Clear coat or plastic coating lifting off

Anything goes in the world of fiberglass and plastic

User avatar

Settled In
Posts: 14
Joined: Mon Jan 04, 2010 7:36 pm
Location: Dinuba, CA
PostPosted: Fri Jan 08, 2010 2:39 pm
Thanks Porchdog, I have a place in mind that the owner personally does all the straight axle Vettes, the results have been good. I just made the mistake of not taking my dune buggy to him. :(

Hi Paintpot, to answer your question on previous repairs; the answer is no. This is a common problem with both the Chrysler GEM (electric car) and the Ford Think (also an electric car), both seem to do it more if they have had long exposures to the sun. When it flakes/peels off, it's not like a clearcoat, much too thick, more like a plastic coating that I believe they were experimenting with. It looks great until it starts peeling, extremely deep in it's finish, but once they start peeling, it's a mess. For some reason, the white cars with the GEM are more prone to it and the green and blue cars of the Ford Think seem to have this problem more.

Dave

User avatar

Board Moderator
Posts: 6672
Joined: Tue Feb 24, 2004 7:00 pm
Location: central Ohio
Country:
USA
PostPosted: Fri Jan 08, 2010 11:37 pm
So Dave, I've just gotta ask, electric and experimental cars a special hobby with you? I've never met anybody who even owned one, let alone, was restoring a few.
Just some thoughts on the peeling coatings, especially since you said they were so "thick." It's not unusual for experimental, limited production, etc. to have excess mil thickness in their clears. Another thing is absolutely true what you said about them experimenting with special coatings. Nanoparticulate coatings (here's an example... http://www.motostorm.com/gpage5.html ) are very hard but don't stick to some plastics that well. I know nano clears were being researched by GM as far back as the mid 90's.
Metal, wood, fiberglass, we work it all... www.furniturephysicians.com We can restore the irreplaceable!

User avatar

Settled In
Posts: 14
Joined: Mon Jan 04, 2010 7:36 pm
Location: Dinuba, CA
PostPosted: Sat Jan 09, 2010 1:48 am
DarrelK wrote: So Dave, I've just gotta ask, electric and experimental cars a special hobby with you? I've never met anybody who even owned one, let alone, was restoring a few.


Hi Darrel, I suffer from that "if one is good, two's better' syndrom. I have eight of the GEM's (global electric motorcars) and two Ford Think Nev's; don't ask me why, I guess it's hard for me to pass up on a deal when I see one. Below are a couple of the GEM's and one of my Think's, the four seater is the Ford Think. The blue GEM I added the rear fiberglass truck bed (I painted it blue to match the front) and I added 16" Honda Civic rims/tires, the green GEM I bought new, it only has 23 miles on it; I added the 14" Miata rims on it. They will give you a better picture of what I'm talking about. They are all street legal and licensed here in CA, great for around town driving and they use no gas. I have a place at the coast where I keep two of them; one my wife keeps for her real estate company, parades, etc. and the others, I just play with.

Ford Think Nev: 4 seater
Image


GEM with custom bed/bigger wheels: 2 seater
Image


GEM with bigger wheels: 2 seater
Image



I'm not sure what the coating is on these vehicles, but when I blow it off, I can pick up 4" x 6" sheets of it and it feels and looks just like a sheet of plastic, somewhat brittle. It's hard too, it will easily cut you if you slide your finger just right.

Dave



Non-Lurker
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Jan 24, 2012 6:53 pm

Country:
USA
PostPosted: Tue Jan 24, 2012 7:02 pm
Greetings Dave,
Glad to see a GEM lover out there. I've been trying to find the fiberglass pickup box for the GEM and hope the link isn't too old to be passed on to you. Let me know where I can find the Pickup bed if you can Thanks mark
Previous

Return to Fiberglass and Plastic

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 50 guests