Specific paint issues.

**Littleblazer** · 03-04-2021, 11:03 AM

Good morning. I have an 84 vette that was resprayed in the 90s. The car has what I consider a really good paint job on it with what I consider terrible prep. Case in point when dad bought it back in 08 it looked pretty good. But since then all over the car you can see hand prints... and by that I mean the base coat is shrinking under the clear and you can see like where they pushed it into the booth and so on... it sucks and I know there is no fixing short of respray that so I just wanted to get that out of the way...

Now my actual question. When dad looked at the vehicle it was under a layer (thick at that) of driveway gravel dust. You had to wipe the window to even see inside. Now as a gift the person selling the car had decided to wash it. She used a brush and didn't wet the vehicle at all. Long story short it looked like an ice skating rink. We got a lot out with a good wax then dad took it to a pro to get most of it corrected. At that time he was working 6 days a week and just didn't have the time to do it. He just wanted to enjoy it. Long and short of that it looked pretty damn good when it came back but they said that was as far as they would take it and not to get aggressive with it again. They showed us the few inconspicuous areas where it burned through the clear saying that they could get more out but they didn't trust pushing it that far. A lot of what was left is very deep.

So that brings me to now... 13 years later. Obviously there are more swirls and scuffs again and I tried a few small spots with just a cleaner polish and just doing it quick by hand results in a blotchy finish where there is no clear left in the duller spots... so at this point heavy correction is out of the question for me. I don't want to make it worse... so here is what I've been doing. Good cleaning and towel dry, followed by a coating of chemical guys black light and topping with mothers Carnauba. It does a fairly good job of hiding a lot of the damage and making the metallic flake pop... until I wash it the next time.

I was wondering, and it was suggested to me as well, if there is a top coat or sealer I could use that would actually level and fill those relatively easily and look good. A friend on colorado forum suggested a ceramic (or SiO2) coating and a good one to possibly take care of it. Realistically the car needs to be repainted. That is a down the line proposition though. If I can do something to make it presentable and not have to wash and wax it 4 times anytime I want to go for a drive an not have it look like total crap I'll gladly do it. Below I have attached a few images of the defects I discussed. (Won't let me do it from my phone... I'll try later) I'm not going for show, just good enough.

Thank you for any input.

**2black1s** · 03-04-2021, 11:25 AM

Sorry to say but if you have exposed base coat I'm not aware of anything you can do short of repainting to fix it. You can experiment with different waxes, sealers, coatings etc., to see what gives you the best result, but even that best result will probably not be very good.

And when you say a "really good paint job" over "terrible prep", those two items are mutually exclusive. You can't have one without the other.

In summary, just do the best you can until you go for the repaint. I don't have any specific recommendation though because, in my opinion, there is no good recommendation.

And when you do start inquiring about the repaint and pricing, be sure the process includes stripping of the existing finish. Another mutually exclusive condition applies here... You can't do a really nice paint job over an existing paint job that had less than stellar preparation. Any flaws in the existing finish that are a result of poor preparation and "buried" in the finish, will telegraph through the new finish in time. You have to strip the old finish.

**Littleblazer** · 03-04-2021, 12:35 PM

Originally Posted by 2black1s

Sorry to say but if you have exposed base coat I'm not aware of anything you can do short of repainting to fix it. You can experiment with different waxes, sealers, coatings etc., to see what gives you the best result, but even that best result will probably not be very good.

And when you say a "really good paint job" over "terrible prep", those two items are mutually exclusive. You can't have one without the other.

In summary, just do the best you can until you go for the repaint. I don't have any specific recommendation though because, in my opinion, there is no good recommendation.

And when you do start inquiring about the repaint and pricing, be sure the process includes stripping of the existing finish. Another mutually exclusive condition applies here... You can't do a really nice paint job over an existing paint job that had less than stellar preparation. Any flaws in the existing finish that are a result of poor preparation and "buried" in the finish, will telegraph through the new finish in time. You have to strip the old finish.

I suppose I could have been clearer. The prep itself was good. The paint is good... there are two small spots where it is exposed but they're up under the car... my hidden test spots.. basically it's like they rolled it into the booth without gloves then forgot to wipe off the hand prints. It is otherwise glass smooth and mirror like. But yes. You really can't use those two terms together.

And I kind of figured there wasn't much I could do. The clear on 99.9 percent of the car is still intact and fine but I was pretty sure nothing would be able to really help much. A good repaint I was figuring would be in the 15k range... last one I had done was 20. Difference is one is worth 90k with paint and the vette still 7k with fresh lol... so its more a personal choice to do it and why I really would rather do other things first than pour more than it's worth into paint. It's a driver... it doesn't need to be perfect but it's pretty sad most days.

**2black1s** · 03-04-2021, 05:21 PM

Wish I could see it... Then maybe I'd have some ideas.

**Littleblazer** · 03-04-2021, 06:38 PM

Originally Posted by 2black1s

Wish I could see it... Then maybe I'd have some ideas.

I'll get some pictures up. They show it pretty well. The hand prints I know I can't fix... from 5 feet it looks good and just driving past looks fine. When you really look at it it's meh. Plus it's fiberglass... they do all sorts of crap with age anyway. Its starting to get the little blisters they all have so it's getting time to do it.

If you're in jersey you're more than welcome to visit lol.

**FUNX650** · 03-05-2021, 09:42 AM

C4 Corvettes are going through a resurgence
in both popularity and value. Hang on to it.

•As to your paint issues:
-Take it to a few local, highly reputable,
paint/body shops for their bird's-eye
view perspectives.

Editorial:
Too bad your 1984 was already repainted:
Unrestored ‘patina’ is often a desirable trait.

Bob

**Bill D** · 03-05-2021, 09:48 AM

My dad has an '89; all original paint. I'm very happy patina is a desired trait!

**Littleblazer** · 03-05-2021, 09:59 AM

Originally Posted by Littleblazer

I'll get some pictures up. They show it pretty well. The hand prints I know I can't fix... from 5 feet it looks good and just driving past looks fine. When you really look at it it's meh. Plus it's fiberglass... they do all sorts of crap with age anyway. Its starting to get the little blisters they all have so it's getting time to do it.

If you're in jersey you're more than welcome to visit lol.

It ain't stock anyway lol. It's my fun car. I honestly think the repaint was needed when it was done... it was definitely a daily the first half of its life. I did happen to pull the original build sheet off it though. It was the wrong VIN sequence... next on the line actually. One number higher.

As promised here is a photo. The car was really dirty here. I'm going to take a few more later when I go back to work on it as it's clean now at least but you can see the damage and some of the hand prints.

Specific paint issues.-20210201_000135-jpg

**2black1s** · 03-05-2021, 11:39 AM

I don't understand the "hand print" thing... By the picture I don't see how those defects could be attributed to hand prints prior/during the paint job. But then again, I'm not seeing it in person to make a definitive assessment.

**Littleblazer** · 03-05-2021, 03:54 PM

Originally Posted by 2black1s

I don't understand the "hand print" thing... By the picture I don't see how those defects could be attributed to hand prints prior/during the paint job. But then again, I'm not seeing it in person to make a definitive assessment.

In person you can make out the actual lines on whomever palm it was. And you can see the prints on the finger tips further up. It's kind of wild. The photo doesn't portray it well.