Car just painted. Problems!!!
Thread Starter
Heel & Toe
Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 22
Likes: 0
From: South Bend IN
Car just painted. Problems!!!
I've just had my car painted '97 corvette white. I love it! The problem is one day i was proudly washing my car and noticed that underneath the clearcoat the where cracks in the paint. Kinda like when you hard boil an egg then crack the shell before eating the egg. I know sounds stupid, but that's best way I know to describe it. Anyway, at the time I got the car back the shop had not put a hood insulator on yet. He said it should be fine. My question is the problem caused by the heat coming from the engine or the paint job itself. The shop is fixing the problem, I just want to know the possible cause.
Safety Car
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,711
Likes: 43
From: San Antonio TX
Re: Car just painted. Problems!!! (headkata)
Kind of odd there. There are really only a couple of things that can give you cracking in the paint: 1) Paint film is too thick, or; 2) An impact. What does the crack look like as far as a pattern? If it is localized in a very small spot, say an inch or two and has what seems to be a center, it's possible they closed your hood (thinking it's your hood since you mention the blanket) with a socket or something laying on the air cleaner. Just a thought on that line.
You could also have a crack if there was a sub-surface issue like bad bondo or something like that but you didn't mention any bodywork issues so I'd have to rule that out.
You could also have a crack if there was a sub-surface issue like bad bondo or something like that but you didn't mention any bodywork issues so I'd have to rule that out.
Thread Starter
Heel & Toe
Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 22
Likes: 0
From: South Bend IN
Re: Car just painted. Problems!!! (headkata)
I'm sorry, yes it is on the hood in more than one place. The pattern is not a single line crack, but more like when you shatter a windshield and it does completely break.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 1,166
Likes: 0
From: Tulsa Ok
Re: Car just painted. Problems!!! (headkata)
Welcome to the wonderful world of fiberglass. Those are known as stress cracks and are caused by warpage of the panel when driving over uneven surfaces or simply opening and closing the hood. There are flex additives for paint to help combat the problem. The problem is inherent due to the material our good old vettes are made of.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 5,210
Likes: 104
From: Fort Worth TX
St. Jude Donor '06
Father & Son St. Jude Donor '09
Re: Car just painted. Problems!!! (headkata)
Sonds like the paint may have separated or krazed, kinda like ceramic glazing that has an intentional cracking in the finish. I've only had that happen with model paint on model cars when the body wasn't clean and the paint cracks/separates while it's wet. With white paint, they may not have noticed and cleared right over the bad paint.
Drifting
Joined: Jun 2000
Posts: 1,955
Likes: 2
Re: Car just painted. Problems!!! (headkata)
B.S.
My car was painted two years ago with basecoat/clearcoat. I've only put a couple thousand miles one it, but they have been abusive miles and the hood is open and shut several times most weekends, ZERO problems with the paint.
Your car was painted or prepped improperly, probably too much hardener to make it dry more quickly.
These are not "stress cracks" or some problem because of the clear coat, this is shoddy workmanship on the part of the painter.
Take it back. I had to have mine repainted before I accepted it. The first time they screwed up the prep and there were tiny black spots showing through the silver. They tried to get me to accept it, no dice, repainted it (on their nickel), and now it's beautiful.
Jeff
[Modified by no_radio, 8:43 PM 10/1/2002]
My car was painted two years ago with basecoat/clearcoat. I've only put a couple thousand miles one it, but they have been abusive miles and the hood is open and shut several times most weekends, ZERO problems with the paint.
Your car was painted or prepped improperly, probably too much hardener to make it dry more quickly.
These are not "stress cracks" or some problem because of the clear coat, this is shoddy workmanship on the part of the painter.
Take it back. I had to have mine repainted before I accepted it. The first time they screwed up the prep and there were tiny black spots showing through the silver. They tried to get me to accept it, no dice, repainted it (on their nickel), and now it's beautiful.
Jeff
[Modified by no_radio, 8:43 PM 10/1/2002]
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Drifting
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 1,339
Likes: 0
From: Hampton Georgia
Re: Car just painted. Problems!!! (Corzvette69)
Sometimes if the old paint wasnt stripped ,the new paint will react with the old paint.Back in the 70s till early 80s body shops were using an uncatalyzed enamel(not chemically resistant).todays basecoats are chemically "hot",which means the solvents in basecoats will attack old paint almost looking like the same result as stripper.I have seen some painters clear over this ,hoping to smooth it out.It will smooth out the texture of it but it is still visible under the clear . :seeya
Le Mans Master
Joined: Jul 1999
Posts: 9,206
Likes: 17
From: Sewell NJ
Re: Car just painted. Problems!!! (SLICKMAN)
Oh boy, are you wrong. Let me tell you, lacquer is the King of stress cracks. I have to repair a few under my drivers side mirror this winter. Seems the mirror was slighly loose and vibrated a little. The paint looks like the windshield crack described in the above posts. Lacquer looks great and there is no paint that can give you that depth of shine but it's also the most delicate paint around.
