Peeling clear coat, respray needed.

[Papalazarou]

Thanks for the swift reply. Mine seems to be ok (goes off to touch wood and aluminium)….

I think there is also a bit of luck involved. I also believe that certain colours fare better than other. Certainly that is true with plastic/metal variations.
Look at most red NSX’s and there will be a colour difference between bumpers and body. I know most have been painted by now, but even the original finishes are often a mile out. IOP and pearl white perhaps the worst. Not quite as bad as the R35 Nissans which were just shocking from factory. I was told that they paint the body and bumpers separately, but I was told, so who knows.
Strangely I’ve never seen a LLB with original paint with deviations. The ones that have been refinished are hellishly bad.
Just a final thought. I think the corrosion issues have a fair bit to do with moisture and humidity. Storing cars in damp environments causes lots of issues.

[NZNick]

Cheers again James - my car is kept in a reasonably large well ventilated space. i think in it’s previous life in Japan it was well cared for and driven a reasonable amount. Can’t see that it has had paint in the past - if it has it has been done well.

[Senninha]

Hi,

Sorry to hear about the issues Martin, and whilst a wrap could be an option, please be mindful that removing it from anything other than OEM paint is only likely to cause further issues for you as the wrap is removed. Further, my experience, that I know James will support, Formula Red is soft and will have changed tone over the years so I would proceed with caution with any shop claiming its ability to match part of the car.

Also to consider is that paint has changed since yours left the factory. It’s all water based now and that also adds to the complexity of colour matching.

If it was my car, I’d drive and worry less about the exterior and probably not even wash it … theres something about a supercar that’s clearly been used and isnt looking like a new pin … hard to do but starts a whole new set of conversations

Ref the bubbling issue, it does preceed the facelift as Ive seen several NA2 pop-ups with the issue both before and after treatment. As James says, how original is original. I’d rather buy an honestly maintained car than that has received properly recorded mechanical and cosmetic care than one that has a sketchy history and ‘claims’ to originality.

Jump in a drive it, its a unique and rare sight regardless of cosmetics and many will still admire as you roll past them!!

Regards, Paul

[rkanaga]

Hi,

Sorry to hear about the issues Martin, and whilst a wrap could be an option, please be mindful that removing it from anything other than OEM paint is only likely to cause further issues for you as the wrap is removed. Further, my experience, that I know James will support, Formula Red is soft and will have changed tone over the years so I would proceed with caution with any shop claiming its ability to match part of the car.

Also to consider is that paint has changed since yours left the factory. It’s all water based now and that also adds to the complexity of colour matching.

If it was my car, I’d drive and worry less about the exterior and probably not even wash it … theres something about a supercar that’s clearly been used and isnt looking like a new pin … hard to do but starts a whole new set of conversations

Ref the bubbling issue, it does preceed the facelift as Ive seen several NA2 pop-ups with the issue both before and after treatment. As James says, how original is original. I’d rather buy an honestly maintained car than that has received properly recorded mechanical and cosmetic care than one that has a sketchy history and ‘claims’ to originality.

Jump in a drive it, its a unique and rare sight regardless of cosmetics and many will still admire as you roll past them!!

Regards, Paul

That lacquer peel is very surprising isn't it? Was the car stored outside with a cover on it? I think that can sometimes lead to moisture and together with abrasion from the cover over time cause problems?

My 1991 Red car doesn't have any paint issues after 32 years, but it has always been stored inside, maybe that's the issue? It's had a front bumper stone chip respray but the actual lacquer was perfect apart from the stone chips.

If you're after a top notch printshop, I can recommend SL Restoration in Gatwick who did it.

The other thing to remember is that the original paint finish involved something like a 28 step process concluding wet sanding to get the really fast look and a tinted clear coat. That's why if you polish an original panel you will get some colour on the rag. It's pretty much impossible to recreate with current paints, so anything will be a best approximation.

The new NSX has an 'Andaro' paint option ($6,000) which also has this fancy tinted clear coat technique I believe.

The

[Nick Graves]

I suspect a refinish at some time.

We had an issue with one of the rear wings on the Civic, by our usual sprayer. Looked lovely, but I spilled some squirt when I filled it up and it lifted the clearcoat.

He explained that sometimes the clearcoat mix is off and that happens, so he refinished the side again. He was brilliant at blending & fading pearlescents...

An old friend found the clearcoat on his Interceptor never hardened - so he had to do that all over again.

Mind you, most metallic blue Jaguars two decades old seem to have hardly any clearcoat left at all! A mate's XKR is like that. Seems to have happened in about a year.

I wonder what did change around 1997? Perhaps New Formula Red means exactly that!

But my paint's OK - it's the ally beneath that's gone a bit furry in the usual spots and the paints still reasonably solid.

[mart155]

Hi all,
Not sure what happened but I did post a reply here about a month ago but it's not here now.
As I said in a previous post, I did get the funds together to go ahead with this and it has been a real adventure for me and its almost finished now.
The car is looking nice and just needs a final flat and polish plus a couple of tiny jobs left to do.

I decided to replace the door moldings/scrapers and bought a number of other bits and bobs from Amayama in Japan. Having removed the moldings, I decided to remove the door windows and regulators while I had the opportunity. The regulator and window guides were in a terrible state with thick solidified grey grease and missing bits for the guides on the motor rail. Fortunately, I found just 2 small bits in the grease so was able to work out what was missing.
The plastic parts that stabilise the widow in the centre guide are not available to buy from Honda separately so I measured them and 3D printed some new ones. There are 6 in total for each regulator (4 L shaped ones and 2 rectangular ones).

I have done lots of other jobs while the car has been stripped for painting, I will try and post some more details and some pictures here soon.

Thanks all for your suggestions and comments, and while a respray isn’t everyone’s first choice, I didn’t really see any other option. A wrap would not have worked because of the poor clearcoat surface that would have been underneath even though there wasn’t any actual corrosion.

[mart155]

Hi,

Sorry to hear about the issues Martin, and whilst a wrap could be an option, please be mindful that removing it from anything other than OEM paint is only likely to cause further issues for you as the wrap is removed. Further, my experience, that I know James will support, Formula Red is soft and will have changed tone over the years so I would proceed with caution with any shop claiming its ability to match part of the car.

Also to consider is that paint has changed since yours left the factory. It’s all water based now and that also adds to the complexity of colour matching.

If it was my car, I’d drive and worry less about the exterior and probably not even wash it … theres something about a supercar that’s clearly been used and isnt looking like a new pin … hard to do but starts a whole new set of conversations

Ref the bubbling issue, it does preceed the facelift as Ive seen several NA2 pop-ups with the issue both before and after treatment. As James says, how original is original. I’d rather buy an honestly maintained car than that has received properly recorded mechanical and cosmetic care than one that has a sketchy history and ‘claims’ to originality.

Jump in a drive it, its a unique and rare sight regardless of cosmetics and many will still admire as you roll past them!!

Regards, Paul

Thanks Paul,
TBH, a wrap wasn't something I really wanted anyway and as I posted previously the respray process has already started. I know the purists won't like it and its not the same as having the original paint but I really didn't feel I had much choice as the peeling lacquer was looking awful and it's looking so much better now.
I am in no rush and have also taken the opportunity to do quite a few other bits while I have the opportunity including replacing the door window / scraper mouldings.
Surprisingly, I managed to remove the old ones without breaking a single clip but the new ones came with new clips fitted anyway.