Clearcoat "bubbling" all of a sudden?!
Thread Starter
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Joined: Jun 2009
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From: Victoria - Vancouver Island, BC, Canada
Clearcoat "bubbling" all of a sudden?! I store my car at my boyfriend's acreage over the winter, and when I went to check on it the other day, the entire driver's side was covered in little spots. It looked like frost at first, until I looked closer, and noticed it was the clearcoat! It had thousands of tiny pinprick sized "bubbles" under the paint. Only on the driver's side. In the last two weeks its spread, it now covers the hood, the spoiler, and is moving up the rear pillar and onto the roof. WTF!?!!
My poor car looks like a damn lepar.
Help! What would have caused this? What can be done? (if anything)
My poor car looks like a damn lepar.
Help! What would have caused this? What can be done? (if anything)
Staging Lane
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 66
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From: Lake Villa, IL
To the best of your knowledge has the car every been repaired or repainted on the panels that are blistering?
If so it could be caused by water in the line when it was repainted. You typically will not see it at first, but they come back later.
There are a couple of other things it could be as well, but more information would be needed.
If so it could be caused by water in the line when it was repainted. You typically will not see it at first, but they come back later.
There are a couple of other things it could be as well, but more information would be needed.
Thread Starter
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Joined: Jun 2009
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From: Victoria - Vancouver Island, BC, Canada
I've owned the car for about 2 1/2 years now, and haven't painted anything. I know the front clip had been repainted a while before I got it, and the car does have gold flake in the clear, so its obviously not stock, and had to have been repainted at some point.
This is awful, I absolutely can not afford a new paint job, and the paint looks awful now
This is awful, I absolutely can not afford a new paint job, and the paint looks awful now
Thread Starter
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From: Victoria - Vancouver Island, BC, Canada
Ohhhh yes, 100 percent sure! I was out looking at it the other day and it was raining quite bad, so the car was wet. I took a cloth and was rubbing at it to see if the clear would flake off, or if it possibly was some kind of contaminant on the surface (my boyfriend's solvent tank dumped over in the yard quite close to the car, I was wondering about that as well...). When I pushed on the paint with the rag, the bubbles MOVED under the clearcoat! WTF! Now that it's stopped raining and the car is dry, but bubbles aren't moving anymore .
I'll try to dig out the camera and get some pictures today.
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Thread Starter
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From: Victoria - Vancouver Island, BC, Canada
Oh, and it's still spreading. Fairly rapidly too. Originally it was just below the window on the driver's side. Its now covering a large part of the door, fender, spoiler, and hood. Its also moving up the rear pillar and is working its way across the roof behind the T-tops Looks like my car is going satin black before next race season
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From: Victoria - Vancouver Island, BC, Canada
Pic of the driver's side door. You can see one of the larger sets of bubbles (right by the mark where some little **** egged my car last year), as well as all the other bubbles that continue down the door.
Thread Starter
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From: Victoria - Vancouver Island, BC, Canada
But yeah, I know what you mean. I was almost in tears when I found my car like this!! I've been outside working on it for the last two hours or so, and every time I catch a glance of the paint I get all depressed
Oh well, I've been toying with the idea of painting it satin black for almost a year now, guess this just made the decision for me!
Sure looks like someone repainted it at one time or another.
Maybe certain panels were replaced & then they clearcoated the whole thing to try to get a better match.
Just wait until spring when you can take it to a couple of shops for estimates of repair. I'd guess they'd have to do a good strip of the current work & do it all over.
Maybe certain panels were replaced & then they clearcoated the whole thing to try to get a better match.
Just wait until spring when you can take it to a couple of shops for estimates of repair. I'd guess they'd have to do a good strip of the current work & do it all over.
Thread Starter
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From: Victoria - Vancouver Island, BC, Canada
I'm pretty sure the whole car would have to be re-painted. The only "good" panel left is the passenger door.
PS - I want your fastback Fiero! I have an 86 SE notchie Fiero as my DD that I've had since highschool
PS - I want your fastback Fiero! I have an 86 SE notchie Fiero as my DD that I've had since highschool
On The Tree
Joined: Aug 2009
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I'm not a man
But yeah, I know what you mean. I was almost in tears when I found my car like this!! I've been outside working on it for the last two hours or so, and every time I catch a glance of the paint I get all depressed
Oh well, I've been toying with the idea of painting it satin black for almost a year now, guess this just made the decision for me!
But yeah, I know what you mean. I was almost in tears when I found my car like this!! I've been outside working on it for the last two hours or so, and every time I catch a glance of the paint I get all depressed
Oh well, I've been toying with the idea of painting it satin black for almost a year now, guess this just made the decision for me!
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Joined: Apr 2008
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From: chicago
To the best of your knowledge has the car every been repaired or repainted on the panels that are blistering?
If so it could be caused by water in the line when it was repainted. You typically will not see it at first, but they come back later.
There are a couple of other things it could be as well, but more information would be needed.
If so it could be caused by water in the line when it was repainted. You typically will not see it at first, but they come back later.
There are a couple of other things it could be as well, but more information would be needed.
correct, or poor prep work the clear is coming up, or solvent on the panle is trapped caused the lifting, so many factors, the bottom line is it has to be repainted
There are ALOT of reasons for why that happened. Just from pictures it is difficult to tell, but in my opinion that looks more like solvent pop than anything else. I don't want to be the bearer of bad news but normally when you have an issue with solvents coming up through the finish the car needs to be stripped. Otherwise the solvent popping will likely continue after the new paint is applied. By stripping I mean completely taking down the old clear, base, primer, body fillers, etc. If you try to do a quickie repaint it is very likely that the bubbles will reappear at some point.
There is a brightside to this however, it is a possibility that you can band aid the bubbling ONLY on the condition that the bubbles are hard. If you cannot push the bubbles down with your finger nail then I have a method that might work in your situation. Let me know if this is the case, and consequently I can outline all the details for you. Good luck.
There is a brightside to this however, it is a possibility that you can band aid the bubbling ONLY on the condition that the bubbles are hard. If you cannot push the bubbles down with your finger nail then I have a method that might work in your situation. Let me know if this is the case, and consequently I can outline all the details for you. Good luck.
TECH Fanatic
Joined: Jun 2006
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From: Dallas, TX
Well, let's see, your car is 15 years old and it's having bumps show up all over its skin.
Sounds like puberty to me. I'm going to write you a prescription for Accutane. Come back and see me in 3 months. That'll be $200...
Sounds like puberty to me. I'm going to write you a prescription for Accutane. Come back and see me in 3 months. That'll be $200...