Any ideas why?

[Paulfc]

Hi,

I've started to strip the paint off the car to bare metal in preparation for a re-spray. The last re-spray was done 30+ years ago. I did a test strip on the area just in front of the windscreen and found evidence of filler. Expecting the worst I stripped the whole area and found just solid steel. I then stripped a rear wing and found exactly the same. The complete wing has a skim of filler over it and underneath is sound and cleans up  nice and shiny. I'm guessing I'm going to find more of the same when I tackle the next area. Does anyone have any ideas as to why someone would skim filler over apparently sound panels? Or am I just being thick and missing something obvious?

Thanks for any help.

 

 

 

[Pete Lewis]

Could  it be a high build primer over copiuos 

Pete

[NonMember]

I've seen cars with a substantial build-up of high build primer but usually with layers of colour in between, where it's had a few "tidy ups" over the years and three or four resprays without ever taking it back to bare metal. How thick is the skim you've found?

[Clive]

I too have seen panels completely skimmed. Thats what they did in the old boyd thingmajig hotrod builders. I think it is so the entire panel can be sanded to a perfect finish.

Anyway, better than finding rot everywhere....

[Paulfc]

Thanks guys. I think you're right NM, there's clearly paint in places with filler over. From the texture of the current top coat there's a chemical reaction taken place resulting tiny bubbles erupting under the top coat. I guess a PO opted for a less than thorough respray - and, yes, it's definitely better than finding rot!