Clear coat is bubbling all over my 1995 Camaro

[Mike Phillips]

Clear coat is bubbling all over my 1995 Camaro

The below taken from an e-mail.

With the Kelly's permission I'm posting his question here as I can't type out answers in PM's and E-mails all day. Didn't do that at MOL and don't do it on AGO, not enough typing time in each day.


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Clear coat is bubbling all over my 1995 Camaro

Hello Mike, I have seen your comments on the Internet, you seem like the guy.

The paint on my 95 Camaro is good but the clear coat is a mess,On the roof and Hood, where the sun hits most.

I'm on a limited budget. Would I wet sand the top and hood? Then let a shop spray fresh clear coat? What Grit would I use?


Thank you Kelly


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Hi Kelly,

I lived in Apply Valley, just up the road from you in Palm Desert and I'm very familiar with what cars in your age frame look like from exposure to the sun.

It's called, Clearcoat Failure and I have two articles on this topic here,


The Clearcoat Failure Photo Gallery Archive

Beginning Clearcoat Failure



The only cure for clearcoat failure is to,

• Repaint the affected areas
• Repaint the entire car

Since your Camaro is 17 years old and actually almost 18 years old, if you LOVE this car and want to keep it because it's your toy or hobby car, then have the entire car repainted.

IF you just want to do something to make it look better while you continue to drive it as transportation then check with some local body shops and see if they will,

A. Take on a car to paint only the affected areas that you first sand down.

B. Take on a car and do the sanding and painting to the affected areas for you.


Chances are only a budget body shop will do either of the above but you won't know until you check. If you find a shop that will paint the affected areas after you sand them down, ask them what grit paper they want you to finish out at? If they don't care then get some #600 and #800 grit papers or discs and finish out with the #800 and let them know that when you drop the car off.


There is no easy fix and no quality inexpensive fix to this type of problem and that's why you see so many cars being driven around with clearcoat failure. The cost of the repair is not worth it to the owner in relationship to the value of the car.


You might look into the Rustoleum Roll On option if this car is just transportation to you. After rolling on a good thick coat of Rustoleum Enamel Paint you can wetsand, cut and buff the paint to look pretty darn good.

The key is in what I teach and that's how to wetsand, cut and buff ANY paint.


Rolled On Affordable Paintjobs


Just like a lot of things, the key is in the prep work. After that doing a GREAT job of sanding and buffing will determine your end results.

[KillaCam]

That's a great article, however, from owning a 4th gen f-body myself, the problem on the roof near the t-tops was a common issue on the 4th gens. It was a type of glue used to attach the sail panel to the car and it caused bubbling in the paint.

Does the owner have pictures? This wouldn't be the case for the hood, but could still explain to some extent.

[Mike Phillips]

Does the owner have pictures? This wouldn't be the case for the hood, but could still explain to some extent.

Didn't send me any pictures.

Each time someone sends me an e-mail or a PM with questions I ask them to join the forum and post their questions to the forum instead of sending them to me in a Private Message or an e-mail. It's kind of the point of the forum.

I sent him the link to this thread and I think the link to register, which is what I usually do. All this takes time but I find that once you get someone to jump over the hurdle of registering with a discussion forum and they learn how to,

• Start a thread
• Reply to an existing thread

They find how useful discussion forums are. Did this same thing over and over again at MeguiarsOnline.com, Mike Stoops actually uses the same signature line I used to use over there.

[KillaCam]

I agree with that. Without this forum I wouldn't know much about detailing at all.

[99monguse]

The known problem of the 4th gen f-bodies and the fiberglass roof panels isn't a problem on this car because it is a 1995. The known problem of the adhesive eating into the fiberglass was only on the mid 1998-2002 models, after the adhesive change and when GM decided to stop primering the under side of the panels. GM thought by applying the new adhesive directly to the panel vs applying the adhesive to a painted panel...although I think it might have just been a cost saving measure if you ask me!