Paint Bubbles

[Glen C.]

Good morning,

I looked at a 1971 last week and it had bubbles in the paint on the rear deck. The paint job was not recent. Is this a function of age or the symptom of a larger problem? I scanned the archives but most of the discussions involved new paint jobs.

Thanks,

Glen

[Paul J.]

Re: Paint Bubbles

Glen, it could be several things, but most likely contamination under the paint. Unfortunately, you don't own the car so you can't start digging around to find which layer is not adhering. If it's between paint layers, it's not such a big deal. If it's under all of the paint and coming out of the fiberglass then it's a bigger deal. Either way, the paint will need to be stripped. There is a lot about "paint bubbles" in the archives. And yes, you are now talking about new paint jobs since that car will need repainting. If you're looking at buying this car, you might want to factor that into the price.

https://www.forums.ncrs.org/showthread.php?t=69787&highlight=paint+bubbles&uid=9992

Paul

[Glen C.]

Re: Paint Bubbles

Paul,

Thanks for the information. I was considering the car so I'll factor the cost of repainting into the price. Have an enjoyable holiday,

Glen

[Paul D.]

Re: Paint Bubbles

Did the bubbles seem to be in a pattern, like where stands for a luggage rack could have been? I bet so. For some reason ( probably because it is on the upper surface and is constantly attacked by the sun ) that is a difficult repair to make and not have tell tale signs appear later. I personally witnessed this on a friend's car years ago. I saw how the bodyshop made the repair. Feathered out the hole to a diameter of 5 to 6 inches and filled with mat before filling, priming and blocking. Looked perfect for about 2 months before the bubbles started to appear. The strangest thing to me was that the bubbles appeared about the size of the original holes ( nickle size ) as if all they had done was smeared filler in them. Had I not seen the work myself I would have thought they had. I read on a board somewhere, maybe this one, that the only sure way to eliminate the problem is by panel replacement. Seems extreme, but who wants to find out a couple months after paying for expensive paint that the repair didn't take? Chip.

[Glen C.]

Re: Paint Bubbles

Paul,

These bubbles did not appear to have a pattern and were all sizes, some even with the paint splitting. The trim tag indicated that the car was originally a different color so possibly it was just a poor paint job in the past. After condideration I think I'm going to leave this one where it is and continue the search.

Hope you're having a greath 4th,

Glen

[Paul J.]

Re: Paint Bubbles

Paul,

These bubbles did not appear to have a pattern and were all sizes, some even with the paint splitting. The trim tag indicated that the car was originally a different color so possibly it was just a poor paint job in the past. After condideration I think I'm going to leave this one where it is and continue the search.

Glen

I agree that it probably was a poor repaint. With the car being a different color and needing a paint job, you can be too far into a 71 to get your money back if you decide to sell it in the near future. Walking away is a wise move unless the seller is serious about making a deal.

Paul