Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Maintenance & Servicing Paint repair

Hi can anyone advise is it possible to undertake a small paint repair to cure bubbles on rear wing about size 20mm by 3mm about 6mm up from lower edge on the crease line or is this best left to the professionals.

Les

Depends on the colour and how good you are Les. Metallic is impossible to patch paint.
If you want a decent job you'll need a pro. Some mobile painters are said to be OK, but outside there's always a chance of a bug landing on the wet paint. They seem drawn to it.

I did a similar sized repair below the door on my 4/4. It took me a while over a number of days: rubbing down the area, priming, rubbing down, painting then blending and polishing in.
Pleased with the result, time consuming, but for me enjoyable.

However, I used a mobile paint repair company for a ding on a normal car - excellent work, quick and very reasonably priced

If you are ok with diy it is possible. As DaveW says leave metallics to the pros.
I have done small jobs on my cars using either aerosol cans or airbrush, even wet flatting with very fine wet and dry. Did a small ding on my 4/4 like that. Airbrushed paint and pleased with the result.Luckily my dad was a coachbuilder and I used to work school hols with him.
People like Chipsaway etc use airbrushes to paint after the obligatory high level of prep, rubbing down etc. They now use water based paints and infrared heaters to speed up drying. They can also do bigger areas by using larger sprayguns.
Same for dent removal by pros. The good ones are impressive!
From your escription of the problem you will need to be meticulous in prepping to properly get rid of the bubbles and the cause of them. I am guessing that wet and dry rubbing back to bare metal is needed. Look at you tube videos to see the process. Experiment on something like a scrap panel, a metal toolbox, tin can.....anything with curves! ( behave yourselves) if you are then happy give it a try. At worst you can get a pro to re-do it?
Having been to a Chipsaway demo day when I was contemplating taking a franchise the smart repair route is good. Cheaper than a bodyshop and done in a couple of hours. It is worth checking examples or photos of work done too, most will take some to show prospective clients.

Simple answer is it depends!

First of all you need to treat whats causing the bubble as if you don't and you just paint over it, it will just blister up again. If it is a steel winged car, I'd be thinking there is a bit of corrosion going under the paint!

Another factor is what the car was painted in and how long ago? Its rare these days but not unheard of to get a paint reaction due to two dissimilar paints!

Also bear in mind heat and humidity, I'd advise against an outdoor paint job at present as it will probably bloom up due to cold or if its humid, you run the risk of micro blistering due to damp being trapped between coats of paint. The funny thing about microblistering is it can start to show years after the paint was put on. If you can paint in a well heated garage all the better.

I've nothing against aerosols for a basic job. Quick and easy and mess free - compared with stripping and cleaning a spraygun after use (and before two pack paint goes hard in it!) Keep the nozzle parallel with the surface to be sprayed and all will be well, start "arcing" the nozzle and you end up with too much paint at the ends of the job and not enough in the middle and too much paint equals runs!!

Surface prep is essential - panel wipe is a must to remove wax and silicone as are tack cloths between every bout of sanding!!

A really good book is Lindsay Porters "Car Body Work Repair Manual" - think its out of print but readily available though!

Sorry its an essay but hope it helps!!!

Arwyn