paint problems

[dan]

Hello

I am new the the group and just got my car delivered yesterday. There is a problem though. There are several areas in the front fenders that look like brushed touch up of stone chips covered with clear coat. At the strips you can see the tape lines and there are some areas where the paint made it under the edge of the paint. Also on my car (midnight blue) the louvers on the read deck have white paint on the body under the louvers. Has anyone else seen this type of mess on their cars? I called the dealer (out of state) and they told me the trucker must have done it. My trucker had the car a total of 9 hours and drove 400 miles.
I need a little help here if anyone can help me?

thank you
dan

 

[TEXAS GT]

If it's under the clear, take it to a local Ford dealer and talk about warranty repairs. If it's through the clear, you should have notated any damage on the delivery sheet of the shipper and they would have to fix it. It's probably too late now to blame the delivery driver and it's probably not his fault anyway.

That's the problem with buying unseen out of state, you take your chances. The selling dealer will not be any help, just go to a quality Ford dealer locally and they should take care of it. If not, go to another dealer until you find one who cares.

Good luck!

 

[dbk]

Did the car have miles Dan? I'd be pretty peaved if a dealer put stone chips demoing a "new" car and delivered it to me...

 

[ENZO BTR]

The "under clearcoat" problem you've described is exactly what I found on my GT (which is also dark blue, BTW). It is very minor and hard to see, but if you look at the edge of a few body panels the paint looks "rough" and there are tiny white flakes under the clear coat. You can see a picture of it here (scroll down a little):

http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/Drives/LongTerm/articleId=107422/pageId=68310#5


At first I was going to have it fixed, but then I realized:
A. It's almost impossible to see unless you know where to look
B. Getting it fixed might open a larger can of worms in terms of matching, quality of paint, etc.

Ultimately, I like the idea of my car's paint being "100% original" more than I care about it being "100 percent perfect." Interesting that this problem is on another dark blue car. Maybe they didn't quite get the process down with that color... (mine is a 2005, #1456).

 

[ViperJoe]

..... the louvers on the read deck have white paint on the body under the louvers.

Indeed I had the same problem; easy fix though. The problem is an accumulation of polish residue under the louvers. I removed the nuts securing the louvers to the clamshell, lifted off the louvers, carefully cleaned the gloss black finish under the louvers, and reinstalled the louvers onto the clamshell. It takes about a half hour to complete the process and is one less thing for someone else to mess with and potentially screw up!

I also bought my car sight unseen from an out of state dealer and thank God it was perfect!

 

[w. mitty]

I looked at probably twenty cars in the course of buying mine, and I will certainly say the the quality of the stripe lines and "bleed" varies from car to car. Some guys never notice it and are none the sadder. I wish I was one of those guys! Bottom line (pun intended) is that there will always be imperfections in the stripe job and you will simply have to live with it unless it is an obvious defect. The cars are inspected pretty carefully at the plant, so if the stripe job was good enough to pass muster there, you may have to let it go... it gives your car character (just keep telling yourself that)

As to the defects on the fenders, if it appears to be a post factory repair (i.e. dealer) or if the defect is on top of the clear coat, demand a quality repaint by the best shop in town and don't settle for less. It's probably easiest to match the paint when a car is new, as the sun/environmental fade of the paint on the car is minimal. In other words, fix it sooner rather than later.

As was mentioned, if the defect is under the clearcoat, take it to the dealer and ask the service manager to inspect it. Even if it is a factory paint blemish, I'll bet Ford will make it right. It is, however, very difficult to match metallic paint colors because of the way the mica goes down.

 

[gtjoey]

You know whats funny , in 20 years you want to restore the car to factory original :eek like my old sting ray , its amazing how overspray, crinkles , will add 10 percent to the car :biggrin . DO LIKE I DO NOW , WHO CARS DRIVE THE CAR TOMORROW NEVER, NEVER KNOWS...................... :banana NOTHING CAN BE WORSE THEN LARSENS CHARIOT ANYWAY :lol LOOK OUT , ITS A TREE, LOOK OUT ITS A DITCH, LOOK OUT ITS INNNNDDDYY BABY!!!!!!!!!! :thumbsup GTJOEY 1314

 

[Kayvan]

-No way driver did it; unless there is paint missing all the way thru to bare metal; I doubt it. Also given 9hrs/400 miles, he has more on his mind

>One major point: None of these cars is perfect: if you can get one for a good price, nearby, that has agreat paint job (ex-minor issues) and its mechanically perfect then you are 99% there.

