What's happened to my truck ??

[70 GMC Trucker]

I parked it for the winter and took it out of the shed today and look what has happened to the paint. It seems to have little bubbles all over the truck, some areas are worse than others. I thought maybe the cover may have something to do with but not all areas seem to be affected. It was painted 3 years ago by PO and I have had it since last April. Any idea's , this makes me sick and I can't stand the thought of a new paint job.

[JimKshortstep4x4]

That is a real bummer!

I suspect that the bubbles are water bubbles and if you pop one water will come out. My guess is that you will need to strip and repaint.

Jim

[72armyswbtruck]

I think that it is from the car cover. Darn shame. Hope you find a easy fix

[70GMCer]

Is the paint clear coated? It might be the clear coat that has the bubbles. I'd try paint sanding those bubbles out first with 1500 wet/dry sand paper. Maybe all you will have to do is patch clear coat the areas. Sometimes that works. Also try asking this in the paint section of the board. Good luck.....

[bad6772]

its hard to tell from the pictures ....but i would say its solvent pop....did you recently paint the truck? as in did you reclear after the P.O paint job...if so was it baked or air dried ?if it was painted how long before you waxed? if you let me know i may be able to walk you through some steps..........DO NOT SAND YET....With anything........As if the paint is not curred it may be gummy....IMO i doubt that it is moisture of any kind...was there rust on the areas shown.before it was painted....do you have build pics......this is the number one reason to buy a quality truck/car cover....some do not allow the paint to breath.............



EDIT..get that cover off there ASAP..........and let the paint breath........all areas wont do it.as in how it was prepped before paint..............i have seen this problem many times...and have fixed it.without a repaint...you may get lucky???????P.M me and i can give you my number to better explain............tony

[70GMCer]

He said it was painted 3 years ago......

[griesel72]

Originally Posted by bad6772

its hard to tell from the pictures ....but i would say its solvent pop....did you recently paint the truck? as in did you reclear after the P.O paint job...if so was it baked or air dried ?if it was painted how long before you waxed? if you let me know i may be able to walk you through some steps..........DO NOT SAND YET....With anything........As if the paint is not curred it may be gummy....IMO i doubt that it is moisture of any kind...was there rust on the areas shown.before it was painted....do you have build pics......this is the number one reason to buy a quality truck/car cover....some do not allow the paint to breath.............



EDIT..get that cover off there ASAP..........and let the paint breath........all areas wont do it.as in how it was prepped before paint..............i have seen this problem many times...and have fixed it.without a repaint...you may get lucky???????P.M me and i can give you my number to better explain............tony

this is why i love this board, someone is always willing to help out

[killer71]

how can the cover cauze that???

[1LoC10]

sue the cover company....thats the american way

[FIVE 0]

Those bubbles are from having moisture trapped between the cover and not allowing the paint to breath. Automotive paint needs to breath. The reason gel coat is used on boats and not paint is for this reason. I used auto paint on my boat and have the same thing where the boat sits on the bunks cause it cant breath.

The car cover you are using should have allowed the moisture to evaporate. Possibly due to the fact that you are in a freezing area moisture got locked in and could not escape. You usualy see this when paint is covered by plastic, or has snow on it for a month or better.

The worse news, over time they may get smaller if left in the sun but chances are you will be stuck with them.

[72BlckButy]

I'd say the cover trapped water under it, and reacted with the paint job.

[67shortie]

It's hard to see in the pics but it does look like solvent pop.

You could try (if this does not cure itself, which is unlikely) to finish sand with 1200 and buff it.

It is strange to see it come up like this a few years later, but if the primers/solvents were no allowed to dry before topcoating this does happen

[Brad]

I've had this same problem with my Camaro, but it was painted about 12 years ago. In the past I've used a car cover much like what's pictured along with a tarp and they do go away, but seem to come back. I haven't used a car cover in a few years. I don't really remember the weather conditions when I notice them, but it seems they appear with lot's of sun??

[jott_06]

I'm gonna say it has something to do with the cover trapping moisture on the surface of the truck. I just worked on a 85 scottsdale at work that belongs to my boss's stepdad and it was completely redone 10 years ago and there werent any paint problems but under the side molding it had those little bubbles like that and i asked my boss if he wanted me to sandblast those spots because i thought it was rust and he said not to because there wouldnt be any rust underneith the paint. So i fethered it all out with 180 grit on a DA sander and He was right it was clean under the paint. The moisture that the molding held under it just affected the paint.

[MrGoodpliers]

I don't think it's solvent pop. That would happen soon after painting and would leave little craters instead of bubbles. I agree with the folks who think the cover is the culprit. Damn shame, that's a nice truck.

[67_C-30]

I vote for solvent pop/bad preparation. Maybe the cover sped up the process, but I've never seen a covered car do that. A guy I know covers his cars with tarps in a pole barn ( I know, I wouldn't do it either!) and the cars are usually soaking wet when uncovers them, and I've never seen them do that. My father in law had his truck painted about years ago and it started this a few years ago, and now it looks like a leopard. The bubbles crack and then flake way and it leaves a pit down to the primer. It sucks though, because that looks like nice truck!

[badchev69]

I've seen this happen on one of my relatives' cars, It was moisture trapped under the cover. It happened during the winter time as well. The good news is that after being in the sun for about a week they went away????? Blew me away and haven't seen them since.. Good luck with that!

[DavesRide]

I once threw a cover over my car that had previously been in contact with hydraulic fluid. Same results. Bummer. They are still there.

[redsled04]

Its from the cover. My dads 51 chevy besiness coupe did the same thing.If you pop a buble water will come out.Its the weirdest thing.I think its the kinda of paint used cause I had a 55 bel air and I used the same cover as my old man and mine never bubled.

[lolife99]

I have that exact brand of cover on my Camaro for over 12 years. Not a problem at all. I have seen those bubbles in the paint before,... but it happened within 6 months of the paint job. I had a '71 Chevelle in high school that I painted The bubbles occured due to painting in a "high humidity" environment (July) with a crappy (almost non existant) air dryer on the air compressor. The humidity/moisture was trapped under the sealer. You could pop the bubbles with your fingernail and find water. I was SICK! Ended up removing all the topcoat down to metal and started over. A bodyshop painted it the second time. Expensive to say the least. Makes those $500 air dryer/regulators seem cheap. Good luck. Those pictures brought back some bad memories.

[bob1967]

My boat did the same thing were it sat in the water at the previous owners dock. The boat dealer said it was from the boat just sitting in the water for periods of time and not moving. The bubbles look the same as yours

[Mint68]

I had the same thing happen to my car, same Noah/Wolf brand cover. It was from moisture trapped under the cover; when I pulled the cover off the spot was almost fogged and had beads of water on the surface. They seem like they have gone away for the most part since then. This happened 10 full years after the car was painted, so I would say it had noting to do with painting conditions.

[67L30WGN]

The gelcoat on my boat did the same thing under a liferaft bag stored on deck against the gelcoat. It trapped water and created lots of small bubbles only where the bag was. Neither gelcoat nor paint are 100% waterproof and they will absorb moisture in the right conditions.

[Premium72]

yeah id say solvent pop. this happend to me when i did my hood an step fenders. but it was very soon after, id say days deff not years. i wetsand an buffed and they are no more. its worth a try an a hell of alot cheeper then striping and repainting..good luck, this sucks for sure.

[Yukon Jack]

What a bummer!!!!