Rust bubbles,

[GMCjunkie]

Just about feel like crying (haven't ruled it out) My truck has been painted for about 3 years, (keep in mind that it has been kept sheltered from weather too) after less than a year, I noticed a few bubbles over the drivers side tail light. I called the body shop, they basically said, sorry, we cant guarantee the paint job because we cant see rust between the inner and outer body panels. It could have been forming there all along. Fine, suck it up. Well I took my burb out today and noticed that most of the passenger rear quarter panel between the marker light and the wheel well has hundreds of tiny bubbles coming up under the paint. This coupled with all the other short cuts and major screw-ups by the body shop that I had tried my hardest to just "suck up". My heart has sunk. I have rust now, where I have never had rust in the whole time I owned my truck, (13 years)

[Lee H]

I'll be optimistic, maybe it's not rust. Could be a reaction of the top coat to undercoat or material used in the repair process. Only one way to find out.

[JointTech]

since you are a girl you can go ahead and cry. but not for long. theres no crying in trucks!!!

sucks but I guess old stuff rusts.

I always wondered about these high dollar restos. You can put all the paint and primer you want on a body panel but you cant get inside the panels.

Ive seen these long tube things they use to try to spray the inside of doors and other areas you cant really see but how good could that work?

I guess the only way to stop it completely is a complete frame off with new panels.

[too much stuff]

Originally Posted by Lee H

I'll be optimistic, maybe it's not rust. Could be a reaction of the top coat to undercoat or material used in the repair process. Only one way to find out.

If there are hundreds of bubbles like you say, i would tend to believe this. ^^ In which case they should fix it, but after 3 years... Tough call. I feel for ya.

[19673ontree]

this is why I do my own paint and bodywork , stripped and painted my 67 Camaro in 02 took two GM left front fenders cut them in half and put them on my car in 02 painted it and not a bubble since so far , stripped my 67 c10 and painted it in 07 did have a couple bubbles in the paint this year around my back window but that's it , I don't trust body shops at all , on a good note if it looks like you describe its probly not rust ,,,

[Ol Blue K20]

Originally Posted by too much stuff

If there are hundreds of bubbles like you say, i would tend to believe this. ^^ In which case they should fix it, but after 3 years... Tough call. I feel for ya.

I agree probably not rust but the paints popping

[calvin78612]

Maybe solvent pop ?

[GMCjunkie]

Thanks yall, I had my cry....yeah, I did.... now, if its not rust, what's the worst thing that will happen with these bubbles? It just makes me sick. I wish I could do stuff like that myself.

junk

[Lee H]

I'd take it to the painter and have him evaluate it. Get an estimate for a reshoot and blend. Get a second opinion and estimate. If it is some chemical reaction I would not be in a hurry to get it fixed. Let what ever it is run it's course. The body shop of your choice will be able to guide you to your best course of action.
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[Evaded]

Your a girl its ok to cry... Hell I cry sometimes for stupid sh*t. Keep your head up, hope for the best. Everything can get fixed...

Eric (Evaded)

[treveiger]

You should see our truck. It has huge bubbles under the paint on the roof. I'm told its rust but idk for sure. Ill drive it till it has to be fixed and do it then.
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[special-K]

Heck Jodie,when I saw the title with your name it made "me" cry . I hope it's just a reaction under the finish. You should take a picture and show it. I'm not saying it's rust and I sure hope it's not. But,this is why I don't consider a vehicle that has rust repaired as rust free. It's rust-repaired. You never know when it could come back,especially at the seam where new metal meets old where that seam could never be sealed. Rust free means it has never had any rust. When yours went into the shop it was still rust free,though.

One thing I've found,you take a truck from the dry West that is rust free back East to where there's moisture in the air and it doesn't take long to see rust. There's rust even in the Southwest,but it's very inactive,slow growing,non-aggressive. There is light rust on the bare metal behind all panels after 40 years. You bring that back East and next thing you know holes start showing in the rockers,even if you never drive in winter.

[CC69Rat]

^^ .. yeah, post up a picture and we'll see what's up. Doesn't sound like rust to me either. It could be the truck wasn't sealed with Epoxy (or similar) under the primer which allowed moisture to penetrate and the paint is literally rusting from the inside out. Was it stripped to bare metal when you had it re-painted?

[dubie]

a few pictures of these "bubbles" would help us to give a better diagnosis of what you're dealing with here junk. If there are this many bubble, I doubt that it's rust at all. Rust will usually occur as 1 or 2 bigger bulges in your paint. This sounds a lot like solvent pop to me but 3 years after the fact also seems unlikely. Unless the clear was sprayed to soon after the base color was laid down and the truck, a couple years later, sat in direct sunlight for hours on end. That could cause some solvent pop and de-lamination of the clear coat.

[GMCjunkie]

Thanks for your replies yall. K, I had horrible rust before I moved from Cali, I just waited til it was near falling apart before I could afford to paint it. Yes it was taken down to bare metal, and all my rusty pieces were cut out and replaced. It has never sat in the direct sunlight for any period of time, and the bubbles "look" like they are under the color not just the clear coat. I will never take my truck back to the people who painted it. I tried to take some pics, but cant get the area to show anything but reflection. Regardless of what it actually is, at some point I will have to have it repainted.

[Hubscrub]

I hate this for you after all you been though. Just remember paint won't get ya home Just drive the wheels off it and enjoy it since that stupid starter prob. is fixed.

[GMCjunkie]

lol, thanks Hubs, I know that, and it has been running pretty good, its just so gosh darn frustrating.

[Tinkermc]

Sorry to hear of your troubles,

[special-K]

Everyone hates to redo anything,especially paint & body work. I bet it still looks great when you stand back. So,it's not so great for shows,but mostly you spent hard earned cash and expected it to last way longer than this. It would sure gnaw at me. I never see Suburbans that have never rusted in the bottom/lower side. I see them in CA just like anywhere else with rust. The local funeral home has the '68 Panel they bought new as the first vehicle. It's always been stored inside and kept sparkling clean. But,it has bubbles in the rear lower quarter. I'm sure it was run in the winter back before it's retirement...people die year 'round. It looks great and I'd love to buy it. If I fixed the rust I'd do everything imaginable to prevent it's come-back. Other than avoiding rain like the plague and storing inside,I think I'd cut the inner wall to treat and seal the backside of the body,then repair the inner wall...or fab up an access panel. I also believe in putting drain holes where the General didn't and bigger ones where he did.