Can i save this paint?

[DukeGnarley]

Alright guys, here's my problem. I bought my car about a year ago, and i've done some stuff to it like the suspension, brakes, rollbar, gas tank etc. my problem is that the car came with some messed up paint on it. The paint has lots of little tiny bumps on the horizontal surfaces like the hood and decklid. it's hard to see them in the pictures, but if you look hard enough you can find them. Generally they're not too big of an issue, but whenever i wash the car, they become very noticable....... so i've been letting my car get dirty. anyway, i'm wondering if these bumps are something that can be sanded out or not, and if so, how i'd go about doing it.

 

[DukeGnarley]

also figured i'd throw in a pic of the full car so you can see that it's not totally ghetto

 

[PoliceInterceptor]

Hard to tell but looks a little like solvent poping (Dupont calls boiling)

Take a look here and see which one it looks most like.

Dupont Automotive refinish (Performance coatings)

Click: Products>Technical Manuals>Paint Defects Manual

 

[DukeGnarley]

Thanks for the quick reply. it looks to me like it's either boiling or blistering, but it's hard to tell.

 

[TOM B]

looks like the car was painted (sell me red) in a hurry. I agree it does look like solvent pop. look at it very close to see if it has a hole in the center. if not then it probably can be wet sanded with 800 then up. its a gamble though.

 

[PoliceInterceptor]

Unfortunately with either one of those the answer to your original question is probably "NO". In fact any thing you do to try to make it look better is likely to make it look worse.

Boiling (which is more commonly called solvent poping at least around here) is pretty common with older refinishes.

 

[DukeGnarley]

looks like i will probably just have to hold out until i can't take it anymore, then paint it. thanks for the replies guys.

 

[geostang351]

Mine looks the same. What I've experienced is that when it was painted, it probably orange pealed bad. The PO then wet sanded it, but not deep enough to remove the lowest points of the peel. Thus, dirt can get trapped in there and look bad when wet. If you wet sand further to elimate low spots, the high spots get eliminated and you start ccutting into the finish (NO GOOD). A new paint job is needed to fix.

 

[notny41]

We used to park a car under a tree (not sure which kind) but I think its sap or something would come down and land on the paint and make it look like that - there again I don't think there is much a person can do but sand and repaint.

P.S. - love the car - the Torque Thrusts make it look SOOOO much better than the wire wheel covers (assuming that is the same car in your avatar).