Hi all, I ordered some of Volvo's OEM touch up paint for my 1998 S70 that actually comes in a spray can. I am getting ready to sell my car and I know that the dealers always repaint bumpers before selling them, and yes, my bumper had lots of chipped paint and scratches! So I figured repainting it would be a good idea...

My color code, incidentally, is #426, which is "misty silver metallic," and when it arrived consisted of one can of color paint and one can of clear coat.

I cleaned the bumper and applied the color coat. I waited till it was dry to the touch and applied a second coat. At this stage, the color was beautiful, and was a definite good match! It just needed the glossy clear coat... I waited another 30 minutes, and then sprayed on a layer of the clear coat. I stepped back and looked at it and...instead of looking glossy it seemed like the clear coat actually dulled things rather than making them nice and glossy! I went ahead and laid down a second layer of clear coat thinking maybe it would fix it, but it still looks "hazy" and is kind-of rough to the touch...

Did I screw this up by not waiting long enough between color and clear coats? In other words, did the clear coat basically react with the color coat? Or do I just need to wetsand the clear coat? A suggested course of action from someone with more painting experience than me?

Thank you!!!
Gordon
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Two '98-S70s and One '90-745. My First Car: '74 244DL Gone But Remembered!

My only experience is with industrial paint process. What you got is probably so called 'orange peel'. I would never use a spray can to finish any surface that someone may look at while standing (this is referred as class A surface). Get a professional help as spray can will give more of the same. In order to get it right you need a spray gun and lots of experience.
Good luck.

Seems to me like you sprayed from too far away. Clear coat seems to need more precision than color coat. I would try wet sanding and try both coats again. Perhaps one color coat is good enough without the clear. See how it looks compared to the rest of the car. The bumpers on the 97s are far more practical when it comes to aesthetics as they came with black trim. Wish my 98 had it. Good luck.