1996 Impala SS peeling/bubbling paint (1 Viewer)

[Andy Hardin]

I'm on my way to a body shop as soon as I get a chance, I'm just wondering if anyone has any experiences like this.

I've got a 1996 Impala SS that I bought used in June. Carfax said no history on it, but I'm getting a problem with the paint I haven't seen before. On the rear of the front passenger fender panel, the paint has come loose from the metal and is starting to bubble and then crack. This extends for about 8 inches to the very back of the panel. this is happening right at the crease about 3 inches from the top of the panel Being as it is a cosmetic loss, I have sealed it with clear adhesive to prevent more bubbling, but it is continuing to forward of that spot.

It is starting on the driver side as well in the same spot. Any idea what is going on here? Is there a way to stop it now, prevent any rusting, and then repair it cosmetically at a later date? What would cause this? A shoddy repaint (strange since the bare metal is showing), accident damage, bad mix in the paint from the factory?

Any input/experiences is appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Wayne Ernst]

Are paint issues of this nature covered under the rust warranty which is usually 100,000 miles? Maybe, there is a service bulletin out on bad paint for this model and year. You might want to check with your GM service center and see if such a bulletin exists. You might get some new paint courtesy of GM. Best of luck.

 

[Brian Mansure]

Andy,

Check here http://www.alldata.com/TSB/10/961040GJ.html

There may be a SB or recall as Wayne mentioned.

Good luck.

Brian

 

[DonnyD]

This is typical of a contaminant on the surface of the metal prior to painting process, whether it is factory or during an aftermarket body shop repair. Having working in the automotive assembly plants and responsible for surface prep chemical processes prior to painting, we often had chain drips etc that would spoil the painting if not caught and treated properly. A body panel such as you are talking about could be most anything.... from contaminants under the paint to some that has attacked the paint from the top.

Remedying this will best be left to a qualified body shop.

 

[Mike Wladyka]

DonnyD has pretty much hit it on the head...most likely it was because of unclean metal prior to painting causing poor adhesion to the surface, which allows for water to get underneath and cause the paint to blister. There is really no way to stop for you to stop it because you don't know how much of the metal surface was dirty. The best thing to do is not to seal the area because that will just trapped the moisture in and cause the blisters to move laterally instead of outward. You could try chipping or sanding off the paint in that area and re-painting it. That would fix the problem short-term, but if other parts of the metal were dirty then this will happen there also...now for the good news, most of the time with the pretreatment of metal before painting there would only be small dirty areas, if any...so maybe you will get lucky and only have a small problem. I hope this is the case for you!

Mike

 

[Keith Mickunas]

Andy, having looked for information on the Impala SS myself, I know there are a few websites that have forums and info on the '94 to '96 Impalas. Have you checked any of those?

 

[Cary_H]

The classic sign to indicate rust....period.

 

[Vincent_S]

I have a Camaro SS and this is the worst paint I have ever seen on a newer car. It must be a chevy thing:frowning:

 

[Andy Hardin]

I have posted this on the various Impala SS forums as well, with about the same answers. I just wanted to get the response here as well. HTF has a really wide range of people that offer good advice on many non-HT areas as well, just want ed to see what you guys thought as well.

I talked to Chevy, and they said they had recalls and recourse for older (late 80's early 90's) vehicles, but nothing for this one. Plus, since I am 2nd owner, I'm pretty much SOL.

What I am going to try to do at least for the winter is stop the spreading (I've already done this with trim adhesive, sealing the cracked bubbles down) and touch up paint over the bare metal. BTW, their is *no* sign of rust anywhere, this is a paint issue more than anything else.

I'm beginning to think the car was in an accident before I bought it. The guy that had it before me was a mechanic, so if something happened that an accident report was not filed on, he could have done some of the work himself or called in a favor with a buddy to get it fixed, then just sold it. The work might have been subpar or rushed.

The car is not in cherry-mint condition, and I got it with the idea of fixing up some of the cosmetics, so a paint job was in the future anyway, this may just bump it up to the front of the line.

Question, what does a good prep and paint job run? I don't need show quality, but don't want a $200 MAACO job either. What if I just had the two from fenders done? What does the cost look like there.

Thanks for the info guys (and any girls that want to chime in). I appreciate it.

 

[Keith Mickunas]

Andy, what color do you have? I'd love to get hold of a '96 Impala myself. Those are sweet cars. And they're holding their value rather well.

Just painting the fenders may not work well. You've got an 8 year old car, so the paint has probably faded some, so it could be hard to match the color. While the black used on the Impalas may have been a fairly standard color, thus there might be people who are familiar with it, the other two colors I think were specific to the Impala. That may make it hard for someone to try and match the paint because of the age. I don't know, I'm not an auto paint expert, I just think the rarity of those colors could cause issues.

In the meantime, you may want to sand away the bubbling paint and around that area a bit, then put down some primer then matching paint. On my first car, coincidentally an Impala, but a '77, after it was 13 years old or so the paint started peeling on one corner of the hood. It was rather odd as there was no reason for it. It bubbled up then flaked off. Initially I cleaned the flaking area good, then masked it off and painted it, but the masking tape took off more paint and the area kept spreading. Eventually I ended up with an 8" x 8" area that I had to paint over. That stopped the peeling. It didn't look good, but it never had any rust form.

 

[Cary_H]

Taking it down to bare metal, priming and painting will have you right back where you are now inside of a year.
If you plan on keeping this car over the long term, have it done right. If not, clean it up and flog it pronto.