body and interior Gasoline Destroyed New Paint Below Gas Cap. Who's At Fault?

[Bozeman02]

Hey owners and experts: 

 

I sent my '71 Colorado Orange 2002 to California for restoration a few years ago, which included some rust and dent repair, stripping, priming, and repainting the car, keeping the original color. The body work and paint work was finished around June 2010, and the complete restoration finished July 2011. 

 

A couple months ago, I filled up my gas tank (ceasing when the nozzle auto-stopped) on a hot day (90+ F), drove it the mile to home, and parked it in the garage and went inside, around 5pm. Later that night, my wife and I returned from a walk to dinner, and we came in through the garage. We noticed a strong gasoline odor, and we found, to our horror, that there was gasoline on the floor, and the paint beneath the gas cap was bubbled, like this: 

 

 

 

I also attached an image of the left fender flare, which I noticed a few months ago began to exhibit some concerning paint bubbles... rust?

 

 

The restoration was done at a very reputable 2002 only shop, and the body work and paint were outsourced by them to a very reputable Californian body shop. 

 

The body shop says that it's certainly the gasoline and that no paint will withstand exposure to gasoline like that. Possible, I guess, but I've never seen this happen to any of my other cars. However, to be fair, I've never had one leak gasoline like this I suppose, and the exposure could have been for several straight hours.

 

The local (Denver) reputable body shop I've taken it to says that no good paint properly applied should do that. They suggested I find out who manufactured the paint and query whether there was a "bad batch" or that there was an error in the application. Is this really something that could happen? 

 

The California body shop has been understanding, and I'm calling them again to discuss options. 

 

Any insight from anyone here on this forum would be greatly appreciated. I can't wait to get this resolved and return to driving my daily driver!

[tim385]

No thats not right, the paint should be able to take more than that otherwise we would see this a lot more.When was the last time you saw a car with the paint peeling around the gas cap like that.......Errr Never.Paint application fault Id say!

[ma.jomaa]

I've seen gasoline leaving a smudge on my toyota when I had a spill and didn't clean it but it sure didn't strip the paint the way it did to yours, did you put any gas additives in the tank?

Edited July 23, 2013 by ma.jomaa

[Bozeman02]

I've seen gasoline leaving a smudge on my toyota when I had a spill and didn't clean it but it sure didn't strip the paint the way it did to yours, did you put any gas adiditives in the tank?

No, never any additives. Good question though.

[Simeon]

The paint that BMW used in the 60's and 70's didn't do that. Why would modern plastic doohicky paint do that?

California you say? Water based paint?

[ma.jomaa]

I really don't see how gas could cause this (unless the paint or the application is faulty), this looks more of brake fluid damage or paint stripper which is not the case here. Which shop did your resto?

Edited July 23, 2013 by ma.jomaa

[Chamoix]

My 1973 car wears its original paint and for the last 12 years that I have owned it it belches up a little gas onto the fender anytime I put more than about 3/4 tank in and leaves a stain (see picture) that wipes right off leaving no damage behind. I just try to make sure to wax that area regularly. Looks to me like bad paint or application. I'd be worried about the rest of the car eventually having problems.

[MrForce]

I wonder if it is some California only, environmentally safe paint with half of the good stuff for adhesion and durability. Maybe water based?

Is the primer and paint from the same vendor? Is it single stage or basecoat, clearcoat?

[OriginalOwner]

 wow, the paint should be able to take a lot more abuse than that.

 

 Every time I add gas, I replace the cap and then use that windshield washer/scraper thingie to splash on lots of water to wash off the gas that leaks out during filling.  

 

Cheers,

 

Carl

[TobyB]

If it was just applied... maybe.

 

If it's a few months old, eff, no.  It might dull or oxidize a bit, but that sort of action's nothing I've ever seen.

 

See if you can get the shop to work with you, because even if you're out a bit of money, it'll get fixed.

 

The bubbles?  That's them.  Rust or trapped solvent...

 

t

[Slavs]

The same thing had happened to me. The car had an $8,000 paint job. It had been stripped to the metal. primed and painted. All the prep work and application was great, but the the shop used PPG two stage paint. It was actually a shop specializing in muscle car restorations. So that probably explains the PPG paint since a lot of the Hot Rodders like to use that cheap paint. Most PPG paints are not exactly the highest lines of paint. I repainted the car with RM's HD-UNO single stage and never had that problem again. I also have another car painted with Dupont's Chroma Line single stage which has survived a lot of gas leaks.

 

I personally think that the paint used with your resto is not as resilient to gasoline as some other brands. You can just repaint that quarterpanel, and it should look good if they match the paint well. You may want to cintact the bodyshop and ask about the paint used including the mixing formula, etc.

 

Slavs

[TobyB]

Funny- I've used PPG Concept on 4 cars- the first 3 in single stage, the last in base/clear configuration,

 

and that's not happened to any of them.  And I REALLY  don't take care of my paint at all.  Dump gas all over it, etc...

 

The base/clear, in particular's held up pretty darned well.

 

I agree, it's not the best stuff you can buy, but it's a far cry from crappy- at least, the Concept line is.

 

Now DelStar, that stuff works great... for the race car... wouldn't paint anything I wanted to leave outside in it...

but even THAT survives getting avgas and redline and crap dumped on it.

 

t

Edited July 24, 2013 by TobyB

[turbophil]

Take it to a different body shop that is not affiliated and ask their opinion. That is really bad damage, you would think paint that is properly prepped and applied should not do that.

[p1k]

Looks to me like a paint/primer adhesion issue. The bubbling on the front fender didnt get fuel spillage, and it seems to be lifting off. What material are fender flares made of? Can it rust? (I'm not familiar with fender flares). Which would lead me to believe it wouldn't take much to make the rest of the paint job lift, and in this instance, it was fuel that did it. At least that is my theory, adhesion issues.

[kbmb02]

So that probably explains the PPG paint since a lot of the Hot Rodders like to use that cheap paint. Most PPG paints are not exactly the highest lines of paint.

 

I've had excellent results with PPG paint (CLV single stage, back when we could spray it here in CA). I clean the race car with solvent, fuel, brake cleaner, etc and never an issue. -KB