The Dreaded paint crack

m3x1c0

Bad luck Buick
Joined
Jun 16, 2014
Hey all. The paint on the car was already doing the crowsfeet/ paint cracking on the quarters when I bought. Now 20k+ miles later its spread all over the quarters and is not starting on parts of the door and the spoiler lip.I don't want to pay for a crazy paint job until I can afford a house with a garage in it and turn it into a queen. For now she's a daily. Do you guys have any tips or tricks for slowing down the spread of this cracking and/ or covering it up? I don't have access to nor any desire to learn to use any rotary tools so all of this must be done by hand. I wax her about once a month but that doesn't seem to help.
 
Obviously you know why it is cracking, so really there is no way to stop it. Cold weather, warm weather, changes in temps make this occur as well as the materials being old, and old school technology. You are basically asking for a miracle, not being an ass but that is true. If it were me the only thing that comes to mind is a sort of UV protectant to keep what is left in the surface from escaping and making it worse. Try Aerospace 303. I use it on gel coat to keep sun off my toy hauler. Follow directions on it. I have used it to restore fiberglass gel coat with great success and have even used it on paint from time to time. It wont harm surfaces. It can be found at Napa
 
You are basically asking for a miracle, not being an ass but that is true.
Haha no worries, I'm not easily offended and I'd rather someone be an ass than untruthful! VA gets some harsh summer and relatively cold winters as well and with no garage to store it I can't justify getting it repainted just to let it sit in the driveway. Anything that will slow down the crack will be wonderful. I'll look into the 303 stuff!
 
I used to use a black colored turtle wax back in the day, it helped hide the cracks. Like most, I had it repainted eventually.
 
I used to use a black colored turtle wax back in the day, it helped hide the cracks. Like most, I had it repainted eventually.
X2 black turtle wax. It hides some blemishes well.
 
Elephant skin.
 

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This summer I'm stripping an repainting. This is the roof,hood, trunk area.
 

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Mine wasn't cracking, almost looked like metal flake and was getting worse. with the doors and fenders stripped and repainted last winter it only made the roof and quarters look real bad. Was fun stripping it off! In paint jail for the winter.
stripquarter.jpg
 
We prefer to think of it as paint rehabilitation.


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The original black paint on my car is in surprisingly good condition. Southern California car. The clear coat on the horizontal surfaces (hood, top, trunk) is starting to haze though. I keep the car out of the weather & sun as much as possible. Plus I keep it waxed. I'd like to find a product that would preserve what is left for as long as possible.

Thanks
 
The original black paint on my car is in surprisingly good condition. Southern California car. The clear coat on the horizontal surfaces (hood, top, trunk) is starting to haze though. I keep the car out of the weather & sun as much as possible. Plus I keep it waxed. I'd like to find a product that would preserve what is left for as long as possible.

Thanks
The original paint was single stage lacquer --no clear coat.
 
Was not aware of that. It has the appearance of a clear coat starting to haze. The sides, front & back look great.
 
Mine wasn't cracking, almost looked like metal flake and was getting worse. with the doors and fenders stripped and repainted last winter it only made the roof and quarters look real bad. Was fun stripping it off! In paint jail for the winter.View attachment 271441
This is interesting. Has anyone had success just getting the quarters painted? Thats the only area that its truly bad on my car. The hood was repainted many years ago and is perfect. Some bits of the door have the cracks but she's a driver so Im in no hurry to chip up show quality paint. Would be cool to get the quarters straightened out for the time being.
 
No tips on keeping it from spreading, but use turtlwax 3 step black wax and it will be much less noticeable.
 
This is interesting. Has anyone had success just getting the quarters painted? Thats the only area that its truly bad on my car. The hood was repainted many years ago and is perfect. Some bits of the door have the cracks but she's a driver so Im in no hurry to chip up show quality paint. Would be cool to get the quarters straightened out for the time being.
Unless you strip it any repainting is a waist.
 
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