Crack in paint... how to fix?

[integraoligist]

I`ve got a crack in my paint, on a fiberglass panel that was painted over a year ago...

like a rock hit it or something and it just spread. It has 5 crack legs comming out of the center.



it`s been this way for about 2 months so I know it`s done spreading.... and I do know it`s the paint and not the fiberglass.



Should i just paint over it and try leveling it out? They dont sell a "paint pen" for my metallic Black paint...



Thanks all!

[Tasty]

I don`t really understand how paint could crack, and then the crack spread further. I would get behind the fiberglass and make sure that it didn`t crack. Sounds to me like that is what is going on, as a rock will usually take out a chip of paint and maybe leave a small dent and that`s it.

[integraoligist]

I don`t really understand how paint could crack, and then the crack spread further. I would get behind the fiberglass and make sure that it didn`t crack. Sounds to me like that is what is going on, as a rock will usually take out a chip of paint and maybe leave a small dent and that`s it.

it`s actually a fiberglass wing, so i cannot get inside it to see if it is the fiberglass, i`ve seen broken fiberglass before and this dosent look like it`s cracked...



it looks more like the paint just cracked. there is no indent or anything showing that a rock hit it... it`s as if it came out of no where.



i had a problem with hitting a rock and the paint cracking on my front bumper about 9 months ago, the bumper is Ureathane, the paint actually made 3 5" long cracks from where the rock hit it.



i took it to my painter and they said it`s not there fault the paint cracked... i hit a rock and thats what did it. i told them IT DOSENT MATTER, IT STILL SHOULD`NT HAVE SPLIT AND CRACKED LIKE THAT.



did get it fixed... but wont be able to fix the Wing, because there a-holes pretty much.



I feel like this: :wall for taking it to them to get everything painted to beghin with.

[paco]

Not much the hobbiest can do to to fix it well. I`d personally go to a paintless dent remover shop and see what they can do. Fibreglass repairs are straightforward and a small repair like what you described would only be a couple of hundred I would imagine.



My fiance backed into a wall a few years back and scratched up the bumper pretty good, for $125, the guys did a good job on the repair.



Paco

[Accumulator]

Could be that the panel in question is under some sort of stress from it`s mounting. Like if it`s under tension that could cause the paint to crack unless it has a flex additive mixed in. Something like a rock hit could`ve been all it needed to start the ball rolling, and it might`ve cracked all on its own. Just a thought...

[integraoligist]

yes i believe it`s a stress crack... even though i told the painters to put enough Flex additive in, obviously they didnt. otherwise the Ureathane would`nt have cracked to begin with... this crack on the wing only enforces that idea.

mmmmm

[imported_hadboosttroy]

I had the same problem with urethane wings west skirts on my integra. hit them on a driveway or something. The car was so low you couldnt even get the toes of your sneakers under it, so i am not surprised, but anyways I just dealt with it because the only way to fix it is to repaint it. Mine looked like little spider legs is the best I can describe, hairline cracks in the paint.

[integraoligist]

heres a pic of the crack... towards the top of the wing.





http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v319/integraoligist/stresscrack.jpg

[integraoligist]

I had the same problem with urethane wings west skirts on my integra. hit them on a driveway or something. The car was so low you couldnt even get the toes of your sneakers under it, so i am not surprised, but anyways I just dealt with it because the only way to fix it is to repaint it. Mine looked like little spider legs is the best I can describe, hairline cracks in the paint.

speaking of... i`ve got WW ureathane skirts on my integra as well.. the paint has cracked and chipped off of them near the door... and by the way, this Wing i`m referring to is Wings West as well. lovely.

[Joetabasco]

yep... thats definitely a stress crack... you usually see those un skirts or bumpers that werent painted with paint without flex additive added. I had a 1969 GTO with a urethane bumper that was VERY soft. If you leaned on it it flexed. I had it painted and it cracked within a week... i had them redo it with a TON of flex additive in it and it fixed all the problems... problem is that your clear has to have the same additive.