Paint situation

[Guest jcc3inc]

Gentlemen,

In examining the paint of my newly acquired '91, the gray/silver finish seems to have crazing, particularly on the horizontal surfaces. At first I thought it was due to too many times at the car wash, likely it is just too long in the sun. The attached picture taken about 2 1/2 inches from the surface shows the "scratches". What would be a good inexpensive way to handle this?

1. Sand with 600 or finer grit wet-or-dry, then polish. Or maybe re-apply the clear coat after the sanding.

2. Could the clearcoat just be applied on top of the existing crazed finish?

Earlier posts suggested that the '91's had a different style finish that 9

'90 and before. Can I use any clearcoat from an automotive finish? Anyone's experiences and suggestions would be appreciated.

Regards,

Jack C.

[Vincent Vega]

I would love to see the pics. My black 88 has some crazy checking like imperfections in the paint. They are like little cracks. I have been told it is a bad clearcoat and the only solution is a repaint. The only place it appears is on the hood itself. not the headlight covers or the fenders. My fenders have what appears to be original painted pin stripes. Which leads me to believe they are unmolested originals.

[Roadster90]

Geeeze....this is not good.

Very scary...what you have (call it what you want from crazing to checking) is complete deterioration of the clear coat. Only PROPER way to fix this is to completely strip to bare metal....as it affects the color coat as well. If you try to "Mickey" it, well it might look OK for a while, but it WILL come back to haunt you (or someone else). I am sorry as it is expensive to resolve.

[Roadster90]

Vincent,

I have read some posts on the crazing of paint on some 1991 models (for what reason >>> who knows for sure), but nothing prior to that.

Your hood could have been repainted somewhere along the line....maybe even at the factory. If the paint on the hood is to thick from a possible resquirt (hard for a layperson to tell in many cases), and combined with the heat of the sun and or engine could = to crazing easily. Not only thickness, but improper preparation, paint quality, and mixing/application can also have a role.

[Guest MauiWowee]

Very similar to mine. I describe it as "one too many cheap car washes". <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

[Guest F14CRAZY]

My '89's kinda doing that too on the hood, and only the hood

[Rawja]

Is it my imagination or is there red paint showing through there?

[manikmekanik]

Sure does look like red beneath the silver, Rawja. Primer is black, no red should show through on a silver car.

The texture looks like an unfinished sand/prep job on the silver repaint finish-before clearcoat.

Great camera, Jack! the detail at such close proximity to the subject is enviable!

[Guest wwollet]

Nic:

This is a side question about paint.......but my 1988 red car has a different color (slight) then the fenders...never been repainted... all orginal.....is this because the fenders are not metal but some kind of plastic? and GM had trouble over time matching the two?

Bill

[Roadster90]

Not sure....I have never run into the particular situation you describe, but Red >>> any shade of it is way more sensitive to application techniques, time, and the elements than pretty much any other color.

Do you know of or have heard of any other red 88s' with the same "symptoms"? If you are unique with this problem, there is a chance that the fenders have been refinished....just at the factory (before the dealer even saw the car) where no one but the factory folks would be aware of it. Would be unusual for 2 fenders to be damaged and need refinishing though. Thinking...there could be the possibility of a temperature difference or other factors between the metal and the fiberglass parts, and paired up with other unusual circumstances (an unexpected humidity change, improper mixing, etc)could cause a difference in the curing of the paint just on your particular car that would effect the shade after time. <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />. Try asking your local automotive paint jobber (Dupont, Sherwin Williams, etc).

[Guest F14CRAZY]

Yes, the front fenders are plastic. The clearcoat on the tops of my front fenders is worn off bad, but the rest is ok. Under the hood where the bolts for the fenders are, there's so overspray. I don't think I've taken the time to check to see if they're original according to the VIN stickers, but they appear to be, and the pin striping is right.

The hood has a ton of tiny cracks in the paint all over the place.

[Guest wwollet]

Well then I forgot to say the fenders (front) are not as dark as the hood area.

Rememeber when GM started all these painted bumpers to match the car body and they faded....but I thought by 1988 that was history...and GM corrected that...Anyway I need to get around more 1988 red Reatta....my next time is the Lansing show in Sept....I wonder why the Reatta fenders are plastic and is any thing else on the car?

Bill

[Guest MauiWowee]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I wonder why the Reatta fenders are plastic and is any thing else on the car?

</div></div>

Simple economics. The front fenders are a simple shape and easily made. (Cheaply) <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

[padgett]

So are the front fenders for a TranSport and most of a Fiero.

[Rawja]

It also saved weight and all but eliminates dings and paint chips.

The Trans Sport is entirely plastic, and speaking from ownership of 4 Trans Sports used as commercial vehicles in NYC, it saves a ton of money in body work from the usual bumps and scrapes one gets as a matter of routine around here.

[Guest crtnrds]

I have 3 Reattas and the paint, particularly the clearcoat, SUCKS on all 3. In fact I haven't seen one with GOOD paint stock. Don't get me wrong, I love my Reattas but whoever painted them (PPG I understand) was a hacker.

[Guest F14CRAZY]

It could have been worse though, like the big sections of paint falling off of the primer in 90s GM cars

[Guest CL_Reatta]

Or like the early 90's silver Chrysler's, my dad bought a new 1992 silver dodge conversion van, by 95 3/4 of the paint had peeled off the roof, and was starting on the sides, that was his que to sell it and buy a white one :~}

[Guest inthespot]

I had a '91 Dodge and also a '93 Plymouth Acclaim and the paint on both was shot by the time the cars were 6 years old. The paint on the Plymouth was off the top all the way across the windshield about 3" back and the Dodge Lancer had clear coat issues and looked like they used spray cans and did not shake them up. One was white the other light blue. I have never seen many silver (US made) cars that I thought the paint was the same color on the finders and doors and hood. I had an '86 and '93 Mazda 626 one silver the other white and both looked good after 4 or 5 years. I purchased the '91 and '93 new and took care of both within reason. Both were washed all the time and waxed every 9 to 12 months.

[Guest inthespot]

Just thought I would try to get my Maui '90 to show up.

[Guest wwollet]

Wait a minute, I thought alot of people praised the paint job on these Reattas...didn't PPG and GM go together and come up with a super paint job for its time? or are these paint jobs really bad?

Bill

[Guest inthespot]

The paint on my Maui Blue has some clouding on the hood and trunk and maybe some on the top. It looks like a little smoke or haze but that could be form the sun and previous owners not waxing it very often. I think the rest is good and the color is really bright. I think that all paint starts to go after a few years but I have an '86 Mazda B2000 and I think the paint on it is actually better than the Reatta. As I have said before, I really like this car but Buick and GM did not have a clue what a $30,000 car was in 1990. I do not know if they have learned much in the past 15 years about building vehicles either. Could this be why the American Auto industry is in such a troubled time and loosing market share??

[dwmajk]

My 90 reatta spent all its life outside in New England so with acid rain,snow etc. it beat up the paint.I had good results useing the dupont wax with paint pigment couple coats every spring followed up with paint sealer seems to last six months. beats spending $3,000. for a paint job on a driver.I would rather have a bad factory paint than a cheap orange peel paint job.

[Guest wwollet]

Does anybody know about the hood being a different color then the fenders over the life of the vehicle because of different surfaces (plastic vs metal)