Any paint guys? Strange problem (pics)

[androbud]

This is only happening on the panel that comprises of the roof and hatch parts so I'm positive this area is repainted. My question is what did the previous owner do to screw it up?

The weird part is that not one flake of paint has come off, it's almost like it's shrinking?!?! It has been happening since about 3 weeks after I bought it (April 15th) and it keeps growing regardless of me driving it or not. Anyone seen anything like this before? The paint looks REALLY nice, no orange peel or anything and I haven't used anything on it besides water. Anyone know of a really good paint guy in Birmingham?

 

[GotAViper]

W....T....F....

 

[Warfang]

That's so odd... I wouldn't even know where to start guessing what the problem is. Hope you find out... I think most of us would like to know.

 

[00SVTdubs]

[******]

 

[GTSnake]

It looks like the San Andreas fault.

I'm no paint specialist but maybe there wasn't enough flex additive in the paint and it got too brittle. If there's no orange peel then it can't be factory paint.

 

[AJT]

If there's no orange peel then it can't be factory paint.

Thats a good one!

 

[V10SpeedLuvr]

Well today is 6-6-06. I think the devil attacked your car.

 

[vipeuup]

Damn, that looks crazy..

 

[garolittle]

Did the previous owner disclose that it had been repainted? If not you should give him a call and "have a little talk" about business manners.

 

[VENOMAHOLIC]

I would contact the previous owner and politely ask him to return the Viper to the paint shop and get it redone correctly as the work by any reputable paint shop is guaranteed for a certain time limit. Good luck with that.

 

[twinturbo3150]

wow!! its almost like the paint is shrinking,

 

[bth1]

I am no paint guy either but it almost looks like the car wasn't primed properly after a repair and that the paint is expanding at a different rate than the pannel and cracking . If I had a guess based on looking at the first picture, someone tried and do a repair with something like bondo that didn't cure to the surface and then did a quick repaint. This could also explain why it seems worse around the window area (probably put on too thick at an area that has a blunt edge because it was probably taped off when they did the paint job.

If it were a classic car made of metal I would think it was a bad bondo job where the bondo was just too thick. But I don't don't know anything about resin. I would definetly have a good body shop look at it.

 

[94RT10Ohio]

Wow, sorry to see that.

The surface was not prepped properly. I bet it was painted within 30 days of your purchase. Is the clear coat still intact but the base separating? That would explain why you do not see paint "falling off".

The only question is, why just the roof. If the roof is the only issue I would assume it was the only part repainted. Looking at your second to last shot the color depth does look a little different at the break, but it could just be the picture.

 

[V10SpeedLuvr]

Wow, sorry to see that.

The surface was not prepped properly. I bet it was painted within 30 days of your purchase.

That could explain what made them sell the car. I would definitly contact the previous owner and see what happened and who did the repair.

 

[kcobean]

You're not by chance a plumber are you? Because that's a BIG crack!

(Just trying to lighten things up Androbud. If I were in your shoes, I'd be livid about that.)

To the experts, could this be induced by frame flex? If the car were "bending" enough, could it cause something like that?

 

[bth1]

Not having a coupe, would it be possible that the stress of shutting the rear hatch could cause this?

 

[94RT10Ohio]

No chance, top not going to flex that much. Todays base clear coats are VERY flexable, more than enough to handle the little flex of the top. Not to mention he said it happens sitting in the garage. Nothing worse than drinking a beer and watching cracks grow. The only thing is usually it is the wife's crack

 

[garolittle]

The GTS is not as fast as the RT/10 so it could not have been caused by fast driving.

 

[redacr]

If I had to guess from what the picture is showing this usually indicates a very thick application of heavy fill primer applied in rapid coats . This is usually done to hide hail damage or a lot of other surface damage then the top coats are applied and the car is sold quickly before the cracks have a chance to develop you need to check how many mils of material have been applied. I hope the person you bought it from takes care of the problem.

 

[kcobean]

Androbud, did you buy this car from a dealer or a private seller?

 

[PatentLaw]

Incorrect surface preparation coupled with too thick of an application of paint. To check the number of layers a destructive method called a Tooke gauge is used (just to see how many layers and the thickness - small cut is made on the paint at an angle and it is viewed with a microscope). You have no choice but to strip the car in my opinion. Sorry.

 

[androbud]

I bought it from a dealer. When I asked about the car being repainted the sales rep said he'd find out, and now won't return my calls and now the dealership can't find proof of the sales tax I paid. I'm really not liking the looks of this......

 

[twinturbo3150]

depending on what kind of insurance policy he has,maybe his insurance would cover a repaint?

 

[twinturbo3150]

I bought it from a dealer. When I asked about the car being repainted the sales rep said he'd find out, and now won't return my calls and now the dealership can't find proof of the sales tax I paid. I'm really not liking the looks of this......

Im not getting any warm fuzzy's on this one. Sorry hope it works out

 

[94RT10Ohio]

Someone run a carfax on it, may show something. Post your VIN, someone will run it.

 

[kcobean]

I bought it from a dealer. When I asked about the car being repainted the sales rep said he'd find out, and now won't return my calls and now the dealership can't find proof of the sales tax I paid. I'm really not liking the looks of this......

For the betterment of the community, you need to share this dealers name so the rest of the world can stay WAY clear of them.

 

[sween]

, hope it works out

 

[redacr]

I bought it from a dealer. When I asked about the car being repainted the sales rep said he'd find out, and now won't return my calls and now the dealership can't find proof of the sales tax I paid. I'm really not liking the looks of this......

For the betterment of the community, you need to share this dealers name so the rest of the world can stay WAY clear of them.

Whats the name of the dealership?

 

[androbud]

It's McGuinnessII in Orlando FL. They're not a Viper dealer. I did a carfax on it and it had 5 previous owners, but I didn't think that was unusual for a 10 year old car. I'm kinda in the middle of another problem with them right now.

 

[kcobean]

They have a web-site?