94 Camry, is worth $270 for clear coat Earl Scheib?

I always thought the car wash hot wax would protect the paint but I was sadly mistaken.

My hood, top and trunk has been burned by the California sun and the carwash guy told me my clear coat is gone and the paint is damaged. I looked up the E.S. price sheet and it says I can get a 2 coat paint job for $229 and a 3 coat plus "integrated " clear coat for $499.

Is the exta money worth it for a car this old? If I handwax the $229 paint job regurlarly, will it still look decent?

Reply to
wannabe
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Not answering the question, but what do you mean by "the clear coat is gone"? Clearcoat is a paint, it just doesn't disappear -- you'll have obvious "holes" through to the basecoat if the clearcoat is peeling off.

If you're not seeing peeling clearcoat, I'd first see if you can bring the finish back to snuff -- hit an area with some polish, cleaner or rubbing compound to see what the finish looks like without the oxidation. A random orbital waxer (or random orbit sander with a polish pad) will make the job go a lot better. Go easy if you're using the aggressive stuff (especially rubbing compound), as it's pretty difficult to replace paint that's been removed :-) .

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has some good tips. Unless Earl Scheib has changed in the last decade, they're just barely a step above spray painting the car with cans of spray paint -- I wouldn't use them unless I was planning on selling a car to someone I really didn't like :-}

Reply to
Andy Hill

Last time I used Scheib was about 40 years ago, and I think it may depend on which of their shops you go to. My job was better than okay, but there was a little overspray on the bumpers which took a few minutes to remove. But I've been to another Scheib shop (also many years ago) where there were runs and sags on the panels, and a rather amateurish job altogether. (the kind of job I might do if I rented a spraygun and worked under a tree.) I really can't see painting a 12 year old car, if something can be done with elbow grease, like rubbing compound followed by a good wax job. It's like putting lipstick on a pig.

Reply to
mack

Good question, and discussion !

I, too, own a 94 Camry that I have not kept up on the washing and waxing (life is too short !). We have some major spot faults caused by sap from the nasty pine trees it was parked under....the detail guy that I use (every 5 years or so, whether I need it or not !) said "Sorry....nothing I can do now about those spots...."....the pine trees are long gone now (cost me $8K to have em removed !) so my wife's 01 Eclipse (her "mid-life crisis" car !) and my 04 Tundra don't suffer the same fate.

Anyway, I now notice several small dings in the front and on the hood....rock chips, etc I suspect....and they are starting to rust.....my question is this :

I concede that a good polish and wax are needed, although I know it won't make things "like new" again....however, if I do give it a good going-over, and restore what little finish I have left, are there any suggestions on how to treat those small dings/rust spots ? I have the touch-up paint bottle from Toyota, but I wonder if I need to do anything else to these small spots before putting on the touch-up paint.....I think that sanding it out would make it look worse than it already does !

I have no intention of getting rid of my Camry anytime soon....heck....it's paid for and it meets my needs ! I would like to restore it to at least a semblance of its previous "good look"....any advice is gratefully accepted !!

Dean...

wannabe wrote:

Reply to
D Larsen

===================== wannabe wrote:

===================== The problem with Earl Schieb and similar low cost paint jobs is that they do not remove all the trim and glass prior to painting. Plus even their best paint is estimated to last around five years. I also have the '94 Camry left in the very hot Calif. sun by a prior owner for many years. Fortunately, I began using Zaino products before the fading became obvious. There's just a slight color variation that you have to look at in just the right light to see. Zaino has SPF 40 so it will stop further degradation and restore the finish, but it could cost around $120 and will not bring back any lost color. The idea is that it should protect what remains from further deterioration. A really good paint job is several thousand dollars.

Reply to
Daniel

Dean:

To fix the chips, the best thing to do is to not try to disturb the OEM paint around the chip. First, clean the whole affected panel you are going to repair wih some sort of degreaser and wipe it off with lint free paper towel.

Buy a 3M sanding pen at an autobody or auto parts store made especially for this, or make up some very small sanding sticks by gluing some #220 sandpaper to small sticks that can sand JUST the chipped area. Sand the chipped area, clean it again, then apply some primer from a bottle using a fine toothpick. Only use a little bit of primer and try not to get any on the existing paint finish, but make sure you cover the chip area fully with primer. If you do get any primer on the OEM paint around the chip, wipe it with a cloth with a little lacquer thinner quickly.

When the chips are all primed and you have waited at least a few hours, then you are ready to apply the touchup paint. What you want to do is apply the paint to the chipped area by a wicking action from the toothpick to the panel and let the paint flow into the chipped hollow which is still lower than the surrounding painted OEM surface. This is especially true for metallic and pearl type OEM finishes because you will never get it to blend if you go outside the chipped area. I am assuming here we are talking about small chips. Only apply enough paint in one go to flood the chipped hollow. IE. once it appears uniformly covered, stop and go on to the next one. Don't worry about the applied paint appearing humped or not flush with the OEM painted surface of the panel. The solvents in the paint will evaporate and leave a very thin paint film. After doing all the chips, wait a few hours and go back and hit them repeatedly like this until you build up the paint level in the chips slightly above the panel surface.

