Engage

I am getting the bubbles in the paint on my hood in the ac compressor area.What can I use to clean the oil off the underside of the hood?

Thanks... Barry

vett us all

HOW OLD IS THE PAINT WORK? ANY PICS OF PAINT DAMAGE?

Engage

Paint only a couple of weeks old.
Hood got repainted because of that problem to begin with.
Can't get pics at the moment but have 3 minor bubbles about the size of a pencil eraser about 4 inches
from front of hood.And actually it is no where near the ac compressor as that would be another foot up the hood.I had a line of these bubbles forming accross the hood about 3 years after the first paint job.This is the only area of the car with the problem.Reputable body man.Any ideas?

Barry

Jon Hekking

I had the same problem, it was causing the paint on the hood to show very fine bubbles. I was told it was from the compressor oil puilling through the fiberglas causing the paint to bubble, this was backed up by members on this forum (thank you). I had the underside of the hood cleaned with a fiberglass friendly cleaner, you can even use simple green, just wipe it down with water when finished.

Eventually, I had the hood removed, prepped and painted again. I was fortunate as it was recently painted and had enough left over paint to take care of it.

Hope this helps.

Engage

If the compressor oil is the culprit wouldn't the bubbles show up directly above the compressor and along the beltline?

turbojet

Someone sells a cover for the ac on ebay. When I get my AC fixed
I was thinking of buying one.

turbojet

check it out
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Corve...QQcmdZViewItem

nutsy

are we talking about paint under hood or on top? and should we really get this shield? if so what about oil that gets on belt, it will still hit hood.

chupacabra1974

I have this problem on my 79. My painter painted it more than once, tried to use solvents to get as much of it drawn out as possible, but I still get bubbles in the paint and very small drops of oil seeping through fairly consistently. Mine are directly above my AC compressor and belt, but it seems possible that it could vary a little in where it shows up.

For now I just try to clean the affected area of the hood top and bottom as frequently as possible, and the bubbles haven't gotten much worse (they're there, but the paint isn't flaking or chipping, and most people don't notice unless I point it out). I guess I'm waiting to see what happens over time because my painter was very reasonable, painted it again, only to end up in the same condition. I don't think I can fault him for it.

Someone out there may have advice I don't, but the only answer I can gather once the oil is embedded in the glass is to cut out and replace the fiberglass around the affected area and repaint (a lot of work!), or replace the entire hood and repaint.

I did buy a compressor belt shield to help keep oil from flinging up onto the hood, but I have to say that I still end up wiping a healthy amount of oil off of the underside even with the compressor belt shield in place.

The only way to make %100 sure it doesn't happen again might be to replace the hood, repaint, and eliminate the AC at the same time.

I'm in Texas, and I'm not ready to give up my AC yet with summers as hot as they are here.

It sucks to know you have problems on your hood after paying for a nice paint job, but I guess I take a little comfort in knowing that this condition isn't entirely uncommon.

7T1vette

Some solvents used during paint prep can soak into the glass. Later, after the paint, heat causes the solvent to gas and causes the paint to bubble. I think the pros "bake" the car/panels ahead of painting to rid the glass of any solvents (if they were used during prep).

Steelduck

I also have this problem. But I don`t have bubbles in the paint yet.

Is it possible to coat the underside of the hood with something, to prevent the oil soaking into the fiberglass?

CorvetteMike2024

Take your hood off and CLEAN very thourouly the top and bottom. After you have prepped and repaired all the damaged areas top and bottom apply a sealer before repainting the top and bottom both.The sealer will lock down anything from penetrating. I would not rule out that your painter painted over a contaminent being that your paint is so new. Just my $.o2

spedaleden

My painter had my car in the paint booth drying for 1 month and outside on a sunny day during the winter. He told me the sun is better than the booth. He also used some kind of sealer (Gray) before primer to seal the body work. I had my car painted two years ago and I have no bubbles in the hood I did have some shrinkage in side of the rear window but he repaired that. It came out when the car was cold but went away when the car was in the sun. Pretty weird.

gq82

If the comp oil has migrated through the glass to the surface sorry to say you'll probably have to replace that hood.

CorvetteMike2024