Front Cap Clear Coat Option

[ziaptrn]

Hello all -
Just thought I'd share a project that I began about 3 weekends ago (what with work interfering with my RV time!)
When we purchased our new-to-us 04 Vectra, the front cap clearcoat was a mess. It appears to be not uncommon with some Winnies.
Thinking along lines of a 'fix' - I got a few quotes to re-paint and re-clear-coat. No body damage or body work, but prep/paint/clear.
1) Very difficult to find anyone who wants to do a smaller job; those who expressed any interest wanted to re-paint the entire front end or the entire rig.
2) The quotes I received were very expensive.
So...I started thinking (which can be dangerous).
In the end - I sanded and prepped the front cap and then applied brush-on Truck Bed liner which I purchased locally. I've attached a photo.
It took 2 good days of prep and about 2 hours of painting for the first coat; maybe an hour for the second which was much faster.
I've attached a photo of before and after. I'm very pleased with the outcome and just thought I'd share in case others may find themselves in the same situation. The bedliner coating was $60.00 for the entire kit which had more than enough coating with plenty left over.

[Lv2Roam2]

Nice ... and thanks. Seeing more use of this bedliner material in our travels. Some companies are starting to offer multiple colors.

[Parkers1941]

Thanks for the info, my 2008 sunova has the same problem with the clear coat peeling on the front and rear caps plus the side caps. Looks like I have my work cut out to do all the caps. Your front Cap looks great.

[ADA]

Looks great! Can you describe the sanding and prep process and materials in more detail?

[CJBROWN]

A shame. Full body paint is all the rage 'till the clearcoat breaks down. Which is does - they're only good for about 10 years.

They can be repainted too, but instead of rolling you get a spray gun - sand it down and re-shoot it.
Get a twin pack of basecoat-clearcoat from your paint jobber with your paint code. Yeah, it's harder to do than the bedliner.

Looks good from here.

[ziaptrn]

The instructions with the liner are quite clear that the surface must be absolutely clean and definitely 'roughed up' for the coating to stick. Failure to roughen the surface or give some 'tooth' for adherence will result in the coating peeling off or not sticking in the first place.

On our rig, the roof was already pretty rough where the clear and much of the paint had been worn away. The part just over the windshield was in the best condition with clear-coat intact.

To prep, I washed the area carefully twice and let dry. Then flaked off as much of the clear coat as I could where it was lifting away at the edges. To flake it off, I used a fingernail and (very carefully) the edge of a single-edge razor blade. Once all the clear-coat was off, I used a scotch-brite type pad to smooth and roughen the remaining surfaces that would be covered. I took my time with the roughing up - almost one day devoted just to this.

A final cleaning with alcohol and then acetone removed any extraneous debris and oils, etc.

The coating goes on pretty easily - cutting in the edges with a paintbrush (after masking off with blue painters tape, of course), and then using the supplied roller. The first coat covered most but not all; a second coat covered everything completely. Any spillage must be wiped up with acetone ASAP; once cured, the coating does not want to come off.
Also - strongly recommend wearing gloves. I didn't...and...well...the stuff sticks to everything. Everything. It took 2 days to get it off my hands.

I understand that the results may appeal to some and not to others, but I am pleased. If I ever need another coat - easy enough to do. WAY less expensive than more paint and clear-coat, and I don't have to worry about nicks and cuts from rocks, etc. I perhaps would have liked a little less gloss - but will see how it wears over time.

[Stu and Sue]

Nice job..

I'll add that to my ever growing list of rountuits.