I was thinking of getting my friend to paint under my hood cause I removed the insulation and its really dirty.....
He says that from the factory its not cleared...is it?

Would it look stupid if I had it cleared and the rest of the underhood nasty paint is not? of course the paint wont match to good even with the correct code cause 17 year old paint vs. new paint just aint gonna happen..

whatcha think?

 

just leave it the way it is

 

I did an engine bay a little while back, havent done the rest of the car yet, but I did spray it with base / clear, after doing this, noticed on a factory car that it didnt seem to look like it ever had clear, after looking at several more after stripping them, im pretty sure they didnt get clearcoat from the factory.

 

but with the basecoat..the paint will be dull and flat looking...wont it?....

 

i'd wait...what is the sense of having a great looking hood underside when the rest doesn't match. save your money for when you do more. if the paint is in that bad of shape spend the 30 or so for a new insulation pad it will make alot of difference.

 

The underside of the hoods do not have clear on them, just the basecoat color. I would wait for a complete paintjob and then paint and put clear over it then, they look so much better, but I did as said above, bought new insulator and went on.