I have Ditzler clear coat, and in a couple of spots, there is like a very very fine "dust" IN the paint. It appears as very small white spots. This is on a black car, and probably any other color it wouldn't show. It is NOT dust. On a door the spots are some what random. After buffing, it looks like a fine dust has settled. Any ideas? I was going to touch up the door, but then noticed the rear quarter is not right either. On the quarter, it is all in one spot about 6 inches in diameter. What do you think?

Chances are very high those spots are where you or someone sanded or buffed through the clear coat. The base coat has no UV protection and it will chalk if it isn't protected. Solution in that case is to color sand the area (to remove the base coats oxidation) and re-clear the panel. Good rule of thumb... If you're going to color sand a clear coat you need at least three coats of clear, and four is better.

No, this is all fresh paint. The quarter was painted last fall, the door 3 weeks ago. I have sanded and buffed, and I know its not thru (because I have done that on this car, which is why the quarter was re-painted). By the way, this clear is also out of two different cans.

I have had this before. It is very small craters in the paint, usually caused by moisture in the line while the paint was shot. Then when you went to sand and buff the residue settles in the craters. Take a tooth pick and see if you can clean out the crater and remove the white residual. If not then it is in the clear and would have to be sanded out and recleared. If they are small enough and do clean out with the tooth pick you can spot them in with clear, resand and buff.

I had that on this trunk and here is the final result after some work.

I would agree with you Mike, but my surface is smooth. And this was sprayed with a Grayco unit, one with a hose 1" in dia that comes from a heated turbine compressor. One of these units with little pressure, lots of volume. Well, I guess that could pump moisture too, but I have had the same thing happen on the door with an HVLP sharpe, although not to quite the same extent. I thought this 2 stage stuff was suppose to be easier. This is my first car with the two stage....and it hasn't been working out.

If it is not little craters then it has to be something in the clear or even on the black base coat. 2 stage is way easier than single, but if you get something on the base before clear it will show up. If you get trash while you shoot the clear it will show up. Plus you are doing black, by FAR the most difficult paint to get right. Did you do anything to the base before shooting the clear? Sand ? Wipe?

Sounds more like a case of gassing out/solvent pop,....no photos of the area?



what was the primer/sealer colour prior to laying down the base colour

Mike

i would suggest buying a microscope like this, http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2179604, and actually see what the white spots are.
i have one like it that i have used for the past 30 years on paint problems.
look at the spots with the microscope ans see what they look like. maybe pick at one spot with a razor blade for a more detailed look. if you are careful you will not see the damage from the blade. of give the spot a quick touch up.

with your description the spots sound like moisture in the clear. i have seen this a LOT in paint jobs done in a air dry situation. heated air out of a machine can cause condensation in the lines by the time it makes it to the spray gun.
also moisture can form on the cars surface if the temp changes while you are painting.

maybe call the place where you bought the paint from and ask for some help from the paint rep.
this is the reps job to help out with problems like that.

Well, it must be moisture, but I just don't know how to get rid of that.
Maybe I'll wait till winter and do it then.
Actually there is one other thing about this clear and that is the mist seems to bounce off the surface. I've never had so much mist in the air. Again I have tried 3 different guns, different feeds and pressure and it pretty much fills the air. I can turn right around and spray a base coat and get none of that. Has that been anyone elses experience?

Research "solvent pop"

Sounds like what you have.

Has to do with the paint and painting method

Humidity ,high temp or painting while it is raining can trap moisture in the paint. Bodymen used to refer to this as "blushing". Reducers have a certain temperature range that can help eliminate this. They speed up or slow down drying time. I have one of those Graco units, I never thought of painting a car with it. That turbine does produce a lot of heat, maybe it dries it too fast.