Tiny Bubbles ....not the Don Ho kind though

[Neilda]

FJP - you've got a good memory!

The bubbles in the magnesium allow are on the center console right down within the gap between the elbow pad and the magnesium finish. They're so tiny that I've sort of forgotten about them - but I'll give it a check at some stage and if they've worsened, I'll report back.

It's kind of a useful reminder as well that we do have to drive these damned cars!! I still regret not driving the Murcielago enough - I kept that in the garage, only took it out on nice days, zymoled it furiously, took the wheels off to clean them on the inside, used cotton buds in the engine bay etc etc etc. I think we're all in danger, on occassion, of ending up with garage queens. I am guilty of this too.

That sounded like a lecture - and it wasn't meant to be. I'm as guilty as the next man of keeping my cars in such great condition that I don't use them enough.

 

[Sinovac]

Neilda, you are absolutely correct.

My purchase of the GT happened to correspond with a seismic shift in the way I view objects such as cars. Having gone through the anal-retentive, please-don't-touch-the-leather-with-your-ass-when-you-sit-on-the-seat phase, I am now much more relaxed about stuff and find my ownership/driving experience much more fun.

While I do take good care of my cars, motorcycles and other stuff, I enjoy the hell out of them, use them as intended, and don't sweat things that really don't matter. Maybe this is the result of having 3 small children.

When driving my car back to Florida from Illinois (where it was purchased) with my 10 year old son, I picked up a small stone chip on the edge of the hood (bonnet?) near the extractors during "moderate" speed testing . In my former life I would have cursed the automotive gods and spent countless hours and many greenbacks to right the wrong that had been inflicted on my poor car.

When we got out to survey the damage my son told me how much fun he was having in the new "supercar". In a moment of personal triumph, I agreed and didn't give two shits about the chip, which still remains right where the rock put it. Since then, I have allowed countless admiring kids with greasy fingers and runny noses to sit in the car and have their picture taken by proud parents.

Although it took some time, I am finally free from the prison that is called "perfection" (but if I ever find the SOB that put the big door ding on my new mustang in the Disney World parking lot back in 1992, I'm gonna kick his ass).

 

[Neilda]

Great post!! I've read it a couple of times and you've summed up exactly how I feel. However it's a constant battle with my inner zymol and stone-chip demons!

 

[Red Rocket]

Heard that Sino. I'm the same now, but it almost took an intervention! BTW consider getting the Venture Shield clear bra to ward off future chips.

 

[ENZO BTR]

Enzo:
Your pic of the imperfection you found in your car shows a situation faaaaaaar more pronounced than what I see on my own rig... but, the tiny, TINY, TINIEST specs in yours are about the same as mine. I don't think I could even photo the thing real easily. If we just say your pblm is a "10" on a 1-10 scale ... mine would be about a "3". (You must have gotten pretty creative to get the light just right for that shot! :thumbsup )

Mine is actually really small, too. I used macro-focus and got really close and had to get the angle/light just right to see it. If you look at the photo and see the entire area affected, it's about the total area of a quarter, just on the front edge of the front wheel well (though instead of being round it's shaped like a "V"). And again, you can't see it without the light and angle just right. I'm sure if I were selling the car and didn't point it out the buyer would likely never know unless he was VERY anal about going over every inch (which, if you're buying a car like this, you probably should be). I had owned the car three months and washed it four times before I noticed it, and I've never had anyone else comment on it after 15 months and 6,000 miles. So, like I said, I won't be spending any time, money or strees over it. Life's too short and this car is too fun to get worked up over teensy details.

 

[Neilda]

FJP - that small bubble is still there (no surprise), however there's no more and it's not got any bigger.

It's not noticable and I try not to think about it.... try not to think about it...try not to think about it...try not to think about it...try not to think about it...try not to think about it...try not to think about it...try not to think about it...try not to think about it...try not to think about it...try not to think about it...try not to think about it...try not to think about it...try not to think about it...

