How to Strip the Clear Coat From a Car

The clear coat on your car is designed to protect the base color paint from UV rays, moisture and rust. The clear coat also adds a glossy finish to the car. When the clear coat gets old, dries out, and starts to fade or peel, it can make your car look really bad. In many cases, you only need to strip the clear coat and apply a new one to get your car looking like new again.

Instructions

1

Sand the entire car with a dual action sander and 320-grit sandpaper. Keep the sanding pad flat against the surface and don't use heavy pressure. Be careful on the edges of body lines and on rounded edges -- the sander can cut through the clear coat into the base coat. When the clear coat is sanded off, you'll see white dust. If you sand into the color coat, the dust will be the color of the paint.

2

Use 600-grit sandpaper and water to sand the car's surface by hand. Keep the sandpaper soaking wet while sanding to prevent sanding buildup to scratch into the base color coat of paint. Rinse the car and let it dry. Check the surface for glossy areas since the sanding process makes the surface dull. Sand any glossy areas again.

3

Sand the surface with 900-grit sandpaper and water, using the same steps and technique as with the 600-grit sandpaper. Rinse the car and let it dry completely.

4

Wipe the surface with wax-and-grease remover and a microfiber towel. Let the remover evaporate for five minutes. Place masking tape and paper over all areas that won't be painted, such as the tires, wheels, trim, windows, lights, grill and key locks.

5

Spray clear coat paint onto the surface, using a spray gun. Hold the gun 12 inches from the surface and use left and right strokes. Begin at the top of the car and work your way down to the bottom.

6

Apply a total of five or six coats of clear coat paint, letting each coat dry for 10 minutes. Let the final coat dry for 24 hours before handling the surface.