Cause of Paint Problems

[Gray14]

Can anyone tell me what the cause of the paint problem I have.

When I bought it 2 years ago it had only a couple of paint blemishes that I took to be ‘Fisheye’.

The front and rear are now completely covered in 1-2 mm spots where the edges are lifting away from the surface.

In places the paint has flaked off completely. I feather edged these yesterday for  repainting and found a couple of more paint chips had broken off from the feathering this morning.

The paint layer is very thin and it doesn’t take much rubbing down to get to the GRP surface. Could it be the original factory applied paint breaking down.

I put a car cover over it over winter but it seemed to deteriorate just the same.

I think I read someone else having the same issue about a year ago.

Can anyone suggest what the cause might be.

Thanks G

[Dunc]

Hi Graham,

What you are describing is called micro blistering.

it is caused when paint is applied to fibreglass and droplets of moisture get trapped between the gelcoat and the paint. When the temperature dips below freezing, the moisture freezes and expands, creating a small blister, which then fractures the top layer of the paint.

Its quite common - I have it on one of mine - it is a result of a poor respray that didnt get the gelcoat completely dryed out, or had too much moisture in the paint. Spraying fibreglass well is not an easy thing to do, which is why bodyshops that can do it well, charge a lot of money. Also if your car is stuck in the sprayers oven, he (or maybe she) isnt painting other cars, so they charge more for fibreglass.

 

[EXCEL V8]

Yep - mine was just the same.  Had to go down to the gelcoat to get rid of it - it was all in the cellulose primer from the factory on mine.  Some of it has reappeared despite meticulous prep.

Pete

[tom kilner]

At least its not rust🤣