Cracked Paint

[jdmason]

Hello All,

I noticed recently that the paint around my fuel cap door has begun to crack. It has yet to peel, and doesn't quite feel 'loose' yet, but I'd like to catch this before it gets worse. I was thinking of putting some clear nail polish over the cracks to seal them up and prevent them from getting any worse. Do any of you have any other suggestions for something like this? Maybe I'll even put some white touch-up paint in the cracks prior to putting the clear nail polish over or something. Is there a better alternative to nail polish?

I've included some pictures to show you all below.

Please let me know!

[AGOatemywallet]

Don't use nail polish

Purchase clear coat touch-up paint

[2black1s]

By your photos I would say you have more than paint cracking there. It appears to me that area has been repaired and the repair material (bondo or whatever filler(s) they used) beneath the paint is cracking. Simply doing a paint touch-up isn't going to do much to prevent that crack from becoming worse. The paint film is just not strong enough to permanently repair those cracks.

Short of stripping and redoing the original repair, which would be the best option, I might try something like this...
- Clean out the crack as best you can with a toothbrush and isopropyl alcohol
- Force fill the crack as best you can with some kind of epoxy
- Clean the excess epoxy from the surrounding area before it cures
- Once the epoxy is cured, then do your paint touch-up

My thoughts here are that the epoxy might have a chance to prevent the cracks from growing. Paint alone will never do that. Even the epoxy is a longshot but it might be worth a try.

[conman1395]

Hello All,

I noticed recently that the paint around my fuel cap door has begun to crack. It has yet to peel, and doesn't quite feel 'loose' yet, but I'd like to catch this before it gets worse. I was thinking of putting some clear nail polish over the cracks to seal them up and prevent them from getting any worse. Do any of you have any other suggestions for something like this? Maybe I'll even put some white touch-up paint in the cracks prior to putting the clear nail polish over or something. Is there a better alternative to nail polish?

I've included some pictures to show you all below.

Please let me know!

A better alternative to nail polish would be clear coat. That nail polish stuff got popular on the Internet unfortunately, but it doesn't last.

Also, I agree with the post above me, it's more than just "cracked paint".

[AnthonyGXP]

I agree with it being body filler cracking. You can actually see where they tried to form that curve on the inside of the bezel with body filler and didn't get it quite smooth. Look above the crack on the inside of that curve and you can see the texture.

[Mike Phillips]

If you can get some matching touch-up paint you can apply some and fill the crack and this may Band-Aid the problem temporarily but my guess is the touch-up paint will lose it's bond over time and the crack will re-appear.

You could even try rubbing over with with a white Crayola-Crayon and get the same minor masking effect.

The body of this car is going to flex and that crack will always be there until the underlying root cause of the problem is addressed.

What kind of car is this anyways?

[jdmason]

If you can get some matching touch-up paint you can apply some and fill the crack and this may Band-Aid the problem temporarily but my guess is the touch-up paint will lose it's bond over time and the crack will re-appear.

You could even try rubbing over with with a white Crayola-Crayon and get the same minor masking effect.

The body of this car is going to flex and that crack will always be there until the underlying root cause of the problem is addressed.

What kind of car is this anyways?

It's a 2007 Toyota Tacoma. I bought it used from the dealership. I'm surprised that body filler was used there - I took a pretty close look at it last night and couldn't see any indication that body filler was used. I even took the fuel cap off and it didn't look like it to me, although I'm not a professional. There was no visible differences in the paint in the surrounding area - it all looks 100% uniform under close inspection. I can take some more photos if that would help diagnose the issue.

I was hoping that maybe some epoxy would help bond and close the issue. Otherwise, what would a permanent fix be?

Cheers,

[jdmason]

Here are some more photos. Hope this helps:

[Mike Phillips]

It's a 2007 Toyota Tacoma. I bought it used from the dealership.

I'm surprised that body filler was used there - I took a pretty close look at it last night and couldn't see any indication that body filler was used.

Just to note... I never posted in this thread that body filler was used. Others suggested that and that's what it looks like but I never posted that.

Steel body panels don't crack like you see in your pictures.

Three things you can do,


1. Take it to a reputable body shop and ask the guys there to take a look at it and tell you what they think. An experienced body man can tell you real quick what the issue is.


2. Take a magnet to the affected area. If there's Bondo there the magnet should indicate so.


3. Use a Paint Thickness Gauge to measure the paint thickness. IF there is Bondo in that area my guess the Paint Thickness Gauge won't even read anything as most PTGs are for steel or aluminum and if the body filler is thick it simple won't be able to read the thickness since it won't be able to detect the metal below the filler.



There's three ways to do some research.

You could also take your knuckle and "knock" on known good steel body panel and then knock on the affected area and likely hear a sound difference.

I was hoping that maybe some epoxy would help bond and close the issue. Otherwise, what would a permanent fix be?

Cheers,

The only good and long term fix is to take it to a body shop and let them find the root cause and then fix the root cause.

[jdmason]

Just to note... I never posted in this thread that body filler was used. Others suggested that and that's what it looks like but I never posted that.

Steel body panels don't crack like you see in your pictures.

Three things you can do,


1. Take it to a reputable body shop and ask the guys there to take a look at it and tell you what they think. An experienced body man can tell you real quick what the issue is.


2. Take a magnet to the affected area. If there's Bondo there the magnet should indicate so.


3. Use a Paint Thickness Gauge to measure the paint thickness. IF there is Bondo in that area my guess the Paint Thickness Gauge won't even read anything as most PTGs are for steel or aluminum and if the body filler is thick it simple won't be able to read the thickness since it won't be able to detect the metal below the filler.



There's three ways to do some research.

You could also take your knuckle and "knock" on known good steel body panel and then knock on the affected area and likely hear a sound difference.




The only good and long term fix is to take it to a body shop and let them find the root cause and then fix the root cause.

All great points - thanks! I will definitely follow up with all of this!

Cheers,

John