Black streaks in Gel Coat
Discussion
My Red GTR has black streaks running throughout all the panels.
I have been told this is due to uv rays reacting with the gel coat and is going to need spraying to cover them.
Since the car is only 18 months old I am obviously not very happy.
Before I speak to the factory, has anyone else had this problem?
Cheers,
Martin.
I have been told this is due to uv rays reacting with the gel coat and is going to need spraying to cover them.
Since the car is only 18 months old I am obviously not very happy.
Before I speak to the factory, has anyone else had this problem?
Cheers,
Martin.
martinlaw said:
My Red GTR has black streaks running throughout all the panels.
I have been told this is due to uv rays reacting with the gel coat and is going to need spraying to cover them.
Since the car is only 18 months old I am obviously not very happy.
Before I speak to the factory, has anyone else had this problem?
Cheers,
Martin.
Your car must be showing it's true colours...... I have been told this is due to uv rays reacting with the gel coat and is going to need spraying to cover them.
Since the car is only 18 months old I am obviously not very happy.
Before I speak to the factory, has anyone else had this problem?
Cheers,
Martin.
Andy old Red Can-Am had loads, but took 3 years to come though....Yor right they look horrid, but it's only a matter of time I'm afriad...Thats why all the Hot countries end up painting there cars.. The factory built a Red GTR for Dubie and they Painted it before
it left, as they know what would happen...
it left, as they know what would happen...
Clive,
I find it hard to believe that Ultima would not have resolved this problem as they are obviously well aware of it.
They make a point of selling the cars with a gel-coat finish as if this is a plus point. Surely nowadays there must be way of preventing this - how do Lotus etc. get over this?
If the factory finish only lasts 18 months or less, surely it is not 'fit for purpose'.
I find it hard to believe that Ultima would not have resolved this problem as they are obviously well aware of it.
They make a point of selling the cars with a gel-coat finish as if this is a plus point. Surely nowadays there must be way of preventing this - how do Lotus etc. get over this?
If the factory finish only lasts 18 months or less, surely it is not 'fit for purpose'.
Had no problems with my Can-am ...and to be honest the gell coat finish is awsome !!! i thought it was one area that the factory had got sorted !!! they did not say when i was ordering my red body ..by the way black streaks would come through after 18 months !!!!!!! (am at this moment going out to garage to inspect).........no looks ok !!!! phew !!!
gtr-gaz said:
martinlaw said:
Clive,
I find it hard to believe that Ultima would not have resolved this problem as they are obviously well aware of it....
I thought they had resolved it?I find it hard to believe that Ultima would not have resolved this problem as they are obviously well aware of it....
I have seen Andy's CanAm (now Highflyers') and it certainly had a few streaks in it, almost like brush marks.
Martin
I know the car was registered in 2006 but when was the bodywork produced. Some people take a long time to build there cars. Not having a go but why did you buy it if it's that bad? I hope you got the price reduced by the cost of a good paint job.
Regards Dave
The factory were not at all interested in sorting the streaks on my canam, but other than paint there is nothing that can be done anyhow.... Car was 3 years old when they started to get quite noticable although I started to see shadows after about 18mths.
It was specifically one of the questions I asked when I ordered the car and was told that there would definatelly not be a problem even with red (I seriously considered Black for my sins), I guess I should have got that guarentee in writing.
Of cause I used my car a lot and so it was exposed to sun quite often.
More worrying is that we left the original damaged rear clip outside for about a year and it went almost transaparent and looked absolutelly terrible as if it was 50years old.
It was specifically one of the questions I asked when I ordered the car and was told that there would definatelly not be a problem even with red (I seriously considered Black for my sins), I guess I should have got that guarentee in writing.
Of cause I used my car a lot and so it was exposed to sun quite often.
More worrying is that we left the original damaged rear clip outside for about a year and it went almost transaparent and looked absolutelly terrible as if it was 50years old.
Martin, you knew there was a problem before you bought the car, and I can tell you now, that you won't have any come back from the factory, they told me that the problem was solved in 2003 when they used a different gell coat / process but obviously not. What is a piss take is the fact they know about the problem but don't do anything about it, I would be totally fcuked off if I had spent £50k on a car and a couple of years later the black brush marks appeared, and I must say that my car has 17000 miles on it, so it has been exposed to sunlight, and if all the other garage queens got there red cars out, and used them, instead of tinkering about and polishing them in there garages, they too, would no doubt experience the same problem, get a respray and get over it !
Edited by little-red-canam on Saturday 13th October 17:59
martinlaw said:
Clive,
- how do Lotus etc. get over this?
If the factory finish only lasts 18 months or less, surely it is not 'fit for purpose'.
