Hot day today. I walked out to my Fiero that was painted in November by myself with a base coat clear coat system from Paintforcars.com to find the clear on my roof split.
The base coat is completely untouched. It is like the clear just split. I thought someone keyed my car. You can feel a clean sharp edge and like I said the base coat in the crack looks pristine. This was shot over a urethane primer bought from paintforcars.com The primer was shot on the original paint that had no clear left on it but was cleaned sanded some prepped in the usual way before primer. I have never ever ever ever seen a urethane clear do this in my 8 years of painting. So what happened? Did the clear shrink in the heat? Did the plastic roof expand? Can I prep this area and touch it up with some more clear? Thanks folks.
Cheap paint. What brand was it so that everyone knows to avoid it in the future? With all the orange peel you have, I'd try filling in the cracks with clear & sanding & buffing. ~ Paul aka "Tha Driver"
Paintforcars.com system with the Five Star Clear. Yeah I was going to sand and buff some more but the time to do it never materialized. Looks Like I need to make some time to redo the roof. I did cheap out from my normal PPG products and figured I would give this a try. It sprayed nice, no surprises there. Looks like I just made more work for myself. I'm going to send photos to paintforcars.com and see what they say. I know what they will say, not their product it was how I applied it. However, I do think I should let them know.
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08:21 PM
darkhorizon Member
Posts: 12279 From: Flint Michigan Registered: Jan 2006
I have never had a urethane even a thick urethane shrink out that much especially 6 months later. Heck I have never had a thick lacquer shrink that much. All coats were allowed to flash according to the manufacturers instructions. Very strange. I do have an email with photos out to the manufacturer. See what they say.
[This message has been edited by Curlrup (edited 05-29-2012).]
I was afraid you'd say 5 star. It's really crappy paint. I tried it on a '65 Chrysler (recommended by the paint supplier to save money for my brother) & too days later it was too hard to buff. Had to sand the WHOLE CAR with 1000 wet - a '65 CHRYSLER for pete's sake! - & shoot better clear on it. I think you're screwed. ~ Paul aka "Tha Driver"
The hood on my 04 Tahoe is doing that, but on a much smaller scale. The cracks are about 1/4" long and numerous, but they are hard to see unless you are looking for them. Only the hood is doing it. The paint is factory original.
I can't believe GM would use cheap paint.
------------------ 1986 SE Aero coupe. 3.4 DOHC swap is underway!
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06:41 AM
2.5 Member
Posts: 43235 From: Southern MN Registered: May 2007
The hood on my 04 Tahoe is doing that, but on a much smaller scale. The cracks are about 1/4" long and numerous, but they are hard to see unless you are looking for them. Only the hood is doing it. The paint is factory original.
I can't believe GM would use cheap paint.
Weird. You sure its original? Did any wierd "waxes or polishes" get used on it? Maybe crazy heat from the engine?
[This message has been edited by 2.5 (edited 05-30-2012).]
The hood on my 04 Tahoe is doing that, but on a much smaller scale. The cracks are about 1/4" long and numerous, but they are hard to see unless you are looking for them. Only the hood is doing it. The paint is factory original.
I can't believe GM would use cheap paint.
Sure it's original ? what you describe is known as Laquer cracking.
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02:19 PM
rogergarrison Member
Posts: 49601 From: A Western Caribbean Island/ Columbus, Ohio Registered: Apr 99
Yes GM or any other will use the cheapest paint they can get in bulk and use as little as absolutely necessary and usually only 1 coat of clear.
Was that clear the one recommended for that base color ? If not they may be incompatable. You sure you mixed it in the exact right proportions....too much dries to fast, too little dries too slow or not at all and can split. NEVER put on more than 3 coats of clear even if your tempted to for more added depth...it dont. Hot sun will really love thick clear. I had a stripe on a Corvette that split open like that. I used their lower line of color and the higher quality clear from same brand. Turns out theyre not compatable, resulting in the split clear. It dried before the base color so crack.... That type of thing is more prevailent in lacquer but ive seen it on everything from lacquer to synthetic enamel. The worse ive seen was a custom van for myself. I painted all over and added multicolor graphics in my normal paint. Someone suggested I use House of Kolors clear. Big mistake....in 6 months the whole surface cracked like an eggshell, deep enough you could break a nail. Ive also had that happen several times on cars with catalyzed primer. They were fine in primer and after paint. After setting out in the hot sun, they did that too. Dont always trust what a paint rep tells you...most never held a paint gun.
At this point it looks to me like sanding all the clear off the roof and reshooting is the only fix to be permanent. That means new base and clear.
on your Tahoe, even if you bought it off the showroom floor new, dont mean it hasnt been repainted. I did work for a dealership and half the jobs were repairing new cars damaged by the carrier. I put a lot of vinyl padded tops on cars that got roof beat in by exhaust pipes above them. Again, the only permanent cure is to take off the hood and strip off all the paint to the point the cracks are gone and repaint it...at a quality shop.
[This message has been edited by rogergarrison (edited 05-30-2012).]
Something to keep in mind, the fiero is a non metal body which does flex more than metal bodies do. There are some paints that shouldn’t be used on them. I’m not a paint expert so I can’t speak to the actual issue at hand but it’s just something to remember.
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05:30 PM
PFF
System Bot
Bleau29 Member
Posts: 45 From: CubRun, Kentucky, US Registered: May 2012
Weird. You sure its original? Did any wierd "waxes or polishes" get used on it? Maybe crazy heat from the engine?
I had a 2000 GMC sierra that really dark blue color and it was doing the same thing on the hood, no where else. Id say it a manufacture issue. Kinda like the GM white they used in the 90s, it would be pretty for about 8 years then would start coming off in big flakes, jsut peel right away from the primer.
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05:37 PM
rogergarrison Member
Posts: 49601 From: A Western Caribbean Island/ Columbus, Ohio Registered: Apr 99
I know what your saying, but metal cars are pretty flexible too. try sitting on the hood, roof or trunk lid of your metal car. The body isnt that flexible that its a problem for most paints. Prepping and painting a plastic car isnt any different than a metal one except you can wear grooves in the panels sanding them with your hand. same sandpaper, wax and grease removal, primers, paints, clears...
Its a widespread myth that its a whole different thing to paint a plastic car. Theres another thread here where a professional body shop told someone they didnt paint Fieros because they needed all this special stuff. I hear it myself all the time.
[This message has been edited by rogergarrison (edited 05-30-2012).]
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05:40 PM
Curlrup Member
Posts: 2590 From: Havre De Grace, MD Registered: Apr 2007
What brand was it so that everyone knows to avoid it in the future? With all the orange peel you have, I'd try filling in the cracks with clear & sanding & buffing.
It's really crappy paint. I tried it on a '65 Chrysler (recommended by the paint supplier to save money for my brother) & too days later it was too hard to buff. Had to sand the WHOLE CAR with 1000 wet - a '65 CHRYSLER for pete's sake! - & shoot better clear on it.
