bubbled paint on STi replica rear spoiler

Hi all,

First, a little bit of background. I ordered the STi replica spoiler from RavSpec back in November '06. I ordered the part painted, and when it came I could tell that the paint shop did a terrible job. The color itself was dull, and the paint was pitted in numerous places. I emailed RavSpec about the issue, and they refunded the paint fee without issue. I was satisfied with that.

Well, the spoiler sat in my garage for about a year and a half until I finally got around to having it refinished and installed this summer. The shop that I took it to has done other body work for me, and I've always been impressed with the quality of their service.

The day after I got the car back, I noticed some pretty bad bubbling along the edge near where the back of the spoiler meets the trunk. I contacted the shop, and they took it back to repair. However, the paint bubbled a second time in the same places -- all along the back edge.

The service rep told me that after sanding down the old paint, and laying out the new primer, paint and clear, the paint looked fine. It wasn't until after they baked it that it bubbled. He said that one possible reason the paint keeps bubbling in the same spot is that the original shop might have over-sanded around the edges. They could have broken through the gelcoat to the fiberglass itself, which would make it difficult for the paint to adhere in those spots, hence the consistent bubbling.

His explanation makes sense to me, but I'm no expert. Does this make sense to you?

The shop is open to me bringing the part back for a third time, but I'm on the fence about what to do. The bubbling now is definitely not as bad as it was after the original repaint. But the finish is also a little "wavy". Should I take it back, and have them try again, this time with just air drying, and hope it doesn't come out worse? Or should I leave well enough alone? A bigger question... is it possible that the original shop (or even the second shop) did permanent damage to the part by oversanding?

There are some photos attached, but the bubbles don't really show up too well so I circled them in red.

THANK YOU planigan! After 2 painted tries, I asked for my paint money back and for them to send an unfinished piece.

They did. But, it was not without shape issues and taillight mounting issues. Long story short, I re-shaped (to make symmetrical), filled with body filler and had to re-construct one of the 2 hardware mounts for the taillight with body shop epoxy.

To make sure my first application of filler cured properly, I set it out in the sun during a hot July day (95+ outside in the sun). 10-11 blisters were produced. Flipped it over for the next day. 4-5 on the underside. I drilled them to break the surface tension. I did several sessions of filling and sanding, re-fill, shape, sand....doing this during free time (I do have a job to pay for this hobby) and it took quite some time.

I got that thing to a near symmetrical shape and it was smoooooooth. Got it professionally painted and I installed it.

Then came winter several months later.

Now, at the beginning of the summer, I caught a glance of the wing from the side of the car and it is waving like no one's business.

My dad was in the autobody business for over 30 years (and owned his own classic and antique car restoration shop) and dealt with fiberglass extensively with Corvettes. He attributed the blistering to a poor manufacturing process due to not a solid application of fiberglass in the mold.

He attributes the wavyness to the inferiority of the fiberglass product.

Seriously, I think we paid more than what we got. Sure, the STI version is $500+....but it comes from Japan and is painted to match from the factory...or at least to factory specs. AND I'M SURE THE TAILLIGHT LENS WON'T FALL OFF THAT ONE EITHER!!!

In late June, the lens of the taillight fell off, luckily while I was parked at work and wasn't moving on the road or else I'd have lost it. I attributed it to the VERY hot weather, cheap assembly of the light and expansion of hot air in the light cavity.

I drilled two breather holes at the bottom of the lens, superglued garden screen to keep bugs out and secured it back in place with RTV gasket maker.

In seeing a 'naked' spoiler, I saw a lot of "clear" spots in the spoiler, which to me says I'm looking at the epoxy and that there is very little 'material' or meat present in that portion of the spoiler.

From 3+ feet away, it looks great....any closer and you'll see wavy. And stick around long enough and I'll tell you the PITA it was to get it to an acceptable state.

EDIT: planigan's image 2915 shows the "wave" I speak of.

Seriously, I think we paid more than what we got. Sure, the STI version is $500+....but it comes from Japan and is painted to match from the factory...or at least to factory specs. AND I'M SURE THE TAILLIGHT LENS WON'T FALL OFF THAT ONE EITHER!!!

 

In late June, the lens of the taillight fell off, luckily while I was parked at work and wasn't moving on the road or else I'd have lost it. I attributed it to the VERY hot weather, cheap assembly of the light and expansion of hot air in the light cavity.

Yours fell off too??? That's one thing I didn't mention in my original post. About three days after I had it installed, I walked back out to my car and found the lens sitting on the ground! Same circumstances -- hot (90+) July day. I reattached it with some silicone.

I'm definitely starting to think that the build quality of these early pieces wasn't all that great. There is a second group buy going on now. I wonder if they got any better...

I wouldn't give them anymore money. They ran into paint issues and I wonder how much they 'ate' in terms of reimbursing people.

I don't think they've upgraded their fiberglass quality or the process.