graves14

I believe I made a horrible mistake. At least it was only a $500 mistake, and no permanent damage was done.

My '72 has the original lacquer finish. I decided to try out a vinyl wrap, to postpone the inevitable repaint. The results were FANTASTIC. The wrap covered up most of the imperfections and definitely covered up the paint crackles and issues with fading. Fast forward 24-48 hours in the heat of the sun and I have bubbles galore forming under the wrap.

3M 1080 was used. I called them up and they said something is outgassing. I thoroughly cleaned the surface with degreaser and then a final alcohol wipe down before applying the wrap. So I don't think it's anything on the surface that could be outgassing.

I've read that lacquer never cures and can continue to outgas. My only thought is that's what's happening. The interesting part that makes me think this is very plausible is the sections of original paint that looked the best are the sections that are showing the largest number of bubbles forming. The hood and roof that were very faded show essentially no bubbles! If the car looked that good all over, I'd be perfectly happy with the results.

I figured I'd post something here to try and get some suggestions from the community on next steps, and if they agree it could be the lacquer outgassing still. But mostly to get the word out if someone else tries to wrap lacquer to think twice. Or at least test several sections for outgassing.

Strokemyaxe

Have you ever used Macguiers #7 with seeping oils on the original paint?

graves14

Lots of #7. No, tons actually. Tried to salvage paint last year. No luck... clearly.

You think it's still in there? That would be very interesting. Wouldn't the degreaser cut it?

orourke

I agree. Lacquer never cures. I just tried to dry sand (50 grit/dry) an old, old lacquer re-paint job on a 1967 GT-350 Mustang. All the paint did was goo up the disc as if it were still wet. You could still smell the paint once it was opened up.

7T1vette

Find a small and very sharp needle. Press it into the center of each bubble and perpendicular to the surface. Just poke it thru the vinyl (not into paint). The gas will seep out and you can press down the vinyl from outside-to-center on each bubble. No one else will know you did it.

Strokemyaxe

graves14

I'll give it another shot, in a small test section, following a more rigorous degrease and alcohol scrub. Perhaps the areas of better lacquer simply absorbed/held more of the #7 oils.

Tooonz

I would also ask whoever printed the wrap, what kind of inks they use, and how long did they wait before laminating. Wraps outgas as well, and if they used solvent inks and did NOT wait at least over night then the print will outgas from the back of the print towards the paint. Ask me how I know

graves14

Thanks Tooonz, but it was a standard 3M 1080 wrap. No custom printing. I had the wrap in storage for a few months before starting the project too.
It doesn't seem to be outgassing in all areas. Primarily the vertical surfaces oddly enough. Those were some of the nicest lacquer areas.

graves14

Here are a few shots of the worst areas. Brace yourselves.


This section was redone once already with fresh wrap. Some on the back too, which also had nice lacquer still. Unrelated note, ignore the lines on the back, those are the original stripes, which I plan on doing in matte black.

Door was one of the first to show bubbles. I redid the door as well (reused the wrap as an experiment). The keyhole and stuff shifted, so it needs to be redone with a fresh sheet regardless.

The whole front of the car (hood, fenders) and T-Tops are perfectly fine.

Tooonz

Ahhh yes < missed the 1080 part, that's a nice color though. nice job wrapping.

ajrothm

Yep, original Lacquer will off gas for sure. My car was repainted in 87', some years later, bubbles started popping up all over it. Recently I cut the bubbles off with a razor and the original paint was now sticky/tacky.... Like it reactivated under the repaint. Needless to say, stripping the factory lacquer paint off is the only fix. My bubbles looked identical to yours, only bigger. And I could see the shapes of the bubbles coming, before they actually started to rise....

Sucks for sure.

graves14

Did you repaint over the lacquer with non-lacquer? I have heard that's a bad idea due to the sealing nature of modern paints? Do you know if there was an epoxy primer used? Looks pretty thick.

I'll eventually repaint, I have the Elkhart Green lacquer in my basement, ready to go. Just need the time and a nice place to do the prep and shoot.

ajrothm

I had bought the car already painted. It already had a couple of bubbles popping up when I got it. Over about 10 years it got progressively worse... You could see the outlines/shapes of the bubbles before they actually started to rise. After stripping the car, it did have a LOT of paint on it, all shot on top of the lacquer. It looks like there was SEVERAL coats of primer/sealer shot on it. Then the repaint was base/clear "Deltron" paint, shot in 87'.

So even with a liberal amount of primer/sealer/paint etc over the 16 year old lacquer (at the time of the repaint), the lacquer still managed to fight its way through. As I mentioned, after I cut off the repaint, the original Brands Hatch green area was wrinkled up and STICKY to touch.

Now the car is in the repainting process, we stripped it all the way to bare glass and epoxied it heavily, primered, then re-shot it.

Strokemyaxe

Hey Ajrothm,

What you experienced was just an improperly prepped paint job. Even after fully cured and gassed out, lacquer will absorb the solvents from enamel (and other products) and reactivate the gassing process. If you don't completely remove the lacquer, you can have bad results typically like the results as you experienced. The previous owner didn't do it right and you paid the price.

It looks like you are already well on your way to a great paint job now though so I hope you don't find my input on your previous paint as condescending. You clearly have a grasp on proper paint prep.

-Stroke

ajrothm

Yeah. I agree 100%... And don't worry about me, I don't get butt hurt easy.

The previous owner painted the car in 87', I bought it in 06' so...20 years out of a paint job isn't bad....it really started bubbling in 08 or so and got worse every year, I assume because I drove the car so much and it being out in the sun a lot probably help aggravate the lacquer. So its needed paint for at least the last 10 years but...it wasn't noticeable unless parked and stared at. No ill will at the previous owner at all..

But you are right about the cost, the new paint is costing me DEARLY.....but it has a lifetime warranty on it.

graves14

Wow, that looks superb Ajrothm! Did you go with a modern paint system or lacquer?

I hear lacquer is fairly forgiving and quick to sand down/reshoot trouble areas. I'm planning to stick to lacquer on my future spray job.

ajrothm

This is a very modern base coat/clear coat paint system. The car was stripped all the way to the fiberglass, body worked, epoxied twice, blocked in between, primered twice, blocked in between, final blocked, then shot with 4 coats of base and then 5 coats of clear. The paint is a PPG water based paint. It hadn't been cut/buffed in the above pic...literally the clear had just flashed and was baking. They are cutting and buffing it this week. I'll get some better pics on thurs with it finished.

OldCarBum

Looks awesome.

RBrid

I agree. This paint job looks real good as it is