Scottish Elises

Gave the Elise a good wash and tar spot removal today and noticed the paint work on the doors was slightly bubbling, like a small rash below the wing mirrors. looks like it may have been caused by the cold weather as I'm pretty sure it wasn't there in the summer. Is this a known issue? It's not that bad and only noticeable up very close.

Happens on the VX also...on theory is damaged caused by leaking of water inside the window by the rain and getting on the inside of the doors. Mine is noticeable and looks like someone has smashed a key against it. It is almost impossible to notice with a bit of the touch up pen.

I have never had it on any of my Loti but I think it is fairly common, especially after repairs have been done.
I think it's the result of water under the paint and is particularly prevalent in or after cold weather when it freezes causing the micro bubbles.

Ive had this on both my S2 Exige and Elise and on the blue S1 that I had. The outside will need rubbed down and painted and some kind of sealer on the inside of the door. On all of mine it was below the door mirror although on the Exige it spread back along the door about 6".
It is a very common fault BTW.

Found this explanation elsewhere:
The blisters are caused by moisture trapped in the fibreglass, S2's tend to suffer more than S1's this is due to the fact that S2 clam are pressed much like a steel panel, S1 clams were hand laid, although both can suffer to varying degrees. Microscopic pockets of air get trapped in the fibreglass, the air in these pockets contains moisture, the fibreglass is painted and slowly over a period of time the moisture breaks out on the surface and causes the blisters.
Couple of reasons why S2's suffer more, firstly the clams are pressed and then "finished" with a very fine powerful water jet..doesn't take a genius to see how the pockets of damp air get in there! couple this with the fact that up until about 2005 Lotus stored the unpainted clams in a field at the back of the factory open to all the elements, from there they were taken into the paint booth for spraying.
Storing the car outside will accelerate the problem,frost particularly speeds up the process, however, if your lucky enough to have well pressed, fully cured and prepared clams, doors, sills etc then the weather will never be a problem as the moisture was never there in the first place.

Following on from this does it mean that once the moisture has escaped it won't happen again?

Going by the above if there is no moisture then it shouldn't re-occur.

Had some bubbling fixed by a paint shop but the problem came back in the same area.

I have a fair bit of bubbling on my S1. It should be getting a full re spray soon so are there special steps the body shop can take to stop it re-occurring?

I don't think there is as it seems that it is moister trapped in the fibregalss that causes the problem. I guess a search will give you some idea as to any potential fixes for the long term.

avdb wrote:Had some bubbling fixed by a paint shop but the problem came back in the same area.

+1 i have had blisters on both my lotus , had them repaired and they came back.

Just ignore it and enjoy the car [SMILING FACE WITH OPEN MOUTH]

Happened on my Evora too.
Seems pretty common.


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Well that makes me a lot less concerned, cheers guys!


Andy

Are you sure it is the paint bubbling?

As it sounds more like osmosis

aka boat pox

So why isn't this a common issue on other GRP-bodied cars?

My TVR wasn't exactly the last word in quality but didn't suffer this in 5yrs, lots of that parked outdoors....

My Alfa SZ was fine till it spent a few months stored on the drive. The bubbles are gradually getting smaller now it's back in the garage. Apparently they all do it so I've not bothered to rectify it. In my mind it just proves the paint is original.


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