The Camaro Club (UK)

As my car is too big to fit into my garage it spends the summer under a cover. It's a good cover, 5 layer's and breathable and all that and for the past 2 years has not been a problem. Up until this year the longest it was under the cover before I would use the car has been 6 days maximum. Because of all the rotten weather this year it has stayed under wraps for up to two weeks Anyway, the other day I noticed marks on the the rear wing and at first I thought it was a reflection of the clouds but it wasn't then I tried rubbing it off but that didn't work. It's like a ghosting under the clear coat. I went and asked a few people and have been told that it's condensation under the clear coat caused by being under the cover for too long. It was suggested to try heating it up a bit with a hair drier but that didn't work either. I've also tried some rubbing down compound and it's definatley under the clear coat.

Here's a couple of pic's. Any ideas Have any of you seen this before
If it means re-painting, would it be easier to remove the wing or masking it all up and doing it in situ. How much work is it to remove the wing.

_________________
Cheers Gerry

Hi Gerry, from what I can see in the pics, it does look like as though the paint has "bloomed" ie has trapped moisture under the paintwork. I've seen this many times before. As an example, a guy brought his car into me once with a similar looking problem. He said that he'd just had the car resprayed by one of the local bodyshops & was given it back the same day in the rain. The paint work was covered in white patches. To try & help the guy out I put it in my low bake oven & baked it at 80 deg & it all disappeared. Because the paint was still soft, the moisture could evaporate through the surface of the paint. However if the cars been painted a while or has factory paint, heating it's not really likely to work as the surface of the paint is that much harder.

Normally car covers tend to flap around a bit in the wind & as such the condensation that gets trapped can evaporate. However, if the cover hasn't been able to move, it's possible to get condensation trapped between the paint & the cover. Normally on a factory finish it would take some time to have this problem occur, whereas if a cars been painted at some point, it can occur much more quickly. If heating it up doesn't work, then it's gonna have to be stripped back to a sound substrate or the metal, as you won't know how far the penetration goes. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but I absolutely HATE car covers !! The number of cars I've had to repair because the owners covered them you just wouldn't believe. Far better to wax the car regularly & leave it in the open air to allow air to circulate around it. I won't even cover a car in my garage.

hth

cheers...Nige

_________________
Too much power...not enough hands!!

Had the same problem a few years ago on the top of my passenger door and rear quarter panel.

Lacquer actually started to flake off! I had it resprayed (rubbed down properly and primed first), top half of the door and half of the back panel. Cost me £150.

Your going to have to have it sprayed. Get it sorted soon before it gets worse.

This was apparently a common problem on GM cars in the 90's.

Thanks for the reply's guys. The paint is the original as far as I know at least as long as I've had the car so nothing done recently. The guys at Kett Paints thinks it's condensation between the base and the clear coats, maybe through a minute pinhole in the clear coat and due to being under the cover for too long in the recent changeable weather conditions.

I relised today that the rear wings are Not bolted on so the repair is going to have to be done in situ

If I rub the clear coat down until I reach the base coat and it dissapears do I need to continue down to the bare metal or can I just repaint from there

Thanks for the help guys

_________________
Cheers Gerry

As much as you probably don't want to hear it, the only way you can 100% guarantee that you've cured the problem would be to take the affected areas down to the metal. Although it may seem that the problem has been cured by removing the lacquer, it's not to say that the moisture hasn't penetrated further into the basecoat & there is no real way to tell if it has. hth

cheers...Nige

_________________
Too much power...not enough hands!!

something similar has happend a bit on mine, more like micro bubbles. Its a black car and due to it getting too hot and the cold freezing weather have flaked the lacque off.

was going to say a wing change is a massive job, welding and cutting required, it will have to go into paint as it is....it needs to be done at a body shop with an oven too to ensure paint is dry and moisture is out, as evilzee has said.

_________________
'99 Z28 A4, 253 LS2 heads, 228R TSP cam, Patriol Dual Springs, Double roller timing chain, LS6 ported oil pump, OBX LTs, 3" True Duals, LS6 intake, 42lb/hr injectors, SLP lid + bellow, EFIlive COS 3 Speed Denisty Tune (self tuned), 3200 Circle D stall, CAI mod, KYB AGXs, Eibach Pro Front Springs, UMI panhard, LCA + Brackets, Strut Brace, Custom Subframe connectors, WS6 axle with 3.42s, 18" American Racing Rebels, US mirrors, 93 tail lights, 3.5 inch custom cowl hood. Mickey T's Street DRs on Vette-ZR1 wheels for the strip !
Best ET: 12.0 @ 116 mph (on a 0-60ft of 1.8 s)

Thanks for the help and advice guys.

As the weekend is going to be good (weather wise) I am going to go to Iceni club meet at Thetford Forest on Sunday so I will be starting work on this next week (weather permiting). I'll let you know how I get on.

_________________
Cheers Gerry