Paint Issue on an 8 Year Old Rig?

[F9K9]

This place is somewhat slow lately so, I want to just toss out an issue that I am having lately.

The "Cliff Notes"................

I purchased my '02 CC in May '04 from a local dealer. It had 600 miles on the odometer and it was originally priced @ 27K. I purchased it for 17K after doing some insider research on it. It was completely clean and probably picked up by GM after a dealer went bankrupt.

Last spring (I mean the spring of '09) the front passenger fender started to morph into something that was a recipient of acid rain. No accidents in the rig's history and nothing that I have done could make this change in just one sheet metal part.

I will try to take photos tomorrow to show the transformation but, it is depressing enough that I have not even slapped on a coat of wax this year. I will get it corrected when, money allows but, I am stymied on this issue. Someone toking up on the front passenger fender plant, bad paint, bad preparation, I dunno.

Just tossing it out here and I realize that the post is worthless without pics!

[F9K9]

I haven't a clue.

[HenryJ]

I wonder if that fender was a factory repaint?

It is likely that the fender will need to be taken down to bare metal to resolve the problem. I too am at a loss. I'd ask for help from a reputable body shop and a dealer.

[F9K9]

I agree. At first I thought that it might be a result of using "Mean Green" on the engine compartment and then hosing off the engine bay but, I always rinse and then hand wash the rest of the truck afterward. That wouldn't explain the difference between the bad paint on the fender stopping at the edge with the good paint of the door.

[barch97]

I'm no expert but that looks more like a defect under the paint than contamination over it. On the bright side it draws your eye away from the color mismatch on the hood.

[F9K9]

I'm no expert but that looks more like a defect under the paint than contamination over it. On the bright side it draws your eye away from the color mismatch on the hood.

Yeah, we all knew about the mismatch at the time. . Gave the GF instructions to get an estimate and to make sure that she told him that it was accident free and that the hood was the only thing that was aftermarket and painted. I normally swear by the shop and he told her that the hood, passenger side door and driver's fender would need painted for $800 dollars. He pointed out a spot on the hood and driver's front fender showing the same symptoms to her but, I can't see it. He attributes it to poor materials. I questioned her if, she made a point to tell him that only the hood was the only aftermarket part that was painted. She forgot to tell him and I don't see the same thing that she saw when he pointed it out to her. This guy is the best around and I have seen him work magic but, I don't see it here. Gonna think on this one and hopefully will see a garage built before spring and can revisit the issue then.

Thanks for chiming in, my favorite cynical friend.

[roadrunner]

After close study of the photos I have reached the conclusion it can be but one thing on your truck Reed. Waterfowl poop eating away the clear coat and paint!!!!!! I guess that's what you get for maintaining such a large flock down there! lol BTW keep em there. It's getting too cold for em up here anyway. lol

[saab9k]

I redid paint on my 98 S10 i have for sale, it is really easy to repair, will post pictures of it.

[F9K9]

..................... it is really easy to repair............

If, you knew me then, you wouldn't make statements like that. I can screw anything up! Btw, welcome to the forum!

[saab9k]

this is my 1998 s10 i have for sale, repainted the rear cover, and bed sides down to pinstripe. clear was pealing off or pitted.

[saab9k]

pic of whole truck. 4 cyl 5 speed manual. air, nice radio.

May add, is selling it local where i live, just showing paint repair i did.

[HenryJ]

Turned out pretty good. Mind filling us in on exactly what you did? Sand? What grit? Primer? Type? Catalyst? Sand some more? Base coat? Type? Pain to the stripe? Feather? Clear? How much? Whole backend? Where did you do this? Inside? Out? Body shop?

Details.

[saab9k]

pic of whole truck. 4 cyl 5 speed manual. air, nice radio.

May add, is selling it local where i live, just showing paint repair i did.

sold it other day $3000.00 219000 miles

[F9K9]

Okay, it started out looking like this eleven month ago. It was restricted to the front passenger side fender.





That fender became worse until it became apparent it is possibly the clear coat coming off. After it gets wet you can see the separation and it will flake off.




