FAQ: Flaking, Chipping, Cracking, Thinning Paint

yeah my factory paint is coming off all over. I'm very disappointed in the factory paint.

its because of the way its put on

My paint is fine other than those stupid little scratches in it. No issues (knock on wood) with my paint flaking or peeling anywhere. I've got some spots around the fender chrome where the layers of paint are visible though, likely from a rock or something hitting it hard enough.

1998 Riv wrote:

Crap. This winter I've lost my first 2 flakes of paint on the body. On the trunk, the backside on the vertical surface. 2 spots about the size of dimes. Guess I'll have to try out that little bottle of bright white diamond touch-up paint I got at the dealer last year. This really bums me out, my paint is sooo good everywhere else.

sorry dude

While washing the car I sprayed a chipped area and BAM you can see... I should have stopped but I wanted to "get it all" well needless to say I got it!

I have the diamond white paint of course...the expensive stuff.

Besides the hood, I've a rusty passenger door poorly repaired after an accident by previous owner. Estimate was for $700 to fix the door properly & repaint side of car.

How much you guys think the hood will now cost. The whole car could use a paintjob, but I'm not willing to spend $3K for that... this is an old car, well cared for, but on liability and sinking $3k into a car I park outside seems foolish.

What are your thoughts gang?

Oh, sorry about the BLUE lighting...camera was set for the wrong lighting scheme...but you get the idea

Nate, I've made similar mistakes in the past. You start picking at something, or just messing around with something in general even though you have a bad feeling, yet somehow you go through with it anyway.

Apparently the paint comes off these hoods pretty often, my paint was chipped and it was bubbled in a few spots as well (bubbled, but NOT rusted! Weird...).

I paid a guy $500 to paint my hood and the rear quarter panel of my car, and that was great deal... it was a private place, not some big business.

I can only hope you get a good deal, I have slate green which is much cheaper to buy then your diamond white.

Well. I hope the shop (I'll go back for another visit) still feels $800 for fixing the door and the rust spot. If they add even $600 for the hood I'll do it... I'd like to keep it under $1500. Which pretty much rules out an entire paint job. But heck, to get rid of the rust spot (which is covered in white paint and looks like ass) would be worth it!!!

Paint on the hood is tough to do, in part because the original hood skin is aluminum. Magnets stick most places because the inside frame part of the hood is steel. I do not know if anyone ever made an aftermarket steel hood.

The hood has to be painted with a special epoxy. The aluminum has to be specially cleaned first. If there are any flaws, if you leave bird poop on too long, if it gets nicked, or anything, the paint starts to bubble off. If it is not painted with the special epoxy, it will come off in sheets all by itself after a time whether you leave/ever got the bird poop on or not.

Albertj

ouch man

I went to a small shop with a great reputation last year with the Silver Arrow, another hard color to match, Sterling Silver Metallic. They did a great job matching the paint. They painted the front bumper cover, filling the holes from the license plate holder, fixed a dent on the drivers side door, the previous owner had opened it into something, and blended the paint and clear down the side, did it for around $850. We did have a couple of conversations about the work, but in the end it turned out good. The estimates I had gotten from a dealership and a couple of other places were in the $1200-$1500 range.

albertj wrote:

Paint on the hood is tough to do, in part because the original hood skin is aluminum. Magnets stick most places because the inside frame part of the hood is steel. I do not know if anyone ever made an aftermarket steel hood.

The hood has to be painted with a special epoxy. The aluminum has to be specially cleaned first. If there are any flaws, if you leave bird poop on too long, if it gets nicked, or anything, the paint starts to bubble off. If it is not painted with the special epoxy, it will come off in sheets all by itself after a time whether you leave/ever got the bird poop on or not.

Albertj

I'm not too sure about this?
I haven't found a magnet that will stick to aluminum and the only thing steel on the hood is the plate mounted inside that the latch attaches to, and where the hinges are attached. As long as it is prepped properly any polyurethane base coat clear coat will work.

albertj wrote:

Paint on the hood is tough to do, in part because the original hood skin is aluminum. Magnets stick most places because the inside frame part of the hood is steel. I do not know if anyone ever made an aftermarket steel hood.

The hood has to be painted with a special epoxy. The aluminum has to be specially cleaned first. If there are any flaws, if you leave bird poop on too long, if it gets nicked, or anything, the paint starts to bubble off. If it is not painted with the special epoxy, it will come off in sheets all by itself after a time whether you leave/ever got the bird poop on or not.

