Question for the body/paint guys

[KevinD]

Hey, gotta quick question. My 03 dodge Ram Quad Cab was totally repainted about 3-4 years ago (Dodge factory Patriot Blue) and the shop that did it has gone out of business.
Now the clear coat is peeling badly, and some of the base coat has bubbles(?) under the paint. Thinking of having it repainted, but I think I have to take the fubared stuff down to the orig paint/metal first. Is this my only option? I ask because that's a shit load of sanding.

[Pony]

Just peeling around the edges? (moldings/handles etc)

Basically yes. If it's only peeling around the masked edges then you can probably just sand down the areas that are peeling. If it's failing in the middle of the panels that's a sign of poor prep work or not enough clearcoat and it will need to be taken down to the original finish or wherever the failure occured. (clear has U/V protection in it, not thick enough the sun will break it down).

Same with the bubbles. if they are bigger than pinpricks it's probably something underneath. (filler/rust) and needs to be removed to the fail point.

Do you plan on doing some/all of the work yourself? Skill level?

[KevinD]

Due to $$ I am probably gonna have to do the sanding myself. I've done some before (years ago) and had good luck, but, def NOT a bodyman. Gonna check with the guy I had repaint my CSRT4 and see what type of primer or other stuff I will need to use. I was hoping there's be an easy 'Magic" fix, but I knew there really wasn't hahaha

[Pony]

The best thing you can do to save money is disassemble it. It may not have been done last time but it's the right way to do it to avoid problems. Take off all handles, moldings and anything that sits directly on the paint. As far as the repair goes a lot of it is making sure you're not using too aggressive or two fine a grit sandpaper for the particular task at hand.
Gonna be using air tools or hand sanding? Pics would help too.

[KevinD]

Oh, It def wasn't done the last time.. I was out of the country when my wife had the hail damage repaired and repainted. The knucklehead even shot clear over the chrome plastic emblems (shakes head). I'll try and get some pic tomorrow. Not sure when I'm gonna start on it, as right now, it's my daily driver. Plus I need to get a bunch of stuff cleared out of my shop (from moving my father-in-law in with us) I had planned to take off all the trip and handles I can before I start sanding. I've got a 1100 sq ft shop I can't even get into right now.

[KevinD]

As for paper, I'm thinking of starting with about 100 grit to remove all the badness, then going lighter and fogging a coat of grey primer to get my panels smooth again.

[Cactus]

Kevin, was this done thru insurance work or just straight out of pocket? If was insurance work, do you choose the shop or was it recommended by your carrier? know you said the shop is going out of business, but if it was insurance work and they recommended the shop, they should be able to help you? If it was insurence work and you chose the shop, they may be help you as well?

If not you may be SOL.

[Pony]

That's a good point. If it was hail damage covered by the insurance and you're still with the same company, they may warranty it.

[KevinD]

Yeah, it (the orig damage) was hail, covered by my ins. shop of my (wife's) choosing. My ins say that sue to the age of the repair, and the truck, and since the company that did the repair is out of business, there's nothing they (ins) can do. Once the sun get up more, I'll take some pics.

[KevinD]

Here's some pics. It's pretty overcast today, so these are the best I could get:

Top of doors (all 4 look like this)


Cab roof:


Hood (both sides are the same)


Two pics trying to so the general overall "bubbling of paint. This is pretty much everywhere.

[redred]

thats shocking for 3 ish year old repairs,looks like a friday afternoon special

[KevinD]

Yep pretty shitty work. Unfortunately, my Camaro was repainted by the same shop, at the same time, and it looks about the same. Clearcoat is peeling, and bubbles all over the place.

[redred]

bad paint batch?

[KevinD]

Maybe on the clear if he used the same for both vehicles, but the Camaro is Black, the truck is Blue. So no excuses for the piss poor base coat except for the painter screwed up somewhere along the way.

[Noilly Pratt]

The person who painted your truck should be shot, and if he survives, shot again!

I had this happen on a gold Dodge 600 I had eons ago. Poor prep work for sure. And it can get Really worse in just a couple of months. I left it for a year and it looked awful. Since it was a trunk lid only I ended up getting one from the Junkyard.