:lol

 

[rmartin175]

I had a similar issue with small bubbles appearing on the stripes of my silver GT this summer. Noticed them before the GTForum, so when we were out there, SSV took the car in on Saturday and repainted the stripes. Upon VERY CLOSE inspection, I could actually see that the bubbles were appearing in the form of a palm print... yes! We could actually see the tell-tale signs of a handprint, probably experienced between the primer and the base coat. After months of storage in varying temps, both in NH and VA, the bubbles started appearing. In the matter of a few hours, SSV re-finished the stripe and the problem went away! Unfortunately, now I have seen the same appear on the trunk lid near the windshield wiper. DAMN! Guess this is the problem with such a fine wet-sanded finish... every little blemish will seem like a major flaw. (posted only to substantiate this will probably become more apparent on more cars over time)

 

[Red Rocket]

Just to update.... I had the bubbles wet sanded and polished out yesterday. The bodyshop guy figures that they occured in the clearcoat as a result of the factory polisher being too agressive with the polishing wheel. Came out great.

 

[Empty Pockets]

Just to update.... I had the bubbles wet sanded and polished out yesterday ... Came out great.

GOOD!!!!!! Quite a relief I'd bet. :thumbsup

 

[psugt]

I have a late 2005 white with blue stripe car. Last fall I noticed the white paint bubbling in the area around the driver side rear tail lights. At first it was just one little bubble, then on the other side another elongated bubble appeared and then it seemed like the whole area was bubbling up. I took it to a local ford dealer who removed the entire panel and repainted it. This past weekend I noticed it is bubbling in exactly the same place again as well as in the front wide blue stripe next to the windshield. Anyone have any suggestions???

 

[shelbyelite]

Just a quick follow-up on an old thread... Thought I may be of some help here. We have now had close to 100 Ford GTs. These spots some people are calling "bubbles" are on about 50% of the cars that I have seen. They are ONLY apparent in the back of our shop where we have an OVERKILL of fluorescent lights. These tiny little bubbles, etc, seem to be small contaminants that were on the cars surface before paint and have caused very small imperfections over the cars aging. Most of them will wet-sand and buff out. I had one car that had these bubbles in the shape of hand prints in the stripe of the car. We sanded and buffed them out and they partially came back. Again, you could only see them in certain man-made light. As others have said, these are factory flaws and add to the heritage of the cars. No, none of us LIKE that these flaws are present, but 99% of people that will ever look at your car will NEVER see them. Think of these cars like humans.... We ALL have flaws. our Flaws are what make us UNIQUE!!!!

 

[gtjim]

Damn ... hadn't really thought about the bubbles along the trailing edge behind the rear wheels. Never noticed them until my son pointed them out at Rally I. He also noticed that the area over his head when sitting in the passenger seat was not buffed out either.

Cars in the garage ... waiting for salt and snow to go ... and like so many others have said, it's part of the oringal. So, I've gotten over it ... doesn't bother me ... bother me ...bother me ... bother me ...bother me ... bother me ...bother me ... bother me ...

hands over eyes .... na, na, na, na, na, na ...

 

[Gulf GT]

I was really disappointed when I saw my very first FGT in the showroom of a local dealer. I noticed these "bubbles" after about 15 minutes of looking at the car. It was quite clear at the time that they were imperfections under the paint, and I had never ever seen that on any supercar. It made a lasting impression, and I left the dealer that day basically thinking that I was not going to buy a car with such an obvious flaw. I figured if a manufacturer was going to let a car out of the factory like that, what else will likely be lurking in the build of the car. I was an owner of a late model Ferrari, and the fit and finish was just about perfect. This type of information played right into the idea that “Ford made a supercar… it certainly won’t be of very fine build quality like my Ferrari”. All you Ford people may cringe at such a statement, but everyone else in the Ferrari and Lamborghini world did then and still do utter that very thought out loud, frequently. Luckily, several months later after hearing about the "Gulf" paint version I looked back into getting an FGT.

