Older GEM clear coat failure - temporary (?) fix

GEM Forum
1

Like many other owners, the clear coat on the hood of my 2001 GEM has started to fail. Seems like they all fail at the top of the hood.

I peeled off some of it while considering a wrap or buying a new hood and starting over. Then I started thinking maybe a ceramic trim restorer would help?

I decided to try the Cerakote Ceramic Trim Coat Restoration Kit. $17 at Home Depot and took about 5 minutes.

Before and after results below. Perfect? No. Looks pretty good from a few feet away though and no longer stands out as an issue driving down the road. We will see how it lasts. It would look better if I stripped the rest of the clear coat and did ceramic on the entire hood, but I could also just keep treating it as it fails. A hack for sure, but a hack nonetheless.

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IMG_5780960×1280 123 KB

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IMG_5781960×1280 107 KB

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2

Looks pretty good, but I wonder if you didn’t complicate your project later when you decide to paint over all this.

Hopefully, the new paint will not have an issue/reaction with the cera coating?
When it comes time, scuff, prep, and test a small area first and see what happens.

3

Yeah, agree on the potential new paint complications. Likely looking at a new hood if/when the time comes.