r/AutoPaint

I painted my Volvo 240 with base coat and everything was going good. Then I screwed up big time—when spraying clear coat, I accidentally mixed the clear coat with reducer instead of hardener. Sprayed two heavy coats of clear and it’s still tacky 24 hours later.

My understanding is that the clear coat will never cure properly without the hardener and I will need to remove it. Any suggestions on how to do this? Should I assume the base coat will be damaged and need to be resprayed as well?

What should I use to remove the uncured clear coat—the same reducer I used? Acetone? Something else? It’s too tacky to sand so I’ll have to use something to dissolve it.

Can’t believe I did this but stuff happens.

===========UPDATE===========
Finally removed the uncured clear coat! Here’s how:

I sprayed small sections with the reducer, let it soak a bit, then wiped it off with a microfiber towel. After several hours and a dozen towels, I finally got the sticky clear coat off.

The trick was to use my Harbor Freight aerosol sprayer and wipe frequently, always making sure to use a clean portion of the rag.

Unfortunately, it also took the base coat off and there are some swirls but it came off much easier than expected. Just a lot of tedious work.

My plan is to sand it with 600 grit then re-prep it for base and clear.

Note: a pro painter told me that you can’t spray hardener on it afterwards or use more on the next coat because the clear needs to chemically react to actually harden and dry. Otherwise, it will always remain tacky and eventually turn into a giant hairball and ultimately fail.

Hi guys, I wanna restore these wheels of my Porsche 924. Ive painted a steelies before, but completely new to a bi-color aluminium wheel. Its black on the inside, silver on the outside. Rim should be black as well. How would you approach it?

Finally finished installing Wilwood 4 piston rear disc brakes. Took a few attempts and ordering several additional parts to get everything connected and aligned.

Driveshaft is new too

Hey guys, new car came with a touch up and it appears at some point during the production line, transportation, or at the new car dealer someone horribly botched the touch up job (3/4 inch)on a side panel (it appears some sort of plastic/composite material). Dealer says they did not do it and “of course” they do not know where it happened. What are the options here to fix it? What can I use to remove touch up paint only, without damaging the clear coat so that I can re-touch up in a proper way?
Can this be a DIY or require body shop panel respray?

Thanks in advance for the responses.

So I'm painting a car for the first time, learning a lot every day. I'm using spray cans, which I know isn't exactly ideal, but I'm just working with what I've got. For the pictures above, I used a matte black, specifically Krylon Fusion All in One Flat Black. For the most part, the finish looks good, but the lines from spray can passes are very visible at certain angles, and the patches that appear darker dried slightly rougher to the touch than the lighter areas. Is there a good way to even this out without having to go over it again? I just feel like the spray lines make it look very amateurish. I mean, it is, but I'm hoping I can smooth it out a little. Any help is greatly appreciated.

My clear coat has been peeling off for a while. Now that I have the time to fix it I don’t know how to do it. I would appreciate help on how to fix the issue.

Title says it. My first time painting, and I chose a doozy. Kia Sorrento hood with the famous white paint that doesn’t stick to a primer many many chunks of paint were off of this thing it was just bad.

Paint from Eastwood. Their oem line.
Stripped and then Bondo on a trouble spot.
Epoxy primer, base, pearl, then clear.
Pretty bad orange peel but after sanding and compounding,I think it matches the factory orange levels decently. Color match isn’t quite there on overcast days, but in the sun it looks great.
I spent way more money on doing this than just paying someone to do it, but I wanted to try it and my gf said it was fine to try it on her car.
I’m not sure how or if I can add video, but I’ve got a couple video under my garage lights to show the orange peel levels.

Just looking for some advice and repair options to see if there is anything I can do myself or should I just go to a body shop and get an estimate? Car rear ended me while I was parked. Main concern is obviously the black license plate mark impressions and the silver scratched looking parts off to the right. Any help would be appreciated!

So I got this off FB marketplace and the previous owner attempted to fix it with what I assume is some store bought correction stuff

I pressure washed the plasti-dip and it looked like clear came off with it. Paint has tar like waves almost and very hazy. I polished a test area with mothers mag and aluminum polish (ik ur not supposed to) and the haze and wave came out. Is there any way to restore this without painting the whole hood? It doesn’t need to be perfect just look good enough to sell. I’m also planning to sand, bondo, and paint the rust near the bottom right. Any tips would be helpful

Edit: I just hand polished with meguiars ultimate compound and red bled on the microfibre