Crappy paint cracks, or stress cracks?

[FormulaMarauder]

I'm starting to get these little three-leg cracks, about a circle 1/4" in various spots, mostly the fenders and quarter at the curves. Is this the dreaded 2003 garbage paint, or am I getting stress cracks? Keep in mind i'm running a 12.02 quarter mile and hit the track about once a month. Not sure if the added power and torque is doing bad things.
Thanks in advance.

[sailsmen]

It has nothing to do with your power. Your car is a full frame, the body panels are not stressed.

It has to do with the primer and black contracting/expanding at different temps. Black cars have a high contracting/expanding rate.

[Rockettman]

Running 12s...your paint is trying to hold on ! :P

[FormulaMarauder]

Great response time, and good info. That's what I thought about the car being full framed, i just needed assurance. Thanks......

[BODYMAN]

No F.M. its just Fords crapy paint. I managed a Ford dealer bodyshop for 13yrs I have seen it to many times! It can be caused by sevral diff things during paint process. Example the problem on Ford trucks almost every time was (to many mils of product) ran thru paint when a shell 2-4 times or say till it looked good. Beleive me almost every warranty claim we did on them trucks you would find when sanded down and feathered out was 3-4 paint jobs when built. If it aint right were gonna paint it till it is right. As for our MM's Iam not sure which problem of several is to blame for our bad paint jobs? BigDog had a diff story and he said Steve Babcock admitted to him as to the exact cause on our cars. I'am almost conviced it is a similar problem as the trucks had as it looks very similar with the crowsfeeting and tiny solvent bubbles. The smal 3-legged cracks are always refered to in the Body business as Crowsfooting as it resembles a Crows foot litteraly

[ckadiddle]

Running 12s...your paint is trying to hold on ! :P

Yes, going that fast causes interdimensional transwarp stress cracks! LOL

[Bigdogjim]

Is this the dreaded 2003 garbage paint, or am I getting stress cracks?

The bad paint you refer to was an Aug.'02 issue only the first 2 weeks in Aug. my car was an 8/13/02 build.

I think the only way out is to re-paint the entire car the "right"way:)

[tbone]

The bad paint you refer to was an Aug.'02 issue only the first 2 weeks in Aug. my car was an 8/13/02 build.

I think the only way out is to re-paint the entire car the "right"way:)

Not true. My car has it (mostly fixed) and it was built on 6/27/02. Bradley G has it and his car is an 04.

[Bluerauder]

Yes, going that fast causes interdimensional transwarp stress cracks! LOL

OK, well that explains the crappy paint on my roof. Wait til I tell Sherm. He'll be scared. ;) H3LL those roof blisters look like I have been up to "Ludicrous Speed" .... maybe getting close to "Plaid."

[FormulaMarauder]

OK, so I'm gonna repaint it. Should I go stock black, or does anyone know of a super rich, super dark black?

[Blackened300a]

OK, so I'm gonna repaint it. Should I go stock black, or does anyone know of a super rich, super dark black?

Grand National black is said to be the deepest black.

[Krytin]

Metal Flake FTW! (flakes not too big - just bigger than the avg. metalic)

[FormulaMarauder]

Grand National black is said to be the deepest black.

As in 1987 GNX black?

[Bigdogjim]

Not true. My car has it (mostly fixed) and it was built on 6/27/02. Bradley G has it and his car is an 04.

Not to get off toric here but the issues with paint I was refering too were caused by solvent that was not cleaned out of the paint lines, this happened the first two weeks in Aug. and only black cars were affected.

The factory owned up and re-painted the car:)

PS: Thank you Steve B.:up:

[FormulaMarauder]

Not to get off toric here but the issues with paint I was refering too were caused by solvent that was not cleaned out of the paint lines, this happened the first two weeks in Aug. and only black cars were affected.

The factory owned up and re-painted the car:)

PS: Thank you Steve B.:up:
So does Ford owe me a paint job? :confused::D

[Bigdogjim]

So does Ford owe me a paint job? :confused::D

What was your build date?

I did not have and crackes in my paint just little white flecks that would not buff out and stains comming through the paint on the hood.

[FormulaMarauder]

What was your build date?

I did not have and crackes in my paint just little white flecks that would not buff out and stains comming through the paint on the hood.


06/06/03. Sent to NY on 06/09/03

Production sequence number is 7694 of 7839.

[BODYMAN]

Grand National black is said to be the deepest black.

For the most part as far as the black color goes, yes There are different colors of black some being blacker or brown compared to another one , With any aftermarket paint the major factor is how well of clear coat and how well applied for a durability factor and as close to fact paint Job looks. I also have seen my paint go bad within last year. I possibly may take the car apart and stripp and resurface & paint the whole car. All early 03 I have seen have the junk paint considering there werent G-kept and hardly driven.
:beer:

[BODYMAN]

What was your build date?

I did not have and crackes in my paint just little white flecks that would not buff out and stains comming through the paint on the hood.

his car and mine and many others have the similar cuase and effect. Just some of us they didnt show up till later in our MM life. The sopt were there were white flakes and thats was contamination The crows feet are the result of that they were either to light to notice or assummed as dust? Long story short Car with it Know have the long term effect and possible less contamination or similar . The cars built entire summer 02 I have seen are junk paintheavy contam in paint process showed up quickly due to say a heavier contam. I have seen some 04 only a few though that show any signs of paint going bad.



cracks will only get worse and end opening like a blister and exposed the primer=surface rust seen it a billion times

[LANDY]

Paint it triple black.

[Bigdogjim]

06/06/03. Sent to NY on 06/09/03

Production sequence number is 7694 of 7839.

Ford owned up to Aug. of '02 problems as far as I know.

