Huge Tips on How to Remove A Clearcoat Run / Paint Run 

Thanks, Tony. I'm new to this and just created a few runs for myself :( when applying my clear coat and I now need to remove them. The key comment that encouraged me was "you think you've got a run = the job's knackered". I have 2 or 3 coats on my panel so I'm pleased to hear that I wont have to re-do the whole area. Thanks for explaining it so clearly. Your commentary is spot on

Thanks for waking me off a cliff I just sprayed my first motorcycle paint job and got a few runs in the clear little more work but saveable thanks again!!

Thanks Tony. I like the tungsten carbide tool. FYI those look like the same tool that is used for scraping in metalworking. Those can be resharpened at any machine shop that has a diamond hone grinding stone. It takes less than 5 minutes to re-grind a new edge. Just a thought that may save you a few quid. Cheers from Florida's Space Coast.

Absolutely spot on, as im not an experienced spray guy i inevitably had a few runs. This method brought the finished job incredibly well.

Another fantastic tutorial Tony, really useful to have the list of items as well as the technique. Thanks again for helping me rescue jobs

I just created my first fun on my first project. Luckily it was the third coat of clear. The run you repaired, was it green or fully cured? My run is about an hour old and I'm not sure how long to wait before removing it.

Thank you, did my first clear coat yesterday on a mini countryman bonnet and bumper. And despite lots of prep and practice including 2k, primers, base etc managed to get my first run !!!! My fault, I mixed up a bit too much clear so just thought I'd use it up! Still adds to the learning. These bids are brilliant, big fan , and thank you

Tony, i cant thank you enough for this video, im currently respraying my project car and i got a run in the clear coat on the bumper, and as you do i thought the whole thing was ruined. This video has helped me sort it out and now it looks like it wasn't even there!!

Thanks OP this info is exactly what I needed... just repainted the hood of my 2002 Camry - finally after weeks of botched finish, sanding and more ditto, buying far too much stuff, FINALLY I think I'd had the method perfected to make this car look as good as I want. Got halfway through and using ratle can clear coat there were drips - no I hope I can perfect the paint on that hood! BTW I tried 4 kinds of rattle can clear coat yes FOUR - not one of them gave satisfactory results, except one "ERA Paints 2K High Gloss Automotive Clear Coat"! During the course of this project I used dupli-color, Eastwood 2K High Gloss Clear, All the other rattle can clear coats I tried left ugly dry spots, just couldn't spray it or sand after to make it look right...this brand gives great results every time.

Thank you for the great video. I'm doing my 1st paint job on a car and I'm Taking in all of the information I can get, yours seems to be the best, I'll let you know how it goes.

As usual, very good tutorial. So looking forward to start my renovation of a 450SLC 1975. In the process of buying allt he stuff and ripping the car apart. It´s going to be a crazy ride hahaha.

Thanks Tony, absolutely brilliant. Watching this video saved me a lot of work, I would have done ALL the no no's.

My shop recently switched from 3m to SIA abrasives as well, so far I have no complaints

YUP totally with you on the SIA paper that stuff is way better than 3m. Mirka or many other brands. It last longer for sure.

Thank you! Novice painter using a gun for the first time and i got a pretty bad run on one of my panels. Was panicking and almost wanted to dab the area

Great vid Tony, Helps people alot. You know better than me as it’s your full time job. I do a few custom spray jobs on motorcycles every so often. I like to use Mirka Abralon discs wet with a small amount of detergent added for cut. Using Farecla G3 then G10 then Glaze. This mix has saved me from the brink of no return to a show finish. Just a bit of input to show there is more than one way to achieve your goal, which is a happy customer & feeling good about your finishing.👍

Thanks so much for sharing this. So well explained and great video quality. Just a woman over here who knows nothing about car repairs and thought I'd give it a go. Repainted my bumper but have had a small run in the top clear coat. I now feel less anxiety after watching this 😂 the only problem is I dabbed a small amount off trying to remove it and it's turned white. Do I still follow your process? Or have a ruined the paint underneath? -Michelle

Thanks for all your content, Tony. I've only found your channel recently and I'm learning so much. 👍

Another fine job as always mate I've done a few in my time when I used to teach apprentices I've not been on your channel for a while been ill but recovering slowly mate

How long do you let painted panel cure up before getting a run out?

nice video good man, thanks. I really messed up a clear coat run time tome ago. after that I used a blade out of one of my small wood hand plane and it worked a treat, I guess its ½ way between the blade and the tungsten blade. My blades are very sharp. Thanks again man for this. lots of gems, as always.

