The previous owner of my 68SS, installed later model SS black tape stripes over the bc/cc paint. I don't care for the look and want to remove the stripes. They have been on the car for over a year, and the car has spent the better part of that year in the garage. Before I wrecked an otherwise decent paint job, I thought I'd remove just a portion of the stripe to see what I was getting into. Stripes peel up easy enough, but there appears to be some very light discoloration to the clearcoat. Any ideas on how I might fix this? Can the clear be buffed to remove the discoloration? If so, what do I use?
Any ideas or comments would be helpful since my knowledge of paint and body work is at best, limited.

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Patrick, aka Merlin
1968 SS 396/325 4-Speed, White with black vinyl top & black interior.
TC#1017

You'll probably get a better response that this but just in case.. here goes..

The discoloration is probably remaining adhesive from the stripe. I would get a 3m adhesive remover and try it on your spot. if not, I would get a buffing compound (mild abrasive) like finish glaze or something similar, buff polish and see if the discoloration goes away. if not.. well I don't know.. it could be a number of factors, sun discoloration, adhesive soaked into clear, millions of things.. but I would venture to say it will come out..

Good Luck!

Not to rain on your parade but i don`t think the discoloration will come out. It may become less apparent over time, but if the clear has discolored, there is not alot you can do about it, unless off course Normie is right and there is still adhesive on the surface. The other thing to consider as well is that it`s not the clear but the base coat that`s discolored. This is more usually the case with two stage systems. The color coat is more prone to discoloration than the urethane top coat. Even though base/clear systems were designed in part to combat this, it still occurs on a lesser scale. Applying stripes over fresh paint can affect the cure as well, resulting in a sort of flat finish under the stripes. If this is the case with yours, this might appear as discoloration. Nevertheless, i`d go ahead and peel them off and try to polish it a bit. At best, it will be less obvious. At worst, you just have to get the hood resprayed.

Just think of it as 'ghost stripes'! Some people would pay good money to have the same effect! Seriously, buffing would be your best bet as long as it's a good urethane clear coat.

Not to discredit the previous post, but I highly doubt the discoloration is the basecoat underneath. Most likely the yellowing stain is a combination of glue and clear absorbing some of the glue when hot. I would try the 3M polish route and if that didn't work, if you are sure there is plenty of clear to work with I would wet sand the area with a combination of 2000 and 1500 grit to find which works better, as a last resort if the other two aren't aggressive enough I would try 1000.

If nothing above works, it sounds like the clearcoat may be delaminated which gives the yellow stain color. If this is so, then only real cure is to sand off and repaint if it drives you crazy.

Most likely the stripes were put on too soon and didn't allow enough time for a proper cure.

Kerry
PPG

Thanks for the replys. It looks like a regimen of light buffing/polishing is in order. I was told that the stripes were added a full year after the base/clear was shot, but then, I was told a number of things about this car that have proven to be false. In any case, the discoloration is very light, somewhat difficult to see with the white paint. But I know it's there. The stripes start on the header, run the length of the hood, and down the rear valance and decklid, so I hope I do not end up having to repaint. At least not yet. Thanks again...
Patrick

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Patrick, aka Merlin
1968 SS 396/325 4-Speed, White with black vinyl top & black interior.
TC#1017