[BODYMAN]

BigDog, its kinda like the early 03 built in mid 02 some had a BAD smoking at start up after say 15,000. I know nothing do to with paint but same story talk to ford technician website they told the tech at my dealer oh were not aware of this problem yeah OK! Heck I e-mailed Steve Babcock in april of 03 as mine was one his response// were not aware of this being a problem youres must be just a bad build? In my case I was fortunate that warranty covered it as my car had a blower on it at 1650 miles!

[TUXrauder]

So, what was the answer to the question????? DOES FORD OWE US A PAINT JOB?????

bud7

[Mills Marauder]

diamont toner D 403 is jet black it reduces 1:1 covers well and has no other colors in it so matching it in the future would be very easy. i painted john neros car, my old car and shoras car with this color. it is as deep and as black as you will ever get. once based then apply 3 coats of high quality clear wet sand and buff and your car will look better than new from ford. just my 2 cents though.

[BODYMAN]

diamont toner D 403 is jet black it reduces 1:1 covers well and has no other colors in it so matching it in the future would be very easy. i painted john neros car, my old car and shoras car with this color. it is as deep and as black as you will ever get. once based then apply 3 coats of high quality clear wet sand and buff and your car will look better than new from ford. just my 2 cents though.

Pretty much on the money. MYself having been painting for 23 years I will prep very well and only shoot the car in a real paint booth so when complete with last coat of clear it will be 100% slicker then O.E. job. any wet sanding and buffing will be very minimal spots just nibbed and buffed for small specs dirt and not for sanding out texture spots (orange peel) or runs in paint, clear coat die back problem. When Ia done with last coat of clear it will be 100% slicker then O.E. job and very sittle of clear coat disturb Iam huge beleiver this is important when painting a veh

[Vortech347]

Yup, your paint is taking a crap. Thanks Ford for the quality paint on the black 03's. Mine was repainted under warranty but they only did the panels that were cracking. I told them they would all do that but didn't believe me. When I sold the car 2 years later the paint had started on the unrepainted panels and even rust formed under one of the doors and starting flaking paint off like crazy.

Ford won't do ****. 3 dealers told me to take a hike and that was when the car had 32k on it and was under the FULL factory warranty. It took a connection at a smaller dealership to get the work done. They flew out some sort of "special claims" guy to look at it. Now with the cars all out of any kind of warranty... plan on a new paint job. Or sell the car while its still in good shape and get another one.. (what I did)

[Cougar_Marauder]

Ford owned up to Aug. of '02 problems as far as I know.


I feel the pain. I have an Aug. 02 and the paint is going bad, white/brownish spots. Mostly on the roof. It drives me nuts! :mad2:

[a_d_a_m]

Mine has been doing this for awhile. The worst areas are the roof and the hood. The roof was actually recalled by Ford - I shudder to think how bad it would be if it hadn't been re-shot!

I am going to try to let it go for another year, then reshoot the roof myself in late '11 or early '12 as a stopgap until I can afford to have the car professionally redone. I figure, if I screw up the roof, it won't show the mistakes as much as say, the hood.

My car is #504.

[BODYMAN]

Mine has been doing this for awhile. The worst areas are the roof and the hood. The roof was actually recalled by Ford - I shudder to think how bad it would be if it hadn't been re-shot!

I am going to try to let it go for another year, then reshoot the roof myself in late '11 or early '12 as a stopgap until I can afford to have the car professionally redone. I figure, if I screw up the roof, it won't show the mistakes as much as say, the hood.

My car is #504.

NOT a Recall maybe a TSB, paint is not a safety issue there fore paint is not considered that. If youre hood did it after repaint thats because the shop didnt sript the entire finish sealer and everything down to bare metal...:beer:

Rust under the door is not due to paint it is because the drain holes are higher then were moisture would sit in door frame and rust is coming from inside out no one can repair that rust & make it gone if they say they can well there you know.. if rusting on under door only REAL fix is new door or clean used door...

[a_d_a_m]

My roof did it after repaint, as it was the only panel that was re-shot.

The car was under warranty, maybe that's why it was free. I've got the receipt (this all happened before I bought it).

[BODYMAN]

My roof did it after repaint, as it was the only panel that was re-shot.

The car was under warranty, maybe that's why it was free. I've got the receipt (this all happened before I bought it).

Yeah, Thats what it was Adam just a regular warranty paint claim for roof. But it sounds like if it is doing it again they didnt sand down to bare metal. ;)

[a_d_a_m]

Yeah, I will likely do that when I go to do my at-home respray.

[tbone]

When I see 20, 30, 40 year old cars with nice, original paint jobs, I get a little angry at Ford. Especially the way they treated most people when the problems surfaced.
However, they have been good with my wife's Explorer.

[MERCMAN]

06/06/03. Sent to NY on 06/09/03

Production sequence number is 7694 of 7839.

my build date is 06/06/02 and # 718.

I got a repaint 5 yrs after purchase paid by Ford. However, they only painted the horizontal surfaces.

[BODYMAN]

When I see 20, 30, 40 year old cars with nice, original paint jobs, I get a little angry at Ford. Especially the way they treated most people when the problems surfaced.
However, they have been good with my wife's Explorer.

Actually this is no way Ford or anyother veh manufacturers fault for the most part! most part I say. The majority of the problems are due to 2 things #1 being EPA standards have caused some of the better type of chemicals develped in last 8-10yrs out of the paint,clear coat,etc #2 with the way paint products are today it would not be cost effective to do a everlasting job on the paint. look at all car manufacters they all have some paint issues its a fact. Ford has some blame however it is called Quality control, somebody in that plant new there was a problem.