Any ideas to protect paint once the clear coat is gone.  Obviously it needs a re-spray, I'm looking for ideas to protect it until it can be re-sprayed in the future.  I basically don't want it to deteriorate further and start to get down to primer.  Any ideas/products people recommend 

I would suggest spray bombing it with lacquer clearcoat in the can. Put it on enough to cover, bu not so much that it can be sanded down to the paint for a proper clearcoat job. You may get lucky and it may look alright if you wet sand it after spraying.

 

You should probably wetsand along the edges of where the clear had come off before spraying. 

Roofs are pretty effective.

In lieu of applying temporary paint you can try this:

Wash the car, let it dry, apply some Paint Cleaner then apply a good quality Wax. Do this by hand...elbow grease. Do not just go to the autowash and expect their waxing to do much of anything. A manual application, Wax on-Wax off, is required.

It may not improve the appearance of the flakey clear coat, but it will provide protection and decrease the rate of paint degradation.