There only one area which is on the top of my left rear quarter panel where it appears the clear coat is cracking. It's hard to explain but the cracks themselves are very very tiny but there's hunreds of them. The cracks can only be seen in the light on a certain angle and it makes my car look really ugly :cry. Has anyone else experienced this? Can it be fixed with rubbing compound or polish? The condition is worstening as the months go by.

 

mine is that way and only getting worse. i wet sanded, compounded etc and had it looking great, but it came back. i recently used 3m's finnesse it II and it worked without being as harsh. i will eventually have the rear repainted

 

Where can I pick up some of that 3M stuff? Thanks

 

Sounds like the "spider webbing" I got last winter on the left front quarter, though I'm not sure if it's in the clear or deeper (guess my CA car doesn't like the NY winters).

Mine doesn't look too bad if I keep it polished and waxed. Does a good polish like McGuire's gold help at all with your problem?

If the carcks are through the clear coat I would think it would need to be repainted. So it won't hurt to try some polishing compound now, right? If polish isn't doing the job, you could try some very fine cut compound.

Have a trustworthy repair shop take a look at it and get an expert opinion before you take compound to it though. But try a good polish first, at least it may retard the progression of the problem.

 

the 3m finnesse it II is a mild compound. it is harsher than the 3m swirl mark remover. you will have to get it at a body supply shop. it's about $15/ 16oz or so. be sure you know what you are doing before you take this route, these abrasive products can make things worse. good luck! steven

 

Heres my take on it...almost every early to mid 80's C4 will have a clear coat cracking or flaking problem. Many C4's were repainted as well,and many times the shop will simply sand or scuff the existing paint and repaint over it.When that happens,paint cracking comes back again because its too thick.

Our cars expand and contract alot in the sun and cold and this condition will be more noticeable on cars that spend alot of time outside.

Interesting,my car port faces the sun during the mid morning and day time...I pulled my rear bumper off to do some prep work for the paint job...I reinstalled it with just a few nuts inside to hold it back on the car temporarily.I didnt put the top screws back on that go way up inside.It sat flush and straight as if i had it all bolted down.

When the sun heats up the back of the car, the bumper literally lifts off the rear panels and leaves a gap about a 1/4 of an inch!!Thats alot of expansion and will do so without the screws holding it in place.
So you can imagine what alot of paint on the car is going to do in the hot and cold cycles.

The clear on my car was flaking off, the previous owner had the top half of the car repainted above the belt line.That ended up cracking in the back panels AGAIN where its flat and the sun beat down on it all day.Yes m car spend 99% of its time outside for a few years.
The fix was to sand the car all the way down to the factory primer and repaint so it nots so thick anymore.I had ALOT of sanding to do,it was so thick.

Something to consider about repainting.Most vettes Ive seen with repaints and parked in garages alot dont seem to suffer from that problem and a scuff and repaint usually isnt a problem.

Oh and BTW, to sum it up,our factory paint jobs were pretty lousy to begin with.
:)

 

This is correct as Bill mentioned. There was a recall on the mid 80's with regard to the clear coat cracking etc... If you were able to get to the dealer during the "window time" of recall, they would repaint the car. I also kept it waxed and buffed profusely until it no longer made a difference - so I had it repainted.

 

I searched for other threads but could not find anything but this one that was close to my issue so I am reviving it in hope of a few suggestions. I have an 88 anniversary edition corvette with the top of the left rear qtr (never been repainted) severely flaking the paint off down to the glass strands. I suspect this is due to the fact that this car has sat outside most of its life (Im second owner) and this particular qtr was always exposed to direct sun light where much of the rest of the car was never directly exposed. I have sprayed a lot of cars in my life but never a glass/smc bodied car. I see products out there for smc panels from people such as Ecklers but would like a few suggestions on dealing with the exposed glass strands. Once the panel is sanded that is what will be there to deal with and I suspect I will have to sand almost all of the paint on that particular panel right down to the glass as much of it is flaking or bubbling. Thx for your suggestions in advance.

 

You need to start a new thread. This will be locked by the mods....per Forum rules, it's too old. In addition, most people won't read your question...they look at the original question...ie thread jacking is never a good idea Lastly, you'll get more help over in the paint and body section and they can tell you how to work with the SMC (Sheet Molded Composite) panels on a C4. It's not like working with typical fiberglass on a C1/2/3 Vette.

 

Thx! sorry I did not think it was hi-jacking since one guy had the exact same problem as myself. I'll move it over.