Clear coat eventually fails regardless of thickness. If you catch it early enough and the base coat is a solid color, you theoretically can sand off just the clear and reshoot it over the existing base coat. But, it is hard to do without sanding through the base coat. If the base coat is metallic, you have to reapply both base and clear as sanding metallic base coat ruins it (you sand partially into the metal flakes which changes the look).
If the clear has just failed in a localized area, and the base is a solid color, you can spot repair the clear by sanding/feathering the failed area and applying clear to nearest panel break. If base color is metallic, you will need to blend the base/clear repair.
Last edited by DavidF; 01/23/2014 6:07 PM.