Interesting Tony. Here in America we do it somewhat differently but the end result is the same. What I personally do is use a scraper burnishing tool to form a burr on the razor blade. (Kevin Tetz's Paintucation videos shows this trick in one of his videos and it works great. After forming the burr you then bend the razor blade into a slight crescent shape which lifts the edges of the blade away from the work. Even so I too still tape the last quarter of an inch on each side of the blade. I call the tape "training wheels" when I show this to new guys. The burr really scrapes off the run much faster. Think cabinet scraper. A lot of people use the putty method which I also like as the putty serves the purpose of a guide coat and I sand this down with a 3" DA using 3M 260L finishing film starting at P600 and finishing at P1500 or Starcke 747 (good stuff and film based as well). I tend to avoid wet sanding if at all possible. That stated the best wet sanding paper that I've found is the Starcke Matador (which goes all the way down to 7000 grit - now what you would use that for escapes me but they do make it). I completely agree with the SIA foam pads and I like the SIA more than the similar Mirka Abralon since the SIA is aluminum oxide abrasive and the Mirka Silicon Carbide which doesn't last as long. The Trizact is great but it's not worth the price. Another interesting difference is that in America we start with wool pads on a rotary for compounding whereas you Europeans prefer foam for some reason. I like Lake Country's Foamed Wool with Menzerna 400 and then switch to orange foam on a FLEX forced rotation polisher for Menzerna 3500. I use a forced rotation polisher (FLEX) rather than a straight rotary as it completely eliminates any swirls. It's fun to see how other people do things.

Great video. Ive always gone for the filler trick but ill be trying this next time. Keep up the good work 👍

Excellent explanation. Well done keep up the good work Tony.

The other day I tried the 1k stopper trick and it worked a treat

You can redress your carbide block with a diamond file or diamond hone . I have a home made carbide nib block made from a piece of carbide blade.

Super video Tony ! I like to see a basecoat run fix next?

Awesome video Tony and thanks 🙏 for the tip clear coat runs is something we can’t run away from haha 😂 the good thing is how you correct it lol 😂 much love Tony enjoy your evening stay safe and healthy 🤙🤙🤙🤙🤙👍👍👍👍💪💪💪💪💪🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏💯💯💯💯💯💯💯

Thank you. Suggestions for runs on small pieces like grill vents etc?

Awesome job, when you started with the blade I was like "ruined, put it in the bin"

Thanks for the explanation. I don't have an rotary polisher / buffing pad. Will I be able to get a reasonable final finish by hand cutting with T-cut and microfibre cloth?

Fantastic Tony, well explained video, thanks for sharing your knowledge bud👍🏻

Tony . Love the channel. I paint for a living in the states .

You're a life saver!... many thanks for your video.

The issue is with a lot of runs is it'll make the panel look wavy and when you get a run in a real small spot like around the crack of a door like the round the roundness of the inside of a door or where molding goes you can you can try to get it out but sometimes it's depending on the clear in the founder ability of the clear you might be able to get it out without burning through but there's a lot of time involved and trying to get the run out the way that I look at it as a rosary do I got a panel right now that has quite a few runs and I'm an experienced painter I shot three panel just the other day with all the same product didn't get runs on one of the product I don't got a slight one on the other and then got quite a few on the last one which I was tired and fatigued so that being said that's probably why I got the runs but I use the same method over and over and I try to keep the same viscosity when I'm mixing clear because when it's too thick it takes a while to low 9 and when it stood in it will run on your really fastso now I got to spend more time or money and more material to fix these couple blemishes but it'll be perfect after I'm done the way I look at it as a run as a redo pretty-much

Tony. Great video. Thanks for the expert advice.

for those playing along at home, u can also use sth like, old skool 1k "top stop" type putty to skim around the run, so u can take back majority of a run without any fear of fking up the surrounding area, at the least, itll help build confidence...its also useful as u can remove the putty pretty easily if needed from the surrounding glossy area...but once u get this method, then step up to a shark fin, runs only mean 1 thing...u arent trying hard enough to get the finish ;) personaly, ive had plenty of runs, any painter who said otherwise is lying....but this is how i found to get the confidence and experience to do what tony is doing....ive gone as hard as 320 on 60minute cured clear and pulled it off before

Awesome vid man been slowly making my way threw all your vids so much great info

Great video Tony and it seemed like you had a good turn out last night for the live chat. I use a razor blade for cutting back the runs but haven't taped the ends up so will give that a try 👍 I used to use a razor blade when I worked at a mouldings company, I used to do all the injection and vacuum mouldings for Hospital MRI scanners and used to repair my own moulds with tooling gel and used a razor blade to scrape down the highs just the same as runs but tooling gel is very very hard and would soon blunt a razor 😁 anyway mate take it steady and hear you soon 🙏👍

Well explained Tony I like these small videos keep up the good work and thank you

This couldn't come at a better time, I've just sprayed the front end of a Fiesta project I'm working on and got a couple of runs on one of the wings..