Now it has appeared on the cab and bed. It starts out looking darker with orange colored blotches and then starts the peeling. No industrial activity within 40 miles of my location.

The bed side.



Cab corners.




Any thoughts?

[HenryJ]

The only cure will be a repaint.
This sort of thing was prevalent in the earlier GM vehicles. Many would flake to the primer. In those cases the computer robotic spraying process was new. Too much time between the primer coat and the top coat took place and the two did not achieve proper adhesion.
I suspect that a similar problem could be occurring in this case too.
Another thought is the possibility that UV is oxidizing the top coat leading to separation of the clear coat layer. Either way stripping the old and repainting is going to be the only real repair.
Too late for a GM warranty fix I suspect. The time taken fighting their accusations of improper care would be frustrating to say the least.
You can probably use some good wax to keep it looking respectable for as long as possible. If you win the lottery have it repainted.
Don't let anyone tease you saying your truck looks a little ...flaky

[F9K9]

The only cure will be a repaint..................Don't let anyone tease you saying your truck looks a little ...flaky

I'm not looking for a battle with GM. I was mainly curious about the cause of the issue. I'm also curious if, a garage kept CC would have fared better. A decent paint job would be cost prohibitive. I am guessing $2K would be conservative and have poor results. I am thinking if, and when time permits it will eventually evolve into something like the Rubicon where scratches and dents become normal.

It still held it's own in our club's cancer benefit yesterday.

[HenryJ]

Still looks great! Wheel it , drive it and be happy.

[killian96ss]

I would agree that GM is to blame for your problem. Yes, constant sun exposure and airborne contaminants can do damage to the paint, but not as bad as that and in only 10 years. Something was not done right in between the painting and clear coat process. The 2 did not bond properly. It's hard to say what happened. Was it the paint, the clear coat, some sort of contamination, incorrect drying time, computer error, human error? You will probably never know. True off road rigs aren't shiny and flawless anyway! I scratched the hell out of my CC off roading it on narrow trails full of manzanita, and my wife did the same thing to our ZR2! At first I was upset, but with time I didn't really care about it because we had so much fun while doing it, and thats all that really matters. If anything it just adds character!

Steve

[F9K9]

Oh, I have no issues with earned Appalachian pin stripes, chips or even dents. I do have issues with a bad factory paint job. I discussed this with a very good paint man on another forum and after seeing the pics he is basically telling me the same thing that Brule did. The clear coat didn't bond correctly with the paint. He has seen it on GM and Dodge trucks before. Only answer is to sand it all down and repaint. Another member of the forum is an OEM paint chemist and he had to dumb down his answer for me but, it's the same thing.

[saab9k]

yes i would sand thru clearcoat, down in yellow, if thru yellow paint spots first, so truck is uniform yellow overall, then hit with a coat of yellow, then clear it.

[HenryJ]

In the early GM primer cases it was the undercoat that was at the heart of the problem. The top coat , in this case the clear coat, was trying to stick to chalk. Even if it did grab the top layer, that had no body and it would just release deeper.
If this is the same sort of thing, I think you will find your yellow paint oxidizing readily after the clear coat is gone.
The only answer for the earlier problems was to strip it down and start over. I had several vehicles walnut shell and plastic media blasted to remove everything to bare metal. Then clean, prime and paint from scratch.

My old '86 S-10 Sport 4x4 - Thunder underwent that treatment.

[F9K9]

Ahhhhh, life goes on. Lessons learned are invaluable when, they come from friends. Thanks!!

[barch97]

If it's any consolation, I like the look of the dull flat finish yellow under the clearcoat better anyway.

[rlrnr53]

Reed, I had similar paint problems on an 88 Olds Cutlass. I was driving to work one morning in a heavy downpour, and kept noticing something strange onthe hood. Since it was dark when I got to work, I couldn't see that over half the paint was missing from the hood. I was lucky enough to get the whole car repainted under a special policy from GM. I had the car about 5 years, but there was so much trouble that they decided to repaint to try to keep the customers happy.