Keeping up your auto body is important. Many car owners are afraid to undertake any sort of body work or paint touch up because working on car surfaces can be intimidating. Obviously, you don't want to ruin your car body by using the wrong methods or supplies. Most people just leave their auto body alone until there are serious, noticeable holes in the paint. However, these are usually due to the lack of preventative measures. The most important preventative measure you need to take when it comes to your auto body paint is making sure that the protective clear coat remains intact. This article explains how to reapply clear coat to your car body.

Maintaining the Clear Coat

The clear coat on most cars is applied in the factory directly over the paint. When the clear coat wears off, gets scratched away, or just becomes thinner over time, the paint underneath can't be compromised. Obviously, the paint can still fade, but it should remain solid as long as the clear coat remains.

Most small car scratches aren't even visible, even if they scrape away the clear coat. At first, you won't be able to notice it, but it can start to grow as the hole in the clear coat becomes bigger. So, if you can patch any holes in your clear coat, you can't prevent more serious and expensive repairs to your auto body paint. You can buy a variety of clear coats from any auto body store. You should buy touch up paint from the car dealer to make sure you get the perfect color match.

Of course, when you apply a new clear coat to an old car that has faded and lost its sheen over time, the new clear coat will probably be too shiny. However, this is better than having your paint exposed. Additionally, you can use steel wool or auto body sandpaper to buff out the clear coat and reduce some of the shine. It might be hard to get a perfect match, but it will definitely help the new patch blend in.

If you are vigilant and take a close look at your car, you can find the areas that need more clear coat. When you spot the problem early, you don't need to rely on repairing the paint, which can be a much more difficult project to take on. Keeping up your clear coat will save you money.

Contact an auto performance tuning professional to learn more.

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