This is my '83 Z28- as you can see, the paint is coming off and it's down to primer in a couple of areas. I like the flat black look the car has, (not sure what it would look like if I compounded and polished it) and don't mind some primer showing, but there is more primer visible each time the car gets wet.

Would a clear coat seal it and stop my paint loss? If not clear coat, are there any other options? I'm not able to have the car repainted right now, and I am just leaving the minor dents and scratches- just don't have the money to throw at it.

Thanks for looking...

 

Not much you can do once it starts peeling other than just take it down to bare metal and prime it. Any kind of clear coat that you put on top isn't going to bond to what your paint isn't already bonding to underneath. Only advice I can give is stay away from pressure washers and drive-thru car washes.

Now, that doesn't mean that I didn't still put touchup paint at the tops of the quarter panels where the paint has flaked off on my '91 T/A. I just don't expect it to stay there. Went ahead and stripped the roof and put primer there too since it was mostly surface rust when I got it. It's better than rust, right?

 

Agreed, once the paint leprosy gets started, the only fix is a repaint. You'll want to put something on the bare spots and primer spots, eventually they'll start to surface rust if you don't. Touch-up paint will look better, but it'll still look pretty bad because regardless what you do, it's just going to keep peeling. You can probably slow it down a lot by just parking the car in doors.

 

Clear plastidip (like glossifier, for example). It's the best solution out there, doesn't mean it's good. But it will help a little for a little while.