Saving a ruined finish possible?

I recently came across a custom shop strat body in charcoal frost metallic- lots of metal flake, very cool color. It was a NOS body, however the owner decided to sand off the clear coat. Assuming he didn't use a super abrasive grit paper and used a block/sponge, is it possible to respray the body with nitro and save it?

I love the color, I'd hate for it to have to be refinished.

Also, I was thinking Id use the minwax nitro lacquer- anyone know if it will age and check, or will it heal itself like these plasticized nitros do? I want it restored to how it would be from the factory, though It might be too late for that.

Finally, my thoughts are that I don't want to sand the metallic finish, just the final clear. Is this a good Idea or do I need to wetsand the paint as it is now?

Weird. It's amazing what you see sometimes, isn't it?

If the paint is smooth, then you should be able to clear coat it with lacquer. There's no need to wet sand unless you've got big defects that need to be flattened. Metal flake paints often don't like to be sanded, so avoid it if you can.

Minwax will work. I wouldn't sand the color coats.

I can't fathom how this ever seemed like a good idea- and on further inspection he wore through the finish in two spots on the back- such a shame. I'm still wanting to pick it up as it would be a great body for the workhorse strat. see if I can talk him down from his ridiculous price.

Thanks gents, much appreciated. :cool:

What Dsutton said..

Minwax cures hard but has always been a pain to wet sand for me. Watco aerosol (order it from woodcraft if you can't get it local) would likely get you better checking.

The spots where the previous guy wore through to the color coat.. can you intentionally relic those spots a bit once finished or is that out of the question?

Minwax cures hard but has always been a pain to wet sand for me. Watco aerosol (order it from woodcraft if you can't get it local) would likely get you better checking.

The spots where the previous guy wore through to the color coat.. can you intentionally relic those spots a bit once finished or is that out of the question?

the thought had crossed my mind- honestly, I plan on playing the hell out of it, so the finish getting checked and worn will happen either way. We'll see how it looks once its done (if I buy it)

And thanks for the watco recommend, I'll look into it. I haven't found any pictures or testimonials about minwax checking over time, just that it yellows.

Either way, it will be as thin a clear coat as I can get away with, this body is already 4 lbs 2 oz as it sits.