Bad Paint

[Crashwesson]

I have had my '94, 6.5td for 2 years now and I had to replace the windshield. Well the people I had do this came to the house on a Saturday and as I watched him install the new windshield I saw him set the corner of the glass on the truck hood so he could adjust his hold. At the time I didn't think much of this but, when I next looked at the hood the paint had flaked off to the primer.

Now I had seen other GM's with missing paint but till that time I hadn't experenced any loss of paint. So the thing I'm concerned about is if this flaking will turn into a corrosion issue?
Because a new paint job is very spendy, I cant do it right now.

I realize that GM has had paint problems. So is there also a story behind it.

Also, I've just joined in Nov and have been reading quite a lot on this web page and it is great!

[Don Boland]

Interesting? My 94 just this year started flaking off in different areas, and it's going fast! Back of the cab roof (wierd spot?), hood, top of front fenders, etc. So far, no rust issues but it started about 6 months ago. No obvious reason I can determine either?

DB

94' CC Dually 4x4, 6.5td, Kennedy 3.5" exh, FSD cooler mounted on firewall outside of hydroboost - plug down! 195,000 miles. Going for a chip and boost mods (and gauges) next along with fan clutch!

86' Suburban 4x4, 6.2, bad head-gaskets (they're next!), run's great but loses coolant! Wife hates it - I love it! 310,000miles

[ktmracer]

i`ve been in the automotive body repair biz for almost 32 years and am currently a tech rep for a major paint co. if the paint that is peeling is factory it will, over time ,continue to peel. and over time, when the atmosphere finally works it`s way through the primer,(and it will) corrosion will become a problem.early 80`s through mid 90`s gm trucks did have a problem w/ delamination(separation of one or more coats of topcoat from the undercoat.) if you aren`t ready for a complete repaint yet and find the paint is continually peeling, you may want to consider having JUST the roof and hood repainted for the time being. you will be money ahead in the long run.

[Cowracer]

I know that GM had major problems with silver paint.

They apperantly re-did the formula after some environmental group proved that if you sprayed a rat with that paint, the rat would stay silver for a long time.

I believe that there is a recall on silver cars truck and vans.

Tim

[ktmracer]

there WAS a recall, several years ago gm stepped up and took vehicles that wewre WAY out of warranty and did a repaint under warranty. the deal was ,this was made public knowledge and the customer had to file the standard complaint within a certain time (gm gave plenty of extra time.) after that date, the customer was sol. the problem was largely due to the suns rays piercing through what looked to be a fine topcoat, down to the primer.in actuality,there was not enough pigment in the affected paint to keep mr. sun out.occasionally, i will run into a late model (1998 and up) peeler. but for the most part, oem paint jobs look better and last longer than they ever have.

[catmandoo]

the medium to lite blue colors are good for that too. i repainted an old 84 pickup that was 2 tone blue stripped it to bare metal and repainted using base clear coat and about 6 years later the lite blue started peeling off or should i say the clear on the lite blue the dark blue right next to it was fine.since then i won't use that color.

[Kidd]

I have a 98 white truck that is peeling badly. I bought a can of touch up spray paint and overpaint the bald spots, so far its working.
I notice a lot of white trucks around here doing the same thing. Doubt they will rust, since GM is using galvanized steel now, probably the reason the paint is flaking, difficult to properly prime galvanized steel. :(

K.D.

[Crashwesson]

Thanks for the data, too bad about the rat.

My k3500 is white also too bad to cuse it had a nice swirl of paint added to the sides and the hood has the "6.5 Turobo Diesel" painted in that groove in an in a rust color kinda nice touch.

When I talked to the local autobody painter around here he wanted 3500 to take the body apart strip it down to the metal and reprime and repaint. I know that is a lot of $ but that is the right way to do it.

[ktmracer]

catmandoo, if the clear peeled off the color, but the color stayed on, then that is a different type of delam than we have been referring too. and yes,white is sometimes notorious for peeling. white paint has very little pigment (picture the suns rays continually beating through to the primer) and is a very low hiding color,thus what looks covered sometimes ought to have another coat of color. galvanized will rust given enough exposure and time. it is just a coating on the metal and not through and through like, for instance,stainless steel.the oem primer on these trucks is usually gray or green in color and is not a catalyzed product. in simpler terms,it is an etch not a filler and when exposed to the elements,will let water through tiny microscopic holes. if an individual didn`t want to repaint, they would still be better off to cover primer areas w/ some type of top coat, even if it is krylon.

[catmandoo]

the only color (primer) i've ever seen under gm paint is the black sealer unless it's been repainted.

[m-keith]

My 95 'burb (white) is peeling very badly on the hood & roof. I bought it that way (price adjusted accordingly) thinking that I could just have the hood & roof repainted. After a recent cold (for Houston) snap, I noticed that a 3" diameter section of paint had flaked off of the passenger's side door, just below the window. So, it looks like the whole truck will have to be painted.

I've never heard the explanation about the sun penetrating the pigment. That's a bit of a relief. I was starting to get concerned that the problem was with the primer rather than the paint, & therefore, I'd have to have the entire vehicle stripped to bare metal.

By the way, some surface rust is starting to form on some parts of my roof. I'm gonna have to hit it with some POR 15 in order to keep it from rusting through until I can afford a paint job.

[ktmracer]

catmandoo, if the primer you are seeing is black, that is most likely a panel replacement that has been painted. the black primer,or E-COAT, is what you will see on new in the box sheetmetal. alot of would be painters don`t seal these replacement parts at all let alone correctly. what you then have is X amount of dollars of paint that is destined to fail. E-COAT is only meant for corrosion protection until the part gets put in service.E-COAT has **** poor road and chemical resistance when it is painted directly over,and very poor adhesion to paint itself. example; take a new hood, sand and paint w/ out the proper sealer/treatment, and install on the vehicle. not If, but WHEN that hood acquires a stone chip , observe the area. the paint flaking will not stop but just continue on as the environment takes it`s toll, until the panel is repaired properly. and unfortunately,sometimes a complete strip is the only real cure for a peeling vehicle.rule of thumb; if the paint will featheredge smoothly,it probably can be repainted over w/ great success. if the paint won`t featheredge smooth, and/or you can take a razor blade scraper and EASILY peel the paint w/out having to dig for it, it will have to be stripped to the metal. of course some guys inevitably try to "cheat" and paint over areas that have already secretly started delamming. the end result is, the old paint IS going to come off anyway,now it`s going to have x amount of $$ of new paint coming w/ it.

[EscaladeDiesel]

Yep, GM used to use a powder-based paint in the late 80's to the mid 90's. Any of the colors would fail. There was/is a policy to repaint those vehicles. I had a white 92 Truck that GM painted. The painted the entire upper portion of the truck from the upper bodyline up.