I had same issues with red car/white stripes:

-Having seen 8 GTs in my life; almost all had the "bleed" under the tape somewhere/somehow; many were on nose, and clearly visible (ie, stripes bleed dot on one side) other were imperfectin like a pin-hole covered with paint like a crater.

-Also; I had a clear-coat issue on one fender; the Fed Ex Custom Critical driver guy had it on the inspection report; I cant tell even under magnification....but, he advised a finger nail can feel it. I think most of these happened in testing or workers having grit or one grain of sand on clothes.

-My stripe bleed was on rear cam shell and very fine; I decided to leave it alone.

-Real race cars have stripes and sponsor decals changed like once a month; its broadstroke and its part of the cars pedigree and uniqueness.

PS, you might experience a little post-climatic withdrawal on first receiveing this car. Every one will drive you nuts: from blemishes that look like scracthes, that you can clean with a fingernail or rag to idiosynchrosies like the hood closing, fuel filler door, a rough cover, a very hot engine bay, etc. !!!

The paint job on all these cars is hand done; and there are places where its got human imperfections.

Take a step back and enjoy the lines of the car.

 

[Sinovac]

Although it sounds like you have some post-manufacture paint issues, keep in mind the cars are hand painted and hand rubbed. Overall, the finish is great. My car came with some "paint boogers" and as mentioned above, sometimes it is better to leave them alone than to attempt a repair. Most hand built cars will have these minor problems.

Interesting note (maybe not) is that my car (blue/stripes) is painted white under the louvers on the clamshell. Seems others are painted black in this area. My car is a late 2006.

 

[dbtgt]

Although it sounds like you have some post-manufacture paint issues, keep in mind the cars are hand painted and hand rubbed. Overall, the finish is great. My car came with some "paint boogers" and as mentioned above, sometimes it is better to leave them alone than to attempt a repair. Most hand built cars will have these minor problems.

Interesting note (maybe not) is that my car (blue/stripes) is painted white under the louvers on the clamshell. Seems others are painted black in this area. My car is a late 2006.

As Sinovac said, these are hand painted cars. When I toured the factory (ies) at the rally, it was apparent that there were several instances in the build process where paint repairs were made - by humans :eek . My car had an obvious clear coat repair on the front fender which I had color sanded and buffed by a local shop with whom I have a great deal of confidence. If the flaw is critical enough, then Ford will fix it under warranty. You will just have to find a dealer you have confidence in. There are a number of previous posts on this subject here on the forum.

 

[N303CB]

Hi Viper Joe:

Just bought a Red 2006 and am concerned of a repaint and possible damage repair. Under the vents on the clamshell, there appears to be repaint, as well as other areas. Would you mind taking a pic of the paint under your vnets and posting. Also, my muffler has lots of scratches over it. Yours?

 

[cobrar1339]

I am not sure how they painted the area under the vents, but every car I have looked at closely is pretty rough in that area, almost as if it were gobbed on, or the surface was not finished before paint.

Does removing the vents to clean that area pose any problems. Can you remove and replace them without chipping the paint around the edges?


I also see lots of left over buffing compound splats in the vent area as well. It looks like the cars were color sanded and buffed with the painted vents in place. You should also find compound residue in other areas of the car, the seams in the rear clam area another area. The horizontal lines around the headlights on the sides, etc.

When searching for my car I looked at a couple used ones. I saw two where someone had buffed the hood area. They did not cover the vents to the radiator ,and the whole area behind the screen looked like bird poop splats from the slinging compound. They also burned through the clear on the edges of one upper air intake on the clam. Both cars were so called, professionally buffed and detailed. Just pointing out to make sure you keep any high speed buffers away from the paint edges on the cars. I would imagine the clear on our cars is not real thick as they have obviously been color sanded already.

Muffer wise I have seen some better than others, but nothing that looks like it was dragged upside down on the floor.

 

[MAD IN NC]

Hi Viper Joe:

Just bought a Red 2006 and am concerned of a repaint and possible damage repair. Under the vents on the clamshell, there appears to be repaint, as well as other areas. Would you mind taking a pic of the paint under your vnets and posting. Also, my muffler has lots of scratches over it. Yours?

1st quesstion - car new or used?

If used - previous owner could have had an upgraded exhaust - then returned to back stock muffler. My stock is clean, no scratches, wrapped in a felt blanket!