Great upload as always, I like the brew break bit lol a man after my own heart. Have a great wk end dude 👌🤟👍

Hey Tony, nice video mate. I've just put 2 coats off Spies Hecker Permacron 8025 clear with Permasolid VHS 3225 medium hardener on my Torana. Got two small runs. How long should I leave it before it's hard enough to run a tungsten block over and sand? It was sprayed in a home booth with no heating (about 25°C when sprayed) but falls to about 10°C overnight, so slow drying. Don't want to go to early and uncover soft clear underneath. Cheers Andy

Can’t beat the old body file with the edges ground down. Must be an old school trick that many don’t know of. 😜

Good video Thanks for the great info. Can you please tell me how long you have to wait until you can start trying to remove the drips?

Is there a consensus on best time to take sags, wet sand? Soon after clears dry, or let it cure for a while?

When I first started I piled a second coat on but the the panel was only half colour I took the clear edge to edge as it was a van let me tell you I got a run in the clear right at the end where it was clear only I left it as 1 coat and was surprised how much I found work with 1 coat safe ro say I got it back

Great video Tony, really enjoy the tips and content!

Thanks for the vid bro we all get them from time to time well done for explaining how to remove without a full respray👍👍👍

Where can you order the metal run file (block) from ? Looks a handy wee tool for wee snorters

great video tony and great tips for people 👍👍👍👍

What was the make of the 3000 discs , I agree the price of the 3M ones make your eyes water.💪

good work Tony

Ever tried a black sharpie marker over the run and block it out with a paint stick?

Absolutely love these tips n tricks. 👏👏

Can use a fine skim of goldstop gold..over the run..protecting the paint each side of the run..

How long do you have to wait after painting to start this process

Do they do curved Stanley knife blades or tungsten blocks. I have convex shaped panels. Nightmare for trying to flatten. Sanding lines from a soft block show when you base over the primer. They are just visible with the clear coat over it. Only if you look from a particular angle. I’m thinking to get a angle grinding disc for cutting stone and tape most of it off. Hold it at the right angle so it sits nicely following the concave. What do you think? Thanks.

I’m spraying a bicycle frame.if I sand the clear coat when it’s dry could I then apply more clear coat?

Brilliant, very clear and easy to follow. Subscribed 😁

Hi mate, two quick question. Do you have todo this after the clear has cured for a while or whilst it's still sorft ish ? And can I use a normal rotary instead of a orbital polisher? The reason I ask is I spray a roof yesterday and it looks like a bloody iced cake at this point. Also if I get a run in my base can I just sand down to 500 and re base and clear, or do I have to prime the entire panel again?

Removing runs is a nightmare so i try my upmost not to get them , but unfortunately it happens and i use the filler method it works on some jobs . I hate removing runs it never looks right . I've got a Piaggario 3 wheeler coming for a full lick soon should be interesting .

Very helpful. Thank you 🙏

Hi. Can you use this procedure also on paint (not on primer, not on clearcoat?)?

great video tony, does this same technique work on 2k direct gloss or would i need to approach it in a different way?

Thats a great tip Tony cheers 👍

Nicely Done!

Much appreciated that’s ver6 helpful

Good information sir. and I would like to share to my friends

Thank you, my British friend

Enjoyed made it look easy mate

Nice job, subscribed.

Nice video, Would you recommend using a DA sander to fix a wavy clear coat or doing it by hand?

My clear coat cracked. It didn't seem affect the base coat so I think it was because I didn't allow enough time between coats. I'm going to rub back the cracked coat and give it some fresh and see what happens.

great video very helpful

Awesome informative video, thanks!

Thank you ...great video

Have you used the kapci cutting compound?

Hey Tony how long after can you usually do this. I painted some wings a few days ago and need to de nib , I’m using multi mix HS clear still soft as I can put my finger nail in it , or do I need to wait a few weeks until it’s really hard

Awesome mate.thanks

My old boss wouldn't even let us color sand and buff. More than 5-ish nibbs in a panel got re- cleared.

Thanks alot for this video

good job 👍

Nice vid Tony 👍

I have the added step of swearing off painting ever again prior to fixing the run, thankfully it doesn't happen too often:)

Great job 👍👏👏

good job ....like always

great vid man

Thank you

Great video.

wet run ..is still wet under its paint ??????

Hi Tony what clear is that buddy

Liked and subscribed

It would be nice to show how NOT to get runs !!! I did not have runs the last 2 year s . Painting around 9-14 cars a day. And this run on your picture , on the front fender is nearly impossible to get ,when you know how to spray 😊

what caused the run

I prefer the filler method personally.Done correctly you remove just the run and none of the surrounding area making it particularly safe for novices.But done incorrectly you can make a mess lol.Never had much success with the scraping method myself.Horses for courses

How do i get runs off a tub? That has been refinished

brilliant

That's magic

great