Paintwork problems Gen II

[Fatboy 18]

Looking for information on what appears to be small bubbles developing on the bodywork of the car. Anyone else having this problem? From what I know paintwork is stock. I know of one graphite GTS, have also now heard of this problem with a Red FE 2002 car and Dr Bob knows of another, so thats 3 so far!



Note : this is not my car.

Any ideas on what to do?

[cfiiman]

I've got the same problem, I inquired long ago when I first got the car and it seems to be pretty common, that is all I know. I have them on several areas of the hood, almost look like water droplets. Annoying as hell but since it is a "normal" thing I try not to worry about it so much. I wonder if heat causes it? Anyway someone that is more knowledgeable will answer but I just wanted to say it is common not just on the car you are talking about unfortunately :(

[thetalonguy]

I, too, also have some small bubbles forming on the hood where it meets the front fascia.

I don't know how you would fix other than a respray. I'm just worried that they are going to flake off in the future.

[Fatboy 18]

That's it, we are all talking about the same thing.

I thought it might be down to a moisture problem? Any paint guys out there care to shed some light on this problem? Is it because the cars are fibreglass?

[cfiiman]

If I recall correctly (not saying I am) it has something to do with the composite material. I think even if you respray you might get them again which is why I've learned to live with them. I know I hated that my side sills bubbled and flaked off (I know this is a different issue) so I resprayed them, look perfect for about 6 months (very little driving) then started bubbling again, nature of the beast I guess :confused:

[MalingatorGTS]

I'm not a true paint guy, but my uncle owns a body shop and I've done plenty of work there..gets me free resprays from time to time on other projects lol

As stated being fiberglass, it would not be a reaction normally associated with rust under the surface eating its way out. many times it can be from a bad cure of primer or clear. I would guess the body should be really contaminate free being a factory spray prior to primer. Chances are it may not be. Even oil from fingerprints can react to some primer.

It can be a combination of heat and sun/weather exposure causing the chemical reaction between the layers of primer/paint/clear. The cure times and temperature during a cure may have effected it.

Shouldn't be on this level car but mistakes happen. If you look at many mass produced cars, the orange peel showing in brand new paint is embarrassing. 99% of car buyers don't even notice it so the manufactures don't care.

Prep is 99% of a good/great paint job!

[cfiiman]

I will say this, when I had a vandalism issue and went to get quotes from the body shop my insurance company recommended he told me he wouldn't touch the car!? I was like "man how come????" and he said that he did one a few years ago and it continually has problems out of it and has repainted it like 4 times and said he would be painting it for free (his policy I guess) for the rest of his life and will never touch one again. Not sure what that means but I'd say there is an issue beyond "prep" IMHO.

[Leslie]

When I had a GenII it had the same thing.

[GBS]

I don't have them on my 2002 ACR. Did they just start appearing overnight?

[Fatboy 18]

Baz told me he knew of a Viper with this problem, the car had been parked outside with a car cover on it and the paint had these small bubbles in it that looked like blisters, the car then got put in a heated garage and the bubbles receided over time as the car dried out? Which made me wonder if its a moisture problem?

Then today I saw this post from a new guy looking for a Viper in the UK
Look at the last post in this thread .....
http://driveviper.com/forums/threads/6891-Anyone-Seen-A1-8-LTR-Recently!?p=105107#post105107

[BlknBlu]

the side sills are known to do this when the aluminum starts to corrode. can be costly if not found early.

Bruce

[Fatboy 18]

Good to know, but more concerned with trying to work out what the plastic bodywork issue is at the moment?

[Heysie]

I had the bubbles on my Gen1, mostly on the doors.
After respray the whole car (in a different color), they never came back.

[cfiiman]

I had the bubbles on my Gen1, mostly on the doors.
After respray the whole car (in a different color), they never came back.

That is good to hear.

[Bugman Jeff]

I spent many years building kit cars for a living, so I know a bit about fiberglass. It's a problem with the factory primer popping loose from the fiberglass. If repainted properly, it shouldn't happen again. There's nothing mystical about it, but some shops get gun shy because it's a slightly different process than a metal car and you can have adhesion problems if you don't do it right. Primers made specifically for fiberglass work better than standard primers. We used Duratec, which is almost like a sandable gelcoat, as a sealer/surfacing primer as the first layer on the bare 'glass, then standard primer and paint over that.

[Fatboy 18]

I spent many years building kit cars for a living, so I know a bit about fiberglass. It's a problem with the factory primer popping loose from the fiberglass. If repainted properly, it shouldn't happen again. There's nothing mystical about it, but some shops get gun shy because it's a slightly different process than a metal car and you can have adhesion problems if you don't do it right. Primers made specifically for fiberglass work better than standard primers. We used Duratec, which is almost like a sandable gelcoat, as a sealer/surfacing primer as the first layer on the bare 'glass, then standard primer and paint over that.

Thanks for the input :)

[Viper Pit]

Also known as solvent pop. Google it. Had serious bubbles on my 98. The size of nickles and dimes. They were worse after washing the car. The receded quite a bit when things dried out.

[Vprbite]

I had some little bubbles in the hood, I actually thought they were fish eyes from a respray on my Gen II. There was no other indication though of any damage anywhere on the car and the hood had definitely not been repaired. This was on an 02 in 2011 and I swear they weren't there in 2009 when I bought it. Or I just didn't notices the. Till I took it in for a detail and noticed them before I dropped it off. Wondering if the Arizona sun could have made things worse?

[Fatboy 18]

Found another UK car with one or two small bubbles on the roof :( Never been resprayed.