Paint Blistering!

[Ben M]

Hello all, I appreciate that the subject of paint blistering has been done to death, but I’m curious whether it’s actually possible to keep an Elan long term without this happening and, if so, under what conditions? I bought my Elan Plus 2 10 years ago at which point the paint was in good condition. It’s kept in a garage. The car hasn’t been driven for a couple of years awaiting some mechanical repairs. Recently I noticed quite a lot of micro-blistering in the paint work. There’s also what I’d describe as stress fracturing in the paint surface around the boot hinges and a couple of other locations. I’ve been considering getting some mechanical and cosmetic work done on the car and am considering getting the car resprayed. My question is whether I need a stable temperature dehumidified garage to prevent the paint deteriorating again after a respray? Or is it just the case that every 10 years or so the cars need cosmetic work/respraying? Grateful for any views, many thanks, Ben

[512BB]

You have posed a few questions there Ben and I am not going to go into chapter and verse on respraying a glassfibre car, but basically, if a car is painted correctly, and then stored correctly, the paint will never deteriorate and the car will never need to be painted again.

I have the proof of that in my garage, painted over 30 years ago by SMS. Still as good today as when they painted it. Having said that, the garage is bone dry, both in the winter and summer, carpeted, and heated continuously from November through to April, although I have only heated the garage for the past 10 years. But if your garage is damp, don't bother having the car resprayed. You would be waisting your time and money.

Correct resprays on glassfibre cars are expensive these days, and just because a firm is charging you big bucks, does not mean that they are necessarily doing the job correctly. So you need to do your research thoroughly. I have said it many times on here, any firm can get a respray to look good straight off the gun, but it is a car that was painted at least 5 years prior that you want have a look at, with at least 5k miles on it since the respray.

Good luck.

Leslie

[RobertMaulden]

My S2 Elan was painted over 30 years ago (2 pack) & has always been kept in a "normal" garage (no heating / dehumidifier etc - but dry) On occasions e.g. after a good wash & polish, after allowing everything to dry off totally I have used a top quality "breathable" cover (but a dust sheet would have done the job as well) There are no signs at all of any paint blistering anywhere.

Imo the problem is more likely to be due to less than adequate preparation of the shell etc prior to painting.

Sounds to me like this is what has happened with your car (& especially as gel cracks have appeared with the car not being used)

Working on & painting GRP is a specialist job, that not many body shops understand, & that's why a top quality & thorough job is very time consuming, & hence expensive.

[661]

My car was painted in around 1990 with cellulose and has looked great until a couple of years ago when a few micro blisters developed around the same time I changed from an air chamber to a 'breathable' cover.
Who knows......

[Ben M]

Thanks all, I think I’ll hold off on the respray until I have a better place to store the car. I don’t want to spend a load of money and have the same problem. In the meantime I can focus on the mechanical works!

[LaikaTheDog]

You will find my rants on this forum dating back over two decades…my opinion comes from making mistakes.

Repairing an older fibreglass shell is involved and a skill, a standard paint shop will be unable to do it properly.

Reglassing/gelling is the proper body preparation and the only preparation to battle cracks and blisters. (epoxy/resin filler/sealer/builder sprays will not do the job)

Dont put a cover of any kind on a fibreglass car no matter how expensive or new fangled and breathable they say they are

Dont let a paint shop “bake” your fibreglass shell.

Leaving a properly painted fibreglass shell outside is ok, keep it clean and wax/polish it frequently and it will be fine.

My esprit was blister free for over 20 years and lived outside for most of its life until I got a very expensive outdoor tailored cover. The first blister appeared within two weeks on the “professionally” repainted front bumper.

I repaired and gelled my elan 20 years ago and it is still perfect… albeit no longer in my care.

[Andy8421]

Ben,

You might be interested in the following link. Option 1 have a good reputation for restoring GRP cars, and have a waiting list and prices to match.

The link details their process for the renovation of a GRP body. Given the results they achieve, it is well worth reading. It gives an idea of the time and effort required for a high quality result.

https://www.option1sportscars.co.uk/restoration/

Andy.