Lotus Paint all there cars.... Don't get me wrong this is not a Factory Problem, this is a Gel-coat problem, and will eventually react with most colours.. How many Red Hulled F/G boats do you see, for the same reason UV attacks all pigments some more than others, and looks like Red is the worst...- how do Lotus etc. get over this?
If the factory finish only lasts 18 months or less, surely it is not 'fit for purpose'.
I'm sure if you ask the Lotus7 Clan if there Red Gel-coat parts do the same, the answer will be yes....
The only thing that would hurt me was being told that it would last for more than 3 years, without attention.... But I knew before I bought a GTR that Gel-coat was never a long term finish, but its a great short term alternative... Ever wondered why the Painted the First Red Demo Car Blue .. need I saw more..
Edited by GTRCLIVE on Sunday 14th October 17:59
thanks for getting to me guys.
I wanted to establish if this was an isolated problem or not.
Little Red Canam - yes I was fully aware of the problem when I bought the car. Like you, I think this problem should have been resolved a long time ago.
Some people buy cars to drive and some to look at and polish, surely it is up to them what they do!! - I like to drive them although i do like the car to very clean.
I always give my car a really good clean after a track day as it the best way to check for any loose nuts, cracks etc.
Cheers,
Martin.
I wanted to establish if this was an isolated problem or not.
Little Red Canam - yes I was fully aware of the problem when I bought the car. Like you, I think this problem should have been resolved a long time ago.
Some people buy cars to drive and some to look at and polish, surely it is up to them what they do!! - I like to drive them although i do like the car to very clean.
I always give my car a really good clean after a track day as it the best way to check for any loose nuts, cracks etc.
Cheers,
Martin.
Martin, I owned little red canam's car for nearly three years, as Andy has intimated earlier the car had some streaking on the Gel coat when I bought it from him. This became much more pronounced quite quickly. The factory did not want to know about the problem when I spoke to them about it, and also told me that this was the first time they had come across this issue, however I have spoken to a number of people since that have advised me of similar problem... I would say that regular protective coats of wax on these cars might be a good idea given how much damage sunlight did to mine, sometimes it might pay to be a polisher!
Following some damage to the rear clip of my car the old clip was left outdoors for a few months, the condition of the Gel coat was really shocking when I last saw it, almost see through.
The only real soloution is to paint the whole car which at circa 4k for a proper job seemed crazy to me at the time given that in my case the car had been garaged most of its life, washed and waxed weekly and at the time had 7k on the clock and was less than 3 years old. If you are going to have the engine out, it might be a good time to get it painted, especially if you want to change the colour?
Following some damage to the rear clip of my car the old clip was left outdoors for a few months, the condition of the Gel coat was really shocking when I last saw it, almost see through.
The only real soloution is to paint the whole car which at circa 4k for a proper job seemed crazy to me at the time given that in my case the car had been garaged most of its life, washed and waxed weekly and at the time had 7k on the clock and was less than 3 years old. If you are going to have the engine out, it might be a good time to get it painted, especially if you want to change the colour?
T5GRF said:
Martin, I owned little red canam's car for nearly three years, as Andy has intimated earlier the car had some streaking on the Gel coat when I bought it from him. This became much more pronounced quite quickly. The factory did not want to know about the problem when I spoke to them about it, and also told me that this was the first time they had come across this issue, however I have spoken to a number of people since that have advised me of similar problem... I would say that regular protective coats of wax on these cars might be a good idea given how much damage sunlight did to mine, sometimes it might pay to be a polisher!
Following some damage to the rear clip of my car the old clip was left outdoors for a few months, the condition of the Gel coat was really shocking when I last saw it, almost see through.
The only real soloution is to paint the whole car which at circa 4k for a proper job seemed crazy to me at the time given that in my case the car had been garaged most of its life, washed and waxed weekly and at the time had 7k on the clock and was less than 3 years old. If you are going to have the engine out, it might be a good time to get it painted, especially if you want to change the colour?
Surely as Martin says it is not fit for purpose?? Why pay £4000 out when you should not have to, if the contructors/owners of the cars had known of this obvious problem then we would not have purchased 1 a red car and 2 possibly not an Ultima.Following some damage to the rear clip of my car the old clip was left outdoors for a few months, the condition of the Gel coat was really shocking when I last saw it, almost see through.
The only real soloution is to paint the whole car which at circa 4k for a proper job seemed crazy to me at the time given that in my case the car had been garaged most of its life, washed and waxed weekly and at the time had 7k on the clock and was less than 3 years old. If you are going to have the engine out, it might be a good time to get it painted, especially if you want to change the colour?
I to have a red car and i have examined it closely and it looks like it is starting to go in places. I also know of 2 other cars with the same problem!!
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