 

[Gulf GT]

My car had several paint issues, so it needed to be color sanded in select areas and buffed pretty much all over. The hood was awful. It kind of surprises me to hear that Ford color sanded the car at the factory and checked the paint because there were many obvious large flaws in the paint. It took my guy almost a day to mask off the entire car properly. Then it took him 3 days to color sand the car with 2500 paper (wet for 24 hours) and buff out the entire car. He was able to get close to the vents after being masked off properly, and now I don't see any issues in that area either. Now the paint is completely flat and perfect. All I all, it took an entire week and I know it really did because he did it in my garage while I watched most of it. Slow expensive process to do so you don't get crap everywhere and don't go through the clear. Same guy warned me about the Heritage orange stripe that has no clear on it. All Heritage owners need to keep plenty of wax on the orange stripe as there is no protection over the paint. As far as Ford’s job on the car, he told me not to feel bad; he’s had owners fly him thousands of miles to do the same thing to Enzos and other modern multi-million dollar cars that had the same problems from the factory.

 

[cobrar1339]

Gulf you sound like a perfectionist. I am pickey like that too.

But overall the actual finish of the paint is among the smoothest I have seen on any new car these days. The last car I had that was even close orange peel wise, was a 93 RX7 TT,( painted in Japan) close but not as good as the GT. But, the GT has other flaws like stripe, bleed, rough spots, etc. It still has room to be perfected as you mentioned. I did a light orbital buff on mine. I still have a small area I will sand and buff one day, but it's super hard to see on my white car.

In contrast, the Gm finish is just horrible orange peel wise on most products, Ford is a bit better. BMW also has orange peel on our 07, Acura same 07, MBZ better 06, but still not the GT. My buddies Maserati and Stradale are both excellent, I did helped him do a nice rub on the Maserati when he first got it. It was slick, slick, but had some of the little flaws we talk about as well.

 

[usmcfred]

I agree with Cobrar .. The finish on my white blue stripe FGT is the best OEM paint I've ever seen and I am VERY fussy on cosmetics. It is virtually devoid of any orange peel. My '05 black Benz SL has more orange peel than a crate of oranges ... so much for German craftmanship. I also believe some colors are easier to finish than others. As Cobrar and I are very happy with our factory finish, it may just be the nature of the (white) beast.

I do have the oft mentioned gloppy (blue) paint finish UNDER the clamshell blue grills, but as I think it's pretty much a standard occurence (like engine compartment overspray on mid-year Corvettes) as well as being hard to see, I've decided to leave it alone ... at least for now.

usmcfred

 

[timcantwell]

As Sinovac said, these are hand painted cars. When I toured the factory (ies) at the rally, it was apparent that there were several instances in the build process where paint repairs were made - by humans :eek . My car had an obvious clear coat repair on the front fender which I had color sanded and buffed by a local shop with whom I have a great deal of confidence. If the flaw is critical enough, then Ford will fix it under warranty. You will just have to find a dealer you have confidence in. There are a number of previous posts on this subject here on the forum.

David makes a good point. I have two paint/body issues with two cars. I have paint "peeling" on the rocker panel of my white car, and "cracking" in the front trunk lid. Terry (She's got legs) also had the cracking phenomena, and I wouldn't have even looked at mine closely if he didn't point it out to me at the rally. These are hand painted, and you can see where some paint either applied to heavily or too lightly, hand polishing, etc. all have their affects. I plan to take both cars to Saleen for warranty repair.

 

[FlagstaffGT]

Tim, take a look at the picts I posted, is that the same cracking on the front hood? Please let me know if they really can remedy it. Thx. Barry. FlagstaffGT.

 

[Gierkink]

David makes a good point. I have two paint/body issues with two cars. I have paint "peeling" on the rocker panel of my white car, and "cracking" in the front trunk lid. Terry (She's got legs) also had the cracking phenomena, and I wouldn't have even looked at mine closely if he didn't point it out to me at the rally. These are hand painted, and you can see where some paint either applied to heavily or too lightly, hand polishing, etc. all have their affects. I plan to take both cars to Saleen for warranty repair.

Tim,

I also have the cracking on the front trunk lid. It looks like a spider's web. I was told by the "paint guy" at Saleen that this has been a bit of a problem with the trunk lids on some cars due to the material (I think fiberglass) from which they are made. Mine is also going back to Saleen this Autumn for a fix.

Rob

 

[timcantwell]

I think that we are all talking about the same "cracking" issues. It is like a spider web, small cracks at the edges where the angles change.