Spiderweb paint

[ldortiz]

I was looking at a 1986 Red Carrera on ebay today. The add mentioned the paint had "spiderwebs" throughout the car. The photos clearly showed how the car's paint had flaked or had spiderwebs. My 86 Carrera has a pretty good paint job but I do have similar "spiderweb" like marks on the front bumper/grille and around the front headlight trims. The previous owner said that he had left wax on the car too long which caused the fine lines in the paint. Any thoughts?I am concerned that this might spread to other areas on the car.

Thanks,

Leo
1986 Carrera
1975 914

[chris911sc]

I doubt the spiderwebs were caused by wax. Spiderwebbing is generally on flexible parts and metal that has been bent or stressed. They are cracks in the finish that sometimes go all the way to the bottom surface. It is not remedied short of stripping and repriming the area and refinishing. It can be a real pain to deal with. If your car is indeed spiderwebbing in those areas, I would assume the paint is failing and could affect the whole car over time. I would inspect the affected areas closely for accident damage or refinishing. You might get lucky and determine the problems came from a sub-par repair. It will be alot cheaper than having to strip and refinish the whole car.

[ldortiz]

I appreciate your reply. The car has a clean carfax. With the exception of the front bumper and headlight trim, the paint appears to be in good shape after twenty two years. I'll try to paste a picture. I am taking the car in to have those areas painted during the first week of March. The painter at the shop doesn't see a problem repainting those areas. My biggest fear as you noted was the spidewebbing spreading to other areas of the car like the 86 Carrera on EBAY

[3.2 CAB]

There is also a custom painting technique that is also called "spider webbing" it is done with the gun at very low pressures, and the paint is not reduced quite as much as if for a normal finish. With the thicker, very low pressure application being made, you adjust the tip pattern so when you pull the trigger, the paint almost looks like "silly string" It was a popular type of accent painting in the early 70's. You can still see it at some of the custom car shows every now and then. Multiple colors of paint, each shot separately, would usually be used when doing this. When the "strings" hit the surface, it would flatten out so there would not be a large raised area, where ever it was shot. After all was dry, the surface was then blocked, then the overall clear coat applied. It did look really neat.

[porsche9442285]

that is more than likely cause porsche used laquer paint on there cars in the early years (witch is no longer in use) and if the paint wasnt taken care of the right way that is exactly what will happen to the paint it will start to spiderweb than will start falling off the car. Who ever is painting your car make sure they strip those parts all the way down because if they dont you will have low spots all over that area.

[ldortiz]

Thanks Mr. Boomba,

My painter did strip it all the way down. I found out the light rings are made of brass. Looks great.

Leo