When you are done with the touch-up paint, take some #1800 3M waterproof sand paper, soak it in warm water with a little dishsoap for

10 mins, then fold the paper up into a 1x1" sq and LIGHTLY sand the repaired chips either by bare hand or with a small sanding block, making sure to keep the area lubricated with a wet cloth or spray bottle of soapy water. The goal here is to knock the repaired chip surface down even with the panel so it will disappear and blend right in. Check every 5 or 6 passes with the paper by drying it off and inspecting it to see if it is disappearing. This is sort of scary because the sanding will dull the finish on the area around the chip, but you can restore that easily later. Remember to only sand as much as needed. Your chip repair may not have enough paint in it and still be below the panel's height, so if this is the case, you need to decide whether to stop sanding and then clean and go back to filling it up more with touchup paint, or just stop sanding and leave it if it's good enough.

The final step after sanding the chips is to restore the panel finish with a 3M rubbing compound applied using a soft cloth. Apply it in one direction. Let it dry and rub off with clean soft cotton cloth. You may need to do this 2 or 3 times to bring the shine back up. Then wax and you are done.

Others:

You can sometimes restore a clearcoat finish if it hasn't obviously peeled by a clay bar, rubbing compound, or if necessary wet sanding with #1800 or #1500 sandpaper in this order. For paint that appears dull and oxidized or damaged by tree sap, a clay bar used with a lubricant can actually do wonders to bring up the shine and remove contaminants like sap. I've used one and was pretty surprised. You can buy one with a lubricant at any auto parts store.

If your finish is old and oxidized, and you have tried a clay bar, then I would use a good quality rubbing compound applied professionally with a decent polisher, not these big 9" things sold to consumers as waxers. You may want to get this done by a professional detailer for best results because if you don't know what you are doing with a powerful polisher, you can generate too much heat and burn the finish.

The last resort to restore a finish is wet sanding it. It is not all that difficult but requires a light touch and knowing when to stop because a clearcoat finish has most of its UV inhibiters near its surface. Thin clearcoats should not be sanded at all. When professionals are making a decision, they will use a surface film thickness gauge which can actually measure the tickness of the clearcoat. If you sand too much, it may look great but you will have reduced its durability. As well, if you sand too much and blow thru the clear, you are done. Only way to repair that is by repainting the car. This is why it is a last resort. If the car is old and you don't plan to keep it beyond 2 years, then go ahead.

cheers,

dave mc

Reply to
davemac

Dave,

What a great post ! You've given me (and the NG) a bunch of info and answered my concerns....

My biggest worry was that each of the dings in my Camry's hood seem to have a small "lip" around them...where the OEM paint seems somewhat "raised" around the ding (like a crater on the moon !). I figured that if I just took a wax/polish approach, I'd end up with those annoying white dots where the polish sat in the low area of the ding, and you could NEVER wipe 'em out ! Seems like your advice, although tedious , would eliminate this concern. Thankfully, I don't have that many dings, so I'll give it a try !

One additional question....you mention using a toothpick for applying the primer and paint....so do you recommend NOT using the touch-up paint brush that comes as part of the bottle cap ?

Thanks again for the great post !

Dean...

davemac wrote:

Reply to
D Larsen

The brush that comes in most touch-up paint is way too big, which is why most touchups have overflow everywhere. As mentioned, a toothpick works well. A small hobby paintbrush (like you'd use for painting small models) isn't bad, either.

Reply to
Andy Hill

Thanks for the responses, guys. If it is allowable, I will take some digital photos of my car and attach them to my next post. I didn't see any photos of oxidation on that website, so I don't know what my car paint's real condition is. A google search came up empty for pictures too.

All I know is that for over 10 years, I owned a red corvette and I never hand waxed or polished it. I took it to that same carwash and I never had a problem with the paint.

The vette needed some repairs I didn't wan't to deal with so I traded it in for a dark blue 94 Camry about 5 years ago. I didn' t set out to buy a Camry. It just felt good when I took it for a test drive (even though it had high mileage). The engine purred and it was solid with no rattles,etc. The previous owner had kept it in good condition. I drove it off the lot and have had no major mechanical problems with it since.

After seeing the paint problem on my car, I noticed other Toyotas with the same problem, so I figured that Toyatas were probably prone to that because of cheap factory paint jobs. I think I have seen the same thing on some Hondas.

Anyway, since I figured the carwash guy knew what he was talking about, I just assumed that the sun, wind and rain made my clearcoat disappear and damaged the paint underneath.

I don't want to spend a lot of time or money restoring it to a "showcar" conditon. I'm just tired of it being an eyesore like it is now. That is why I was asking about the E.S. paint jobs.

Reply to
wannabe

Thanks, Andy....that makes sense ! The few times I've used the touch-up bottle left me with that impression...the brush was too big for the small spot I was using it on...I'll try the toothpick or the hobby brush next time...

Dean...

Andy Hill wrote:

Reply to
D Larsen

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