Can anybody straighten me out on what the 1985 Corvette body is made of? I had an autobody guy tell me that the reason the paint job he put on my vette keeps producing bubbles is because it is not fiberglass and when sanding it, they breached a certain skin which allowed air to get trapped underneath. Thanks for your help.
Seldom will "air" being trapped in the porosity of the composite material cause bubbles. Any bodyman worth his salt knows that solvent and water needs to be baked out or allowed to thoroughly dry before you paint a composite body part. It's the liquid that expands and lifts the paint, seldom will just air lift the paint. That includes all of the cars that have them, like Buick whose front fenders have been made from the same stuff for years. Also if he used a stripper it may have still been active when he painted it, another no, no.
He screwed the pooch, time to talk to the BBB and your AG. Then get some printed information to prove your point, ( I doubt a news group reply will do it), and take him to small claims court, if their $ limit will cover it.
You catch more flies with honey than vinegar. of course, that is only good advice if you want to catch flies.
Still, you might try talking to him nicely, say you know that the bubbles are caused by 1. liquid that soaked into the bare panels that he didn't bake out and are now leaching out with time, 2. stripper that was not completely cleaned and neutralized, or 3. insufficient body prep. Leave him an out and he might take it.
Ask him how he would like to handle fixing it. Realistically, he should fix it for free, but in the big scheme of things, it will cost you to get that free job, unless your dad or brother is an attorney. So figure that if he offers to fix it and it only cost you a $100 or so, then that may not be a bad deal.
If he refuses, then you can get tough, and tell him will pursue other means and see him in court. If you get to this point, BY NO MEANS have your car in his shop, now or in the future. If it is in and you need to complete the bill to get it out, pay right now and get it out. DO NOT tell him you will see him in court and then leave to get the money to pay the bill. A quick over-rev of the engine while you are gone, some pebbles or small nuts in the intake, etc. and you have a car with major problems. I'm sure that most shops have enough pieces of scrap engines that a few broken piston rings in the intake and there is no way to tell he did it.
Then follow through. If small claims has a limit high enough to cover, you are best off here. You don't need an attorney in many states but the business does. (first victory, he has out of pocket expenses.) The judge tends to pull for the customer unless you have some outrageous claim. Some hard evidence of what causes the paint to bubble (painting fiberglass books from library, bookstore, etc.) and he is done.
You might get a statement from Dad. He has enough experience painting, he can via email even get me to paint a decent coat.
You could also run it pass another unrelated body shop and ask for an estimate and a request as to what caused the bubbles. If they don't know the other shop and don't know what you are doing, it would be pretty strong evidence in your favor against him.
Good luck.
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