Clear coat peeling: Suggestions?

"Robert M. Gary" wrote in message
oups.com...

Mike wrote:
We had our archer II painted in 1996, including a clearcoat. About 6 -
12 months ago the clear coat started peeling just a little, almost
exclusively on the control surfaces. (They were removed and painted
separately, so it makes sense they behaved slightly differently. Now
though, the clear coat is peeling in quite a few places, especially the
elevator and outer wing. Other the the peeling clearcoat, the paint is
in pretty good shape.
Any suggestions/recommendations for ways to 'fix' the clearcoat without
a relatively complete paint job.?? I'd like to get some good ideas
before talking to a shop.
Thanks!!
Mike Pvt/IFR PA28-181 N44979 at KRYY

I'm in the same boat with my Mooney. Every shop I go to just cringes
when they see that someone put clearcoat in an airplane. Apparently its
common for cars but generally considered quite hill-billy for airplanes
(the proper technique being to mix it in with the paint).

I don't think you'll find any major paint manufacturer that recommends
mixing the clear coat with the color coat. Paint systems are either single
stage (no clear coat) or two stage, in which the second "stage" is a clear
coat.

However, the good news is that after the initial horror of the peeling,
it will start to look much, much better. Once the clear coat is gone
you are left with nice paint.

The clear coat provides UV protection and gloss. On two stage systems, the
color coat doesn't hold up well once the clear peels off.


-Robert

KB