Fishguy

I typically store my 84 944 under a tarp for the winter, and when I got it out this summer, I noticed a small bare metal spot with warped edges (as if it were a bubble that 'popped') at the edge of the hatch seal on the left side of the car (smaller than a dime). Inspecting this spot proved that the paint had separated from the metal and so I had this small spot of bare, possibly rusty (looks black/gray and not red) metal. There appeared to be numerous very small bubbles all around this area. The white line (primer?) as shown in the picture has been there before I got the car 6 years ago. I assume the hatch gasket somehow pulled some paint off, and eventually over the time I've owned it, some moisture got through. The previous owner always garaged the car and wouldn't drive it in the rain. It has been my summer daily driver and its gotten soaked plenty of times.

I ordered a paint kit from paintscratch to sand down the re-paint this small spot. Summers being busy, I never got around to fixing that spot, though every time it rained or I washed the car, I would open the hatch and thoroughly dry that spot quickly.

Now, I'm about to put the car away for the winter and was prepared to re-paint this spot. However, I'm having second thoughts about the area as there are a LOT of very small bubbles within a couple inches of the spot. I don't think they are new (or at least the majority are older) but I'm concerned about painting over the spot when the bubbles may spread and the whole area
(a few square inches or more) will have to be re-painted anyway.

So, my question is, how do I prevent this from getting worse over the winter storage (the weather is to the point where I cannot drive it to a bodyshop and back as I don't have winter tires) before it can be fixed properly next summer.

thanks

MoeMistry

Not sure you should do anything else. It looks to be a repaint, evident by the edge close to the rubber seal. Whomever did the job, didn't do it properly. Your best bet is to store it and do a proper re-paint when the weather permits.

TOGWT

A car cover must allow transpiration; when you have any solid or liquid in a humid environment, you have absorption of water at the surface. Moisture due to condensation must to allowed to dissipate, otherwise the paint will haze and if moisture is trapped it will damage the paint surface. For these reasons when storing a vehicle never place anything (i.e. a water-proof tarp) on top of a car cover

If moisture permeates the clear coat it may become ‘cloudy’ or opaque.

Correction- apply isopropyl alcohol (IPA) to the area, allowing it to dwell for five to ten minutes and with a heat gun or hair dryer, heat the area (do not exceeding 100.oF spot temperature) the IPA acts as a "drying" agent, and when combined with the heat the moisture will evaporate

Fishguy

thanks for the info

I'll go ahead and store it best I can until May, when I can look for a good body shop

It's got to be outside, so I'm thinking a good tarp with some sort of spacer to keep it from resting on the surface of the car to allow ventilation. Perhaps closed cell foam or some sort of PVC skeleton...

TOGWT

In extreme cases if a waterproof cover i.e. a tarp is used to cover a vehicle it may cause delamination. A polyurethane paint (high solid / low solvent) clear coat can absorb moisture; as water molecules are smaller than a cross-linked clear coats molecule.

Moisture (condensation) can permeate and break down the chemical bonds between the clear coat and the basecoat; this sometimes produces small bubbles in the paint surface. This will also cause delamination between the layers since once the chemical bond is destroyed; only the weaker mechanical bond remains.