Natural white doesn't have clearcoat, so why are my doors peeling?

[twa318]

I have an 07 sport in natural white, which to my understanding is a single stage paint without a clear coat.

I went through the automatic carwash yesterday and as I was toweling it dry I noticed there is what appears to be a clear film on the bottom of the doors that is peeling off. It's just on the bottom of the doors. Is this perhaps something the PO did, like a clear bra for the doors?

See the attached photo. It looks pretty haggard, I'll have to put some serious elbow grease in this weekend to get rid of it all.

 

[JVC8790]

Based on that picture, if I had to guess, they clear bra'd the bottom of the doors for protection against potential rock chips.

Heat gun and some elbow grease oughta get that cleaned off and the paint below SHOULD be really good.

 

[twa318]

That’s what I thought as well.

Strange that the PO would clear bra the just doors but not the hood, which has plenty of rock chips, but then again I’ve found a few things that make question what the PO was thinking

Thanks for the heat gun tip, hopefully I can start from the bottom and peel it off in one large piece

 

[JVC8790]

The hood might have had a bra on it at one point and it too started to curl/peel up and then was removed, then rock chips occurred. I've seen that from people who think a bar clear bra looks worse than no clear bra so they take it off then aren't protesting the paint and it gets chipped.

Heat gun will make a big difference in getting it loosened up in larger pieces rather than slivers.

 

[AuSeeker]

That’s what I thought as well.

Strange that the PO would clear bra the just doors but not the hood, which has plenty of rock chips, but then again I’ve found a few things that make question what the PO was thinking

Thanks for the heat gun tip, hopefully I can start from the bottom and peel it off in one large piece

The hood might have had a bra on it at one point and it too started to curl/peel up and then was removed, then rock chips occurred. I've seen that from people who think a bar clear bra looks worse than no clear bra so they take it off then aren't protesting the paint and it gets chipped.

Heat gun will make a big difference in getting it loosened up in larger pieces rather than slivers.

I agree on using the heat gun..BUT be very careful not to burn the paint!!

You might also want to try using "plastic razor blades" to help in removing the flim, if you've never heard of plastic razor blades just do a web search, they are used on many things when needing to scrap off a surface and not damage the surface, one being painted surfaces.