Augie66

Hi,

I have a Nassau Blue 1965 Corvette with fender paint bubbles, which I believe happened during a brake job with fluid spray from the nearby master cylinder. The car is in driver condition, but the lacquer paint (done in late 70's) is in otherwise good condition, other than that unsightly area on the top and side of the fender.

I've looked into complete paint jobs, but the $10,000 + cost in my area is much more that I want to spend at this time.

Is there a way of repairing only the damaged paint area and achieving a decent paint match?

I'm located in the NW Chicago suburbs, can anyone recommend a good, but reasonable painter?

Thanks for any assistance.

jasonsamara

I would say you might have luck if it sprayed up like a fountain and landed on the paint from the outside. If it wicked through the glass it will just keep coming back. I have heard of people leaving it in the warm sun for a looooong time to pull all of the contamination through, but who knows if you will ever get it all out?

Gary's '66

Oh, the joy of owning a fiberglass car! I suggest that you PM "DUB" as he's probably the best authority to get advise from concerning your issue. Good luck.

Gary

DansYellow66

If caused by brake fluid from the underside it doesn't seem like it should have traveled all the way to the rear edge of the fender which is considerably past the firewall - but some of these cases of fiberglass contamination and bubbling are truly puzzling.

Nassau Blue lacquer seems to me to be a tough color to color match in lacquer because most of the color sanded and buffed lacquer repaint examples I remember back in the day had blushing in the finish. If the painter avoided that on your car, finding someone to touch it up and avoiding it now may be a challenge. But then fixing the source of the contamination and eliminating it will be tough too.

Dub is your best bet but unless you can find a painter who really, really, knows this type of contamination issue and blending old lacquer paint - you may wish you had just lived with it for now.

65GGvert

It's extremely difficult to get Nassau Blue to match. The metallic will show a different hue in different lights. And you sure don't want to paint the whole car until you feel sure you have the surface correct so they don't come back. It's a tough situation.

Frankie the Fink

I can totally see some @hole whipping that dripping master cylinder lid or a brake fluid container across the hood in a big hurry to finish a job up. I would get somebody knowledgeable to do a strip/respray/blend after treating the glass for the contamination...then if THAT holds up for a few years consider a whole car repaint...

Augie66

Thanks, I'm new to this forum and assume "DUB" is also a member. You were the second person to suggest that I contact him about this paint issue, so I'll assume he is extremely knowledgeable about fiberglass and painting.

How would I forward my post to him?

Thanks again!

DansYellow66

Go to Corvette General Topics and down to the Paint and Body forum. You will quickly find Dub as he is one of the major contributors there.

I doubt that bubbling was caused by dripping brake fluid on the top surface - unless it happened before it was repainted and while it was stripped. Dripping brake fluid on the top of the finish would lead to a whole different type paint damage. That bubbling is coming up from within the fiberglass.

ah53

augie66

If you find an answer could you please post it or PM me. I have the same situation on my '65 silver pearl coupe.

Thanks

Joe

Frankie the Fink

DUB is the guy for this type of question and very responsive - send him a PM (Private Message). I've fought the paint bubble battle and its a long, dark, lonely road

65tripleblack

I wish you luck. I have known of many cases where, once the fiberglass becomes impregnated with a contaminant, it does not respond to cleaning/drying/flushing. The only cure has been to cut out and replace the contaminated areas.
Joe

MOXIE62

When you had that repaired did the painter tell you what caused the paint to lift. I wonder if the glazing putty after sanding was not properaly cleaned

Frankie the Fink

I had bubbles of the very same kind along the hood stinger and above the door handles - one was 4" x 6" after it quit expanding...only appeared when I brought the car from Ohio to Florida in the heat.

Paint job was 2009 so it clearly wasn't solvent pop, and I doubt there was fiberglass impregnation by something in such disparate spots.
I think there was an adhesion problem. It's clearer in this picture I think.

The painters I talked to had varying opinons; bottom line - grinding things out a bit and respraying fixed them for good and I had original touch up paint so no blending...

This would be a DIFFERENT problem than what the OP has IMO

Technite73

Many 1965-1966 cars with the standard non power brake master cylinder, were subject to brake fluid weeping out of the master cylinder. By the time the owners realized what had happened, the fiberglass absorbed a considerable amount of DOT3. Once it is in the fiberglass, paint problems will result. Best option is to replace the contaminated fiberglass. Heating the fiberglass to extract the fluids has not worked for me and it has been done twice with bubbles reappearing when the car stays in the sun.

Ron Miller

That looks almost identical to the same problem I had on my '65 coupe that I sold a couple of years ago. Your paint color, bubble size, and spacing are virtually indistinguishable from the ones on my car. But here's the thing . . .

My car had been thoroughly stripped, primed, and repainted with DuPont Chromabase/ChromaClear at least 20 years prior to the paint bubbling without showing a sign of a problem. And, I used DOT 5 fluid in the car before and after painting, so the bubbling was a complete surprise to me, especially after having been painted for so long before the problem started. I thought it might have been from previous contamination, but who knows. And then also, a few months after the left front fender started bubbling, a 6-8 inch diamter spot started at the right front of the hood as well.

I sold the car "as-is" at a local collector car auction to the "FastLane" collector car dealer in St. Charles, Mo., for $50,000. In about 3 weeks or so, it was on the lot with corrected paint and some touch-up detailing on the undercarriage for the price of $69,995. It sold 3-4 weeks later, not sure what it brought, but I've been unable to determine who the purchaser was.

The point of this diatribe is to state that "Yes", it can be corrected by the proper paint guy (whom I could never find locally when I owned my car), but once corrected you may then have problems in other areas (e.g., the hood in my instance).

I had my '66 painted at the same time as my '65 and it is still doing well. Same paint system, but with a different building primer that I sprayed myself before sending it to the same painter who did both my cars. I'm keeping my fingers crossed . . . . . .

Best of Luck,

Ron

MOXIE62

Some folks think the hot or warm climate has something to do with paint blistering.

DUB

I did not get a PM from you...or at least I have not seen this thread until now.

Do you need anything from me?

DUB

Gary's '66

Augie66,

This is "The Man"! I STRONGLY recommend a reply to his post.

Gary

Augie66

DUB,

Thanks for reaching out to me concerning my recent post with the paint bubbles issue. I'm new to this Corvette forum, but really impressed by all the replies trying to help me with the paint problem. I was also informed by numerous people that you are the expert in dealing with this type of paint issue.

I've had my '65 for over 40 years and it may have been painted sometime prior to my purchasing it, as the Corvette would have been about 15 years old at that time. About 10 years ago, I started to notice small paint bubbles only on the top and side of the driver's side front fender. As time progressed, the paint bubbles in that area grew in number. Otherwise, the rest of the paint on the car is fine with me, as its only used as a summertime driver.

As I've thought of the possible root cause of the paint bubbles, I could only think it may have occurred as a result of brake fluid spray from the master cylinder during a brake job or filling a then empty windshield washer reservoir, which is located right under the damaged paint area. Could ammonia washer fumes under the fender cause these bubbles?

In any case, I want to repair this paint problem, but don't want to pay the $10,000 + for a show paint job...especially if there is any chance of the bubbles reoccurring.

I'm located in the NW Chicago suburbs and trying to locate someone to repair just the damaged area. The paint is lacquer and Nassau Blue. Is this a reasonable plan and can you suggest anyone in my area that specializes in painting fiberglass?

Thanks in advance for any assistance.

Augie