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On the D/Side fender just under the window molding there is a spot about 6 inchs around that has DIMPLES..My paint guy repaired this area last year. ground it down
glassed it, primer blew in paint and cleared.
However within 6 weeks of getting the car back the dimples returned.. since then in the same area on the P/side I have a 6 inch area that now has BUBBLES..
My painter said he has 2 other customers with similar issues. He has no idea what is causing this issue.. The car was stripped and repainted 28 years ago.
Went to another shop they said it needs to be ground deeper soaked in thinners for a few days then repaired. another shop just said they would not touch it no idea whats wrong with it.
Tried photos but you cant really see much with the shine in the paint.
It's discussed here fairly often. It's often attributed to some sort of contamination that worked it's way up from underneath - battery fluid, brake fluid, AC oil from a freon leak, etc. Sometimes it just doesn't make any sense at all. Some reproduction front ends from several years ago had issues with small bubbles developing shortly after painting - I think something from the resin, not sure. There are a number of cures or fixes batted around. I would post over in the paint and body work section and see what Dub has to suggest. I assume these areas are on the front fenders?
The old Corvette Image panels had issues with the mold release agent that eventually caused paint issues - that's solved now but the legend (and the bad reputation) remain. My bodyman refused to use their products because it cost him a nice chunk of change for rework many years ago...
Clearly something is leeching out of the fiberglass - I'll let DUB and others address that....
Stay away from most dressings to make the Interior look good. Armor All in particular. Pure silicon! Body shops will not even let it in the shop. Al W.
Here's a photo of the driver's side fender of my '65, which I've had for about 40 years. The bubbles in the lacquer paint stared to appear within the past 5 years and are only on that portion of that fender. I've seen other '65's with the same paint bubble issues to only the driver's fender.
I've hesitated to have that fender repaired due to reading about the paint bubble problem just recurring. If you find a solution, I would really be interested in knowing about it.
I haven't seen a fender cover yet that would cause that unless it was some kind of absorbent material that was saturated with some solvent or other and that would show up on the surface of the paint pretty quickly rather than being concave dimples occurring months later.... Something has permeated the fiberglass from the inside...
Is your fender cover one of those thin rubber like a computer mouse pad? They usually have the black rubber back and cloth on top that has a logo.
If so, even though some on this forum have never heard of such being dangerous, they are.
Many years ago, fellow NCRS members were having the same issues. It turned out the fender covers from a major Corvette parts supplier somehow reacted with the paint.
Here's the car cover I've used for decades on both fenders, but again the paint bubbles only appear on the driver's side. The back side of this foam material car cover appears to be very clean with no visible stains.
I have been following this general topic for a while now because I have a similar situation with my '59. What makes it so interesting to me it that the car was painted in 1979 but the damage to the paint did not start until maybe 6-7 years ago. When it first started, it was just a spot or two but as you can see from the pictures, it has grown to a large pattern that extends across the fender.
It is one of those things that really frustrates because it is one of those things that my eyes immediately go to. BUT I am not willing to go through the agony of repainting the car at this point either................I also have become really good at invoking my "ten or ten" rule on things like this - - - - The "ten or ten" rules states that from 10 feet away of at ten miles an hour, you can't see most of these defects anyway
Thanks for the photos of your '59, which by the way is a fantastic looking car !
What is interesting to me was that my '65 was repainted shortly (could be '79) before I purchased it in 1980 and the paint bubbles like your '59 did not begin until a couple decades later. In any case, I would not be willing to go through the expense and have the car repainted, until I was confident in knowing the root cause of the bubbles and how to prevent them from recurring. Until that time, I'll keep enjoying my bubble fender '65 on dry and sunny day drives.
If you do find a solution, I would really be interested in hearing about it.
OP, please clarify what you mean in your first post that they have started to appear on the P side? Im confused. Do they appear on both ? Or just one side?
My apologies for the possible confusion with the original poster, as I then posted photos of my issue with a Nassau Blue '65 with the paint bubbles showing up ONLY on the driver's side fender.
The only complaints I've heard about any fender cover are the rubbery ones leaving a waffle pattern on the car that has to cleaned off - usually with some quick detailer...
It's discussed here fairly often. It's often attributed to some sort of contamination that worked it's way up from underneath - battery fluid, brake fluid, AC oil from a freon leak, etc. Sometimes it just doesn't make any sense at all. Some reproduction front ends from several years ago had issues with small bubbles developing shortly after painting - I think something from the resin, not sure. There are a number of cures or fixes batted around. I would post over in the paint and body work section and see what Dub has to suggest. I assume these areas are on the front fenders?
I replied to the other thread and I do AGREE that the bubbles in the photos in this thread are due to contamination of the fiberglass.
As for you 'dimples'....due to you provided more information in this thread. They should not have come back if the repair work was done correctly. because with a new layer of material covering the body and it being primed....the dimples should not have come back. Something is wrong there.
Repairing the problem when the panel is causing bubbles. A majority of the thickness of the original fiberglas needs to be ground out and then fresh mat and resin applied to thicken it back up. THAT is what will stop this without a doubt. When I fix the 'bubble issue' I darn near grind through the fiberglass and make it so it is literally paper thin. Now how much surface area I grind at one time is something I take into consideration. I do not go hog wild and grind the crap out of the body and now it is so flimsy I cannot laminate on it.
10-19-2018, 04:37 PM
Paint Dimpels