I haven't studied any other FGT since that day over 3 years ago. Luckily, mine didn't have those, but it did have some pretty bad paint shrinkage that we were able to buff out. Needless to say, my long time detailer who has prepped countless Concours d’Elegance winners was not impressed with the paint on my FGT. I have learned that beauty is not skin deep…

 

[JOETWINT]

I thought that I was the only one who thought the paint on these cars is bad.They all look good from about 5 or 10 ft but get close and the paint is far from perfect.It is funny how Ford claims to have inspected them very closely before leaving the plant because my car had a run right in the middle of the hood that could not be missed(unless ofcourse they inspected it in the dark).I saw it before purchasing and the price was adjusted accordingly (I was able to wetsand 95% of it out)but the paint is the worst i have seen on basically a new car(24 miles).I looked at probably 20 GT's before purchasing my car and every one had something wrong with the paint,from no paint on the edges due to careless wetsanding to paint bubbles and fisheyes.Hell it took nearly a day to get all the compond out of the cracks.Love the rest of it though!

 

[fjpikul]

Yeah, well, what do you expect from black cars? Should have bought RED.

 

[JOETWINT]

:rofl ^^ I guarantee I will find something on your car too........you just haven't seen it yet:biggrin

 

[TEXAS GT]

My red '05 has a thumbprint sized spot with bubbles on the front hood but the yellow '06 is pretty much perfect. If I haven't found it by now it's not worth looking for.

I'm very happy with the paint quality.

 

[BigsGT]

When I had my GT in to change out the alternator/voltage regulator it sat in the dealer's shop for a few days. They did a good job of keeping my car cordoned off although we have lots of wind and dust this time of year; I'll add that I really like this dealer and the personnel I deal with. When I went to pick it up I noticed someone had tried to 'dust' my car with shop rag! :mad

I told the dealership people I would detail the car and let them know if there were any issues. The good news is the car cleaned up fine, no scratches or swirl marks from the dusting. However there is a very small scratch on the roof right in front of the clamshell latch on the drivers side that I'm sure wasn't there. Looks like someone opened the clam with their watch digging into the paint on the roof in front :mad :mad

After reading this thread I'm just going to leave it and consider it part of the car's character. Trying to fix it would open up too many cans of worms, but I did let the dealership know. I'm afraid if I let the dealership mess with it I'd end up with clearcoat overspray everywhere. I might try and use Langka's repair system.

 

[Empty Pockets]

I'm afraid if I let the dealership mess with it I'd end up with clearcoat overspray everywhere.

I'm pbly mentioning something you already know, but, there's a thin, soft, plastic sheeting that body shops can use to mask off EVERYTHING but the area being sprayed. The stuff is applied right down to the floor 360* around the car. You get ZERO overspray anywhere when it's used properly - or mebbe that was your concern?

 

[JOETWINT]

When I had my GT in to change out the alternator/voltage regulator it sat in the dealer's shop for a few days. They did a good job of keeping my car cordoned off although we have lots of wind and dust this time of year; I'll add that I really like this dealer and the personnel I deal with. When I went to pick it up I noticed someone had tried to 'dust' my car with shop rag! :mad

I told the dealership people I would detail the car and let them know if there were any issues. The good news is the car cleaned up fine, no scratches or swirl marks from the dusting. However there is a very small scratch on the roof right in front of the clamshell latch on the drivers side that I'm sure wasn't there. Looks like someone opened the clam with their watch digging into the paint on the roof in front :mad :mad

After reading this thread I'm just going to leave it and consider it part of the car's character. Trying to fix it would open up too many cans of worms, but I did let the dealership know. I'm afraid if I let the dealership mess with it I'd end up with clearcoat overspray everywhere. I might try and use Langka's repair system.

Are you sure it is through the clear?I had a scratch on the top of my fender that appeared white (car is black)and looked like it was through the clear but wetsanded out and is perfect now.My advice would be to shop(quality not price) around for the right shop and let them look at it maybe it will sand out.Good luck!