Substitute wax and grease remover

67Dart440GT said
Look for a wax and grease remover called GON made by XIM. It is one of the best I've ever used. Most body guys still refuse to use wax and grease remover before they do repair work and all they do is grind the contamination into the surface or spread it all over the surface. Most paint manufacturers will suggest a water based cleaner first, then a strong solvent wax and grease remover. Dawn and water like mentioned above is a good way to start. I never skip a solvent wax and grease remover due to so many cars now having a ceramic coating on the clear.

As to your solvent pop issues you should have enough material to easily remove them when prepping for the new paint. I have never seen a solvent pop so severe that it would hold any visible contamination like compound dust or glaze. Are you sure this is actually solvent pop and not some form of contamination like fish eyes or oil/water contamination from air lines that are not properly dried?

If you are sanding the clear for adhesion of the new paint and you don't need to seal it why bother? If you can get the panel repaired with say 600 to 800 orbital you can just apply basecoat directly to that. If your panel requires more aggressive sanding to repair the issues then sealing is necessary but I would not apply any product to a panel that has any visible defects from the previous paint job.

Pictures will help.

Here is a picture of the clear sanded with 1200. The white spots are the craters and I'm pretty sure they are white because of the dust from sanding. They are not fish eyes, that I know. It is possible it was contamination from the airlines...I painted it at a buddies place and I was at the mercy of his setup, although he did have a Sharpe dryer on it and the compressor was one floor below the booth. And like I said before, those specks are about the diameter of a metal flake. I have put a sharpened dental pick in one under a magnifying glass and I removed the sanding dust but wiping it down with wax and grease remover (just got some) does not flush it out.

Edit: I just sanded an area with 400 on my DA and took quite a bit of clear off and they are still present. I'm thinking maybe I should just use a bit of fisheye eliminator in the basecoat as an insurance policy and spray the base directly over the sanded clear if I go over it again with 600?