What went wrong with my paint job?
 

Hi, I recently just painted a fibre glass wing with spray cans, I did the usual, sand, few coats of primer filler, sand, base, 2K clear. Let it cure for 5 days in hot weather then I wet sanded and buffed.

Final result looked great, paint was smooth and clear had some orange peel but it was comparable to the OEM orange peel. (I am VERY picky, if I had noticed something was off I would have wanted to fix it).

Today marks day 5 since I installed it, was looking at it when I got home and noticed a strange texture across the entire wing. It almost looks like mosaic tiles, and as you can see in the photo, it looked like a filter but that’s how it looks in person (most noticeable in the area where you can see the reflection of a hedge). In fact the camera hides it slightly, it’s even more noticeable in person and can be seen even in over cast weather.

Now:
- The paint still feels smooth when I run my finger across it
- The wing doesn’t creak or make any sounds with I push it or move it
- I can’t push the paint in as I could if it had lifted

Hard to see in the photo the extent of what I’m talking about but it’s like there are cross crossing lines throughout the whole paint job, This is not just a case of orange peel

I suppose it must be related to the fibre glass or resin beneath the paint but what could even cause this?

https://i.ibb.co/G9qzYwS/B2-C97-BE2-...2-AE603-CD.jpg

This is the condition of the paint prior to install - ironically there is textured class in the paint reflection but you should at least be able to see the difference in clarity that has taken place in only 5 days
https://i.postimg.cc/Kjr0M0Hk/1-E8-C...F798-CCB69.png

Different lighting conditions. It probably was like that all along?

Maybe the hot weather expanded the part and made the base coat crack underneath? I also heard you don't wanna buff and polish until the paint fully gasses out, usually about a month. Also how long did you wait between base and clear?

Did you degrease the panel after sanding prior to base coat?

Typically dirty surface would cause fisheye, that's not something I've seen before. Could be failed basecoat. I know flash times are usually 10-15 minutes between coats, and everything should be done within the hour.

It’s very hot at the moment so potentially it’s something related to that. Surface still feels smooth though.
I clear coated 40mins after final base coat.

I did a paint repair on my rear bumper using the same process and exact same paint brands and have had no issues with it 2 months later

Yes I degreased and tack ragged prior to painting, I base coated every 10 minutes (weather was mildly hot, painted inside), clear was 40 mins after final base coat.

There were no issues with the finish after I was done with my final wetsand and buff, they only appeared after a few days of use after install. It had been about 6 days since I had finished painting the part before I installed it on the car

I really don’t think it was like that, it’s pretty apparent to me out in the sun and there are defects in the paint I know for a fact weren’t there when I installed it. My friend helped me put the wing on and is VERY critical (as all friends are), he himself told me if he saw something funny going on with the paint job he would’ve pointed it out to me but he thought the finish was great. We did the install outside on a sunny day where any defects would’ve been most noticeable.

I also was looking at the parts from many angles in different lighting when I was polishing out my wetsanding marks so I definitely would’ve seen if something didn’t look right

Only thing that I can think of is the flex from the wing from being driven caused the fibre glass to damage the paint in some way, I’ve just never heard it happen before. It may be cracked in the gel coat or something but I’d have thought I’d be able to feel it on the paint if it was

Shrink back ?

https://www.autogeekonline.net/forum...esh-paint.html

Closest thing I’ve seen to my issue, might give their solution a go thanks

Let us know how it turns out!!