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I may stand to be corrected, but my personal thought on the clear coat is that it should be fully removed.


Just like any other base you may want to paint over, clear coat must be in good condition and adhering to the the paint beneath it if you want to paint over it. If it's cracking or pealing, then certainly remove it in the areas where it's a problem (usually horizontal areas that get direct UV exposure.)

It should be apparent while you are sanding what kind of condition the clear coat is in. It should feather without leaving any sort of edge if it's sticking well. If it's tough to get it to feather without leaving an edge, then it's not sticking well enough to paint over. Another clue that it's not sticking is if it lifts around the edges of where you tried to feather it when you spray primer over it.

When in doubt, remove any questionable primer/paint/clear. Never try to bury old problems under new paint, they always come back to haunt you.