# Bubbling



## MBRuss (Apr 29, 2011)

Not sure what forum this was best to go in, so I put it here. About a year ago I bought some fake carbon covers for the side cameras of my Tesla, but they had a glossy finish, so I bought some matte clear coat to give them a matte effect to match the spoiler. (Just wanted to cover the chrome, which doesn't really match the satin chrome on everything else.)

After I did it they looked great and they've been on the car ever since. When I did it I fully panel-wiped them down and did a good 4 - 5 coats or more to ensure a good covering, then after leaving for a few days to dry fully I coated them with Sonax PNS (several coats) and then BSD after that. This was all before fitting them to the car.

However, now a year later I've noticed bubbles in the paint on top of both of them.

Any ideas what I did wrong and how I can put it right? I guess it'll need to be carefully rubbed down and re-sprayed, but I don't want to do all that for it to bubble again.

Also, I'm not sure if I can get them off the car very easily - they're stuck on with a double-sided tape. Not sure if it's worth risking painting them on the car and masking off/around them, or if they really ought to be removed?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Cheers!

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## Andyblue (Jun 20, 2017)

You say you bought some ‘fake carbon covers’ - I’m wondering if it’s the fake carbon look that’s bubbling up, rather than the matt finish you applied ?? So it’s not something you did / didn’t do (if that makes sense)...

Pictures might help :thumb:


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## MBRuss (Apr 29, 2011)

Ah nuts, I knew I forgot something. The photos would help!

Pretty sure it's in the clear coat from looking at them...
















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## Andyblue (Jun 20, 2017)

Bit difficult to see from the image - can 'feel' the bubble or is it a blemish (like on diamond cut alloy wheels) ? 

If you're thinking it is the clear coat, potentially looks like you could sand down and re-coat in situ if you can't remove them


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## bellguy (Feb 4, 2021)

Clear coat failure yes, a lot of cheaper clear coats do not add much UV filter and single pack rattle can clear will almost always do this on carbon type finishes.
Very easy fix to mask off, wet sand them and spray 2K clear over them, 2 coats minimum and 3 better on these type of mouldings.
Make sure you mask of a large area around each one and no spraying if there is any breeze as you will get overspray unless you mask the whole car.

I have managed to remove these things before by using a hair dryer to warm up the mouldings, this makes the double sided tape soft so you can pull the little blighters off if you dont fancy all the masking.

Do NOT USE A HEAT GUN, as you WILL damage your paint easily, a hair dryer will do the job and gets no where near to paint damage temperatures as long as you not right up against it.


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## MBRuss (Apr 29, 2011)

bellguy said:


> Clear coat failure yes, a lot of cheaper clear coats do not add much UV filter and single pack rattle can clear will almost always do this on carbon type finishes.
> 
> Very easy fix to mask off, wet sand them and spray 2K clear over them, 2 coats minimum and 3 better on these type of mouldings.
> 
> ...


So 2k clear should be better? (Not even sure what it is, so I'll have a Google.) I just bought the cheapest matte clear I could find on Amazon, which is probably half the problem!

I needed to repaint one of them anyway, as when I was parked on my Mum's drive her neighbour decided to spray paint his fence without telling us, so the whole car had grey dots of paint all over it 

When I clayed it all off, one of these had some on and the clay left a smooth patch when I was done. 

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## grunty-motor (Aug 11, 2016)

Youll need a spray gun for 2k (paint and hardener) and doesnt come in rattle cans.

I'd just try a different brand of clear coat and see if it reacts again in 1years time.


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