# Who can fix Aston Martin paint bubble on aluminium bodywork?



## RossyL (Sep 14, 2009)

Hi,

Aston Martins unfortunately had a common problem with the paint bubbling on their aluminium body panels due to incorrectly prepped bodywork.

Does anyone have experience fixing this?

Here are a couple of pictures of what I mean.

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/BnR5Z-4EoBLobC0wLdJW9KGce7AMgQ9_RZ8cutYSfBo?feat=directlink

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/w0fghgPOpKDkwQ3bFTbyhaGce7AMgQ9_RZ8cutYSfBo?feat=directlink

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/ek3uELEEXt3vtiiwAIlURaGce7AMgQ9_RZ8cutYSfBo?feat=directlink

Thanks very much
R


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## RossyL (Sep 14, 2009)

Now with pics!


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## chongo (Jun 7, 2014)

All can can say to rectify this is a respray, like you said bad job. Is it your car?


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## dholdi (Oct 1, 2008)

I would have thought someone is capable of spot repairing that ?


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## RossyL (Sep 14, 2009)

Aston Martinb I'm quite sure do not respray for this. 

The photos are hard to follow. The areas are very small.


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## chongo (Jun 7, 2014)

As 4 said spot repair. So how would you address this then.^^^


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## Andyb0127 (Jan 16, 2011)

No chance of doing three spot repairs on that.
Needs door to be completely stripped areas of corrosion then need to be shot blasted, then epoxy primer as thus will seal it from air and moisture two main contributors in corrosion. Then prepped prior to painting and blend adjacent panels if needed as it look like ast1344 meteorite silver which has quite a few variations of shades.


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## slim_boy_fat (Jun 23, 2006)

You say "Aston Martins unfortunately had a common problem with the paint bubbling on their aluminium body panels due to incorrectly prepped bodywork."

Is this acknowledged by AML as a factory defect/problem? A check with a PTG would tell if any remedial paintwork has been done - if not, I'd be contacting them to see what they say about putting it right under their coachwork warranty.


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## TonyHill (Jul 28, 2015)

That's shocking for such a high end motor!! My old Peugeot had a better finish than that. 
:buffer:


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## RossyL (Sep 14, 2009)

This is not corrosion, it is incorrectly prepped metal work that results in the pain not adhering. It is a common Aston and also Porsche problem.

It is not corrosion. Its is aluminium, you'd struggle to find that corroding.

AM would offer to go halves in the price of their bodywork repairs. Unfortunately my car is out of warranty.

Also, these defects are the same size or smaller than a 5p piece. A normal person wouldn't even see them.

What I struggle with is I see plenty of SMART repairs on areas much larger than a 5p piece. Perfectly paint matched and therefore requiring little blending. I don't see why for the area the size of a 5p piece a whole door needs doing. It is not three spots on the same door either.

I would expect the area to be sanded back, keyed, cleaned, painted, flatted and polished. If the paint matching is good I wouldn't see why a huge blend would need doing.

But then, I'm not the expert that's why I asked you guys. But I struggle to understand why a 5p piece sized issue requires an entire door painting.


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## lofty (Jun 19, 2007)

I'd agree it needs rubbing down and the whole panel painted, Smart repairers don't like full flat panels, they like bumper corners etc. My Vantage had similar blemishes and corrosion on the door mirror arms, I sent it back to the dealer and got my old car back, quality is atrocious, not just for a £100k car but for any vechicle, my Renaut vans have better paintwork.


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## Andyb0127 (Jan 16, 2011)

RossyL said:


> This is not corrosion, it is incorrectly prepped metal work that results in the pain not adhering. It is a common Aston and also Porsche problem.
> 
> It is not corrosion. Its is aluminium, you'd struggle to find that corroding.
> 
> ...


And there is the problem you've got it into your head it can be smart repaired and you're not listening to the advice I put up specially seeing aa I've over thirty years experience in the trade and have worked on numerous Aston Martin. But good luck with it hope you get the outcome you have in your mind.


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## JCoxy (Dec 21, 2011)

the problem is a 5p piece size, but the working area is much larger. Just to even block it down will turn the area into a 20 - 30cm square. This is why the whole panel needs doing


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## RossyL (Sep 14, 2009)

Andyb0127 said:


> And there is the problem you've got it into your head it can be smart repaired and you're not listening to the advice I put up specially seeing aa I've over thirty years experience in the trade and have worked on numerous Aston Martin. But good luck with it hope you get the outcome you have in your mind.


That's quite unfair.

You put your answer forward, I have put forward mine.

Can you not explain why it cannot be done as a SMART repair? An explanation would be helpful.


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## fergul (Feb 18, 2012)

RossyL said:


> That's quite unfair.
> 
> You put your answer forward, I have put forward mine.
> 
> Can you not explain why it cannot be done as a SMART repair? An explanation would be helpful.


It seems like quite an indepth laborious process from researching projects at work. It seems like ally needs to be perfectly clean, so it's washed in acid to achieve that result. Then acid etched and then primer, but I'm no expert it is just what i have seen.

Sent from my LG-H815 using Tapatalk


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## Andyb0127 (Jan 16, 2011)

Because when that's being prepped that 5p area will turn I to bigger area on all three. And to do it correctly it will need shot blasting as yes that is corrosion so only way to completely remove it is as I suggested because just sanding it won't remove it and it will come back. Because it's aluminium it corrodes in a different way to steel, but it will still need an epoxy primer to seal it which will be bigger than a 5p which is why all suggestions saying it is easier to do the complete door.


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## slim_boy_fat (Jun 23, 2006)

RossyL said:


> ...It is not corrosion. Its is aluminium, you'd struggle to find that corroding.


It's oxidisation,but the nett result is the same.



RossyL said:


> AM would offer to go halves in the price of their bodywork repairs.


I'd accept their offer then - can't imagine it'll be cheap 'though.

As an aside, Vauxhall fixed three panels on my GTE years ago due to lacquer peel - it was 6 years old with incomplete VXSH. :thumb:


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## squiggs (Oct 19, 2009)

The cause of the damage (oxidisation) isn't an easy thing to deal with while trying to keep the repair small. 
Colours with a high metallic content combined with a flat panel don't lend themselves to keeping the repair small.

Those aspects really push the boundaries of it being suitable to be smart repaired.

I'm a Smart repairer with 10 years of experience and my advice is that it should go to a paint shop


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## Guest (Jul 18, 2016)

Id imagine you might find some alternative answers (If thats what you want)here...its not a new problem.Maybe other owners have had good results...
https://www.amoc.org/forum/index.php?topic=15306.0


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## R7KY D (Feb 16, 2010)

I had exactly this when we had the DB9 , Back to Gaydon it went and it was taken care of under their used car warranty , Seeing as yours it out of warranty i'd be holding my breath as they tell you the quote 

On the upside , It's a lot cheaper to run than an F430


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## RossyL (Sep 14, 2009)

Thanks guys for the detail on this.


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