Here's one for the paint gurus

[Chuck R.]

The paint on my donor body overall is in pretty nice condition, except.....

On one quarter panel there are several small, and on the deck one larger blisters.

I have had the body for better than two years and no new blisters have surfaced.

I would love nothing more than to scuff off the body and build up the affected areas, but am concerned that if the blistering was due to a possible chemical reaction, will I need to dig deeper and do more?

I am hopeful that as the remaining 99% of the body still looks good, that this is an isolated issue.

The subsurface primer coat appears to be in good shape, but the paint just didn't stick and raised up.

It almost looks like water might have spattered these spots.

What do you think?

Chuck

[Joel T.]

Re: Here's one for the paint gurus

Chuck;

I'm not sure about your particular problem but I recently had my 1965 repainted. When I had it done (County Corvette in PA) the guys explained to me that the typical reason for bubbling on a Vette was due to water seeping through the fiberglass from the underside. The fiberglass does not absorb water but in fact passes it through. When they did my car, it was stripped down to the fiberglass and then 2 or 3 "gelcoats" were applied before the application of primer (also multiple coats). I'm not exactly clear as to what the "gelcoat" was but its purpose was to prevent the moisture from the underside from bubbling the paint.

Hope this helps....

Joel

[Chuck R.]

Re: Here's one for the paint gurus

Thanks Joel, I'll take a hard look at the underside to see if there is evidence of pin holes or checked up glass.

Fortunately (I guess) the issue is located in a two foot radius area between the deck and the upper portion of the rear quarter.

Thanks again for the heads up,

Chuck

[Joel T.]

Re: Here's one for the paint gurus

Chuck;

Could well be that someone someplace along the line did a poor job of sealing that particular area before finishing......

Good luck!

Joel

[Wayne W.]

Re: Here's one for the paint gurus

Paint pros will tell you. If it isnt stipped it isnt a real paint job, and there are NO guarantees. I wouldnt even consider painting over something that has already exhibited a tendency to blister.

[Bill M.]

Re: Here's one for the paint gurus

On one quarter panel there are several small, and on the deck one larger blisters.

It almost looks like water might have spattered these spots.

What do you think?

Chuck

I did a repaint on my '59 in 1966. I did all the work, and I had a local painter spray the car. He had his new kid do the spraying. I had the same problem you are describing. I wondered if the paint stripper had caused the problem.

I painted a '65 in 1980 and did all the work myself. I stripped both cars to glass, and the '65 still looks great, so I don't think the stripper was the issue.

Based on the pattern of blisters (top surfaces) I figure that the kid pulled the car in to the shop, and shot the paint over a damp (from dew) primer. The topcoat blistered and the primer stuck.

Maybe your car got some water in the topcoat? It is easy to get water in the compressed air. I've had to take extra precautions to avoid that problem.

[Chuck R.]

Re: Good points all the way around

I'll be working on the paint at some point this weekend and will start with the blistered areas to see if there are any more issues underneath what still appears to be ok.

Thanks for the tips,

Chuck

[Paul J.]

Re: Here's one for the paint gurus

Chuck:

You said that the sub surface primer is not bubbled up? Then the glass is OK and the painter either spilled some drops of solvent on it during wipe down or dropped some sweat on it. It's also possible that the top coat is not adhering properly to the primer for any number of reasons. If this is the case, I think it might be risky to spray any material over the existing top coat.

Paul

[Kenneth T.]

Re: Good points all the way around

I'll be working on the paint at some point this weekend and will start with the blistered areas to see if there are any more issues underneath what still appears to be ok.

Thanks for the tips,

Chuck

My 71 in gelcoat that Joel mentioned. Two years out and the paint still looks great.

Ken