My neighbor has a 66, and in many places the paint is chipping and is showing the fiberglass matte. We want to do a repaint.
I was a bit surprised that it went that deep. How do we deal with it? Do we use a filler to fill in the spots showing the matte. Is there a technique to deal with older Vettes that the matte is showing?

 

Sounds like it has a bad previous repaint. The proper thing to do is to strip it all down to fiberglass before repainting. Note that taking a car down to fiberglass and then redoing the body work and paint is a big job.

 

I agree with Zwede. If it's peeling anywhere you can bet it will peel everywhere. Not a project for the faint of heart, it is possible for even complete rookies to get good result. It takes time, a warm place to work, LOTS of patience and a willingness to invest in some new equipment. Do a search on paint... you'll read some good things, and get a preview of how things can go badly as well. Good luck with it, and help is as close as your keyboard!

 

zwede and markids77...pretty much said it all....and I agree with both of their views.

With paint popping/chipping off in areas. Trying to "spot repair" these areas is a big mistake.

"DUB"

 

Thanks, we both know this is a total repaint, but the Matte has a rough surface feel to it, so I guess my question is do we have to fill in the the rough mat with gel coat.
We both have experience repainting. Here is my C4 that I repainted.. Had the typical 80's clear coat peeling, so I stripped it, and repainted.

Sanded down to the raw body


The final product

 

It can be filled in with gelcoat....but...without knowing how much of the fiberglass has been removed/worn away due to being exposed...which in turn will reduce the thickness of the panel itself....and depending on the area of excessive wear...could weaken the panel...SO...it is hard to say without seeing it myself or you carefully inspecting these areas where the fiberglass matt is exposed.

If you press on these areas and the fiberglass seems weak and moves...then GELCOAT would NOT be the answer. The panel would need to have its integrity brought back to that of what it was like from the factory. Which more than likely would require resin and matt to be applied. Then sanded back to correct contours.

I have filled in/ covered exposed fiberglass strands before using gelcoat WITHOUT any issues. Keeping in mind that the gelcoat need to be applied to a specific mil thickness to be effective. I use the 20 mil "rule"...any less than that...the gelcoats effectiveness drops. But it does require making sure that the areas is SUPER CLEAN...and no dirt and any other foreign substance getting trapped and possibly causing a problem in the future. Which pretty much applies to all types of prep for repairs and/or painting. It ALWAYS seems to be that SUPER THIN layer of contaminent that comes back and "bites" you in the backside.

"DUB"

 

Thanks, that is very helpful advice. The planning has begin, so we are off and running.....

 

Pics please as you progress!