What is this cracking on my paint?
 

Hey guys,
I'm trying to work some blemishes on the hood of my car, and I'm not sure I'll be able to get it done without painting. Have you seen anything like in my pictures before? When I got after it, it looked chalky and all scratched. Since it had been outside in the summer sun at the shop in Central Texas for several months waiting on mechanicals, I figured that something had gotten on it or come into contact. But after working it with some compound, then moving on to color sanding before hitting it with compound again, it appears to me that the paint is cracking.

Is this the clearcoat failing after 27 years? Or the fiberglass underneath? None of the above? I wonder if there is something short of having the hood painted that can be done.

Note that after working these small areas for the better part of the afternoon, it looks better. Depending on the light, you might not notice. But hit the right glare and it's very obvious.

I'm hoping for some ideas from the collective braintrust here.

Re: What is this cracking on my paint?
 

I believe this is what's known as "checking". Apparently, very common with fiberglass. I don't have direct knowledge on how to fix it, but a google search should yield good info. Good luck.

Re: What is this cracking on my paint?
 

My first question would be, were those scratches there before you bought the car to the shop? Looks like it's all to one small area and not spread out.....Any other evidence on different parts of the car?

I have a few minor spots on my 91 that wet sanding should be able to take out...Not experienced at all with wet sanding so I will leave it to a professional to take care of it.....Fiberglass is funny because from what I hear it's always moving......I also own a 73 with a recent paint job four years ago and you can see little stress cracks here and there on the car....I guess if your not going to treat the car like a garage queen it's something that you have to accept..

Let us know if you bring it to a detailer what he thinks...

Re: What is this cracking on my paint?
 

Try wet sanding might make it less visible depending how deep it is.


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Re: What is this cracking on my paint?
 

Thanks guys. I think that Killshots was on the money. I did a little looking around and apparently it happens a BUNCH to RV owners. Which, of course, have a lot of fiberglass.

Wet sanding isn't something that frightens me and it made the situation a bit better. It's now very shiny and smooth. But you can still clearly see all the cracking in the paint.

When we got the car 6 years ago there was one patch of this on the hood. Now there are 3 distinct patches. It appears that the solution is going to be re-spray the hood.

Unfortunately, that's going to have to wait in line thanks to a dingbat realtor who darn near totaled my Trans Am. Or maybe did total it. Fortunately I've got good collector insurance on it and am well protected. Anyhow, after that's done, we can look at some Corvette cosmetics.

Re: What is this cracking on my paint?
 

That sounds like an interesting story we need to hear...:)
I wonder if sitting out in the Texas sun contributed to the paint issue? Mine is covered and garaged all the time unless I'm driving it - but being black I wonder if it would be more prone to this issue if it did sit out for a time?

Re: What is this cracking on my paint?
 

Ooof. Well, despite it being brain damage to think about it's a little OT so I'll post it elsewhere and that way if anyone's interested they can see but no interference with the technical stuff.

I'm sure that's the case. From what I have been reading, baking in the sun will expose the questionable fiberglass. The expansion and contraction of the material will cause the cracking. With my car, it was out on the South side of the building for the better part of a summer. The problem was already there... hiding... sneaking around in its microscopic ways until given the chance to thrive. And thrive it did.

A good body shop using modern materials ought to be able to put a finish on the fiberglass that will stand up better over time. At least, that's what I'm beginning to learn. While this car has been pretty well cared for over it's 27 year, 44k mile lifetime, it's no garage queen. But I'd still like for it to look nice...

Re: What is this cracking on my paint?
 

Yeah I hear that. Mine is pretty much a garage queen due to lack of time to drive it - and that I do show it, which means the more it gets driven the harder it is to clean up. I have the stuff to do a full paint correction on it - if I ever get time to do it. My hands are in bad shape (carpal + arthritis) so that isn't gonna be fun... I haven't seen any cracking like that in mine yet...

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Re: What is this cracking on my paint?
 

Thanks Racinfan83. And no disrespect intended in my comment. Another way to describe your car might be "time capsule." :)

For anyone interested in the story (with pics) of my poor Trans Am getting rear-ended by a clueless real estate agent (and thus putting off any ZR-1 paint project for a while), I've posted it here: http://zr1.net/forum/showthread.php?p=254942#post254942

Re: What is this cracking on my paint?
 

If you haven't yet, you might run it by a body shop that specializes in fiberglass repairs. Wouldn't cost anything and they might give you a more informed answer to your questions. It almost sounds like there have been repairs on the hood that are now not fairing well. But hard to say from long distance. It may well be that a little wet sanding would help but if it were mine I would have an expert look at it first to help with my decision. Wet sanding clearcoat well is a tricky art. The BMW/Mercedes/Land Rover/MINI dealer I worked at had only one very experienced guy in the detail/body shop who would do the wet sanding. Good luck with it! --Bob