I finally got to tackle the body and paint on my 65. After much reading I decided to go the razor blade route. I fount that the paint started to come off reasonably easy until I got to the last coat which is so hard that it is impossible to get it out with a razor blade. What you see on the first picture was accomplished in 3 hours time. I can see 5 different coats. The first I assume (help with opinions would be appreciated) is a epoxy primer which would explain why it is so hard. The second was a buildup primer followed by the original 65 Nassau blue color. Sometime along the way it got another coat of primer on top of the Nassau Blue paint and was painted something that resembles a Trophy Blue color. One option that I have is to apply the primer directly on top of the black primer that is there. The other option would be to sand it down all the way to the fiberglass although many say that it is too risky. What should I do here?

Another problem that I have is that the paint had bubbles on one area and as I removed the paint, it is clear that it came all the way from contamination to the fiberglass body since it came through the black primer (see pictures below) so at least on that area I am going to have to go all the way to the fiberglass. Any special care should be taken to clean that area further?

The last question I have is regarding the correct steps to paint a corvette. My idea was to do one coat of build up primer, mount the doors, hood, headlight buckets, etc., mount the body to the frame, shim it, block it, remove the doors, hood, headlight buckets, etc., remove the body from the frame, top coat and clear coat, put the body back on the rolling chassis, install the interior, install hood, doors, headlight buckets, etc. Do I have the right procedure or should I change any of these steps?

Progress after 3 hours.



Contamination after paint removal (bubbly area). It looks like oil as it actually started to spread after I reach all the way down.



The paint bubbles on an area not yet stripped.

 

Once you get to the primer I would block sand with 220 wet sand paper to the fiberglass and start over or you may end up with the bubbles in the new paint job. Do you have all original body panels? There are a lot of corvette Image panels out there that you can never keep paint on because they have silicone embedded in the panels, I had a few over the years, I had to replace the panels. If they are original and the gel coat is good then a good high build primer and some more blocking and then use slick sand primer, more blocking.

It is a good idea to fit the car before any painting but I don't prime until I have the car all apart. Just be careful not to sand any of the points off you body lines. Use masking tape as a guide. When you paint make sure you paint the panels the way they will be on the car, hood flat, doors hanging, rear valance hanging, headlight buckets the way they will be in the car closed, or you will end up with all different shades of blue, there are a lot of cars out there 4 different shades all painted the same time.

 

Yea, what 65 Pro said.

I'd definitely go to bare glass where the bubbles are.

I took all the primer off my 67. There should be red primer under that black. If you sand to the red, you can remove the red primer with lacquer thinner on a rag and a dry rag.

Someone here like Dub or Mike Coletta could give you good advice on the bubbles.

As 65 said, fit everything then dissemble.

I don't envy you, I'm done with the bodywork on mine,
I have a little more taping to do this morning and I'll be shooting primer before lunch.

 

Looks like you have panel contamination like I had on my top surround and side fender. I wiped with acetone for 5 years and never got the stuff out. Check my posting from Sept or Oct last year. U R probably talking about Epoxy primer used in "the day." It is a real PITA to get off

 

Ps. I'd Gel Coat over the bare glass before I'd lay any thing else on. Good chance otherwise that krap is going to come right thru.

 

The contamination on the fender I can understand, but what is bubbling the center cowl area is a puzzle. That area is isolated from most sources of underneath contamination that can bleed through to the surface. I think the question - do you have a replacement front end on the car - is a good one to investigate?

 

I don't know if the body panels are original or not since I got the car used. They do appear to be original and if they are not, they did a very good job replacing them because you cannot tell (at least I can't). One of the things I notice after reading quite a bit about paint contamination is that all of the bubbles are around the same area, near the master cylinder. Could be a coincidence but there is a very good chance that it was a brake fluid mishap that caused it.

Thanks for the input regarding the paint.

 

Which mine was ready for paint also. I am very concerned about the contamination. The problem is that there is no way to find out if the contamination was cleaned or not....it can always come back.

 

Is the front clip the original glass, or is it a replacement clip?

Corvette Image had a problem with their process several years ago, that caused the fiberglass on a small number of their parts to bubble after a while. Many people tried everything under the sun, but the bubbles came back. Time to do a little investigative work on determining the source of the front clip. Wayne Womble knows more about these front clips that anyone I know, as he did the jig assembly work for CI for a number of years. Drop him a PM, and see if he can give you some clues to look for to determine if your clip is original or one of Corvette Images units.


Regards, John McGraw

 

I did find your post...nice thread, lots of good info. I believe I will try to clean it by the heat and clean process and either gel coat or epoxy prime the entire car first. If it comes back I will deal with it then.

 

Thanks John, will do that.

 

I have seen this multiple times over the years and it seems to always show up on the top of the driver's side fender or the front cowl near the windshield. Is it me or isn't it interesting that it seems to appear in the location of the master cylinder? Seems to me that this is caused by the splatter of brake fluid during the bleeding process.

I have seen brake fluid go right through paint... thoughts?