so you’re ready to do your clear coat blending. I would do 400 or 600 grit. One coat of clear will not be enough. In fact I would do a light “dust coat” first to promote adhesion. Let it flash off for 15 min or so, then two medium flow coats with a 15-20 min flash between coats depending on temp. The lower the temp, the longer the flash off time. Grab some scrap and practice this.

There are some clear coat blending products out there too, some are even in rattle can format. A local auto body paint shop might carry them.

There’s even a slew of YouTube guys/girls who demonstrate how the process works.

[lr172]

Originally Posted by thompsonbr87

While removing anti-chafe tape from the flap, I managed to pull the paint off in a few spots (maybe 2"x2"ish). There are also some scratches and rash spots that could benefit from some attention. I've looked through the builder's log, and unfortunately wasn't able find what the original builder used, so I decided to try a base & clear coat. I've got the color matched pretty well, but the clear coat isn't shining up the way I expected. Is there a better approach to this? Any suggestions for other products I might try or gotchas I might have missed?

Just buff the new clear coat. That should bring up the gloss.