Albertj

I love this "bird poop theory." Very interesting.

I am saving for a paint job even though my car was one of the last ones built and has 220.000 miles on it. I originally thought that $1500 or $3000 was expensive too. However, go look at new car prices and 3 to 5 payments looks cheap. Besides there are very few cars that have the looks and performance of our cars. Those that do are really really expensive.

99Rivman wrote:

albertj wrote:

Paint on the hood is tough to do, in part because the original hood skin is aluminum. Magnets stick most places because the inside frame part of the hood is steel. I do not know if anyone ever made an aftermarket steel hood.

The hood has to be painted with a special epoxy. The aluminum has to be specially cleaned first. If there are any flaws, if you leave bird poop on too long, if it gets nicked, or anything, the paint starts to bubble off. If it is not painted with the special epoxy, it will come off in sheets all by itself after a time whether you leave/ever got the bird poop on or not.

Albertj

I'm not too sure about this?
I haven't found a magnet that will stick to aluminum and the only thing steel on the hood is the plate mounted inside that the latch attaches to, and where the hinges are attached. As long as it is prepped properly any polyurethane base coat clear coat will work.

1) you're right, magnet won't stick to aluminum. A big enough magnet will appear to because it's sticking to a steel reinforcement under the hood, perhaps at a hinge or latch.

2) not gonna nitpick with you on polyurethane vs. epoxy. Also gonna prefer to use epoxy in NY State, liberal user of road salt, on repaints of aluminum body panels that I want to stay painted for some years. BTDT, and admittedly maybe the prep was better on the epoxy re-re-paint than on the PU re-paint!

Bummer Nate, sorry to see that. My hood is holding up well still, other than a little nick or 2 in the front. However, I'm seeing a LOT of peeling paint along a number of seams in body panels. And most noticeable is the rear of the trunk lid, on the vertical surface. I now have 3 larger spots, maybe quarter-sized, where the paint has bubbled and peeled off. Damn bright white diamond paint... strange place for it to peel if you ask me. And the trunk lid is steel, I think? Primer looks good underneath though, no rust yet.

When my paint becomes bad enough, I'll certainly be considering a paint job, ahead of a new car payment. Still runs great and nice interior condition.

i feel like my paint is looking worse every time i wash it

i just got a "new" bumper put on after the accident and the guy who painted it matched it pretty well. makes the rest of the car look bad now cost me 275 to have it done. i asked how much more it would be to do the hood too. he said between 900-1000 b/c he would blend it into the panels or else it would look funny. i dont have that kind of money right now, but i hope to get the whole car painted soon. my hood has the bubble spots by the grille, and there are a lot of areas on the top suraces of the car where the base pearl coat has cracked and the clear is thin. stupid BWD paint!

I noticed the bubble which became the blob a few weeks ago.... I knew it would eventually pop, I just helped it along....

My ABS light went on again too...just more questions about how much I want to sink into a car which is only worth $5k at most..... I love it, and don't want a new car payment, so decisions decisions decisions!

Mr.Riviera wrote:

....... stupid BWD paint!

It's def a love/hate relationship!

1998 Riv wrote:

Mr.Riviera wrote:

....... stupid BWD paint!

It's def a love/hate relationship!

Thats the truth

1st estimate from Car Star = $1508 to paint hood and fix door (take off skin, fix rust spot, rehang door and paint side of car... Not too terrible...

It would take a week, so you have to plan for that hassle too.

I think I'll visit a couple more shops to see.

I had the hood of my Riv painted last spring for $300. I was talking to my friend that I bought the car from and we figured out that the hood has been re-painted 6 times from factory to now... damn rock chips.

Oh side note, never park you Riv under a walnut tree. Walnuts will dent your hood when they fall out of the tree, reason for repaint last spring.

or a tulip tree... it rains down sap and puts non removable sparkles in your paint.

It's been a long time since Iv'e posted but I finally got my new DSLR a few days ago, and now you guys can finally understand how bad my paint has become.

(click for larger image)


I don't have a macro lens yet, so my lens is garbage Sony 18-55 F3.5-5.6 OSS lens, and the good 50mm F1.8 lens is just too bad at macro to use well. Image looks so bad because I bumped up contrast so high to really show the scratches. It's like this on every square inch of my car, and I don't get how that's even possible.

Repeated runs thru an automatic car wash will give you that scuffed paint over time, Corey. Grit from other cars gets embedded in brushes and buffers.