Paint On Mirror Casing Keeps RIPPLING!

[VW Steve]

I have what may be a unique problem. A few years ago I noticed that the paint on my right rearview mirror casing was rippling, but I got it fixed. I'd had the car in the shop after an accident, and I thought that the guys at the body shop had something to do with it, because it looked fine when I brought it in. Anyway, I took it back and had the body shop repaint it. Now the paint has rippled again, and not only that, the casing itself is loose! I've never had this problem with the left rearview mirror casing. What could be causing this to happen?

 

[VW Steve]

P.S. I posted about my original paint ripple five years ago. The fact that it happened again is what really vexes me.

 

[Hungry4hops]

Wow that's bizarre looking almost like something melted it.

 

[Thumper]

There are a few possibilities.

A) Someone is pointing a heat gun at it. lol

B) There is a defect in the paint or they did not prep the raw plastic properly. How long ago was it painted? Was the cover replaced from the accident or just repaired and painted? Basically, plastic parts are made in a mold. That mold is coated with what's called 'release agents', their purpose is clear...........to allow the plastic part to be removed from the mold after pressing. The issue is these compounds stay in the part and if the plastic is not cleaned fully and sealed with a specific primer/sealer those release agents will do their job on the paint.

 

[VW Steve]

There are a few possibilities.

A) Someone is pointing a heat gun at it. lol

B) There is a defect in the paint or they did not prep the raw plastic properly. How long ago was it painted? Was the cover replaced from the accident or just repaired and painted? Basically, plastic parts are made in a mold. That mold is coated with what's called 'release agents', their purpose is clear...........to allow the plastic part to be removed from the mold after pressing. The issue is these compounds stay in the part and if the plastic is not cleaned fully and sealed with a specific primer/sealer those release agents will do their job on the paint.

Interesting . . . I had no idea. I don't know if it is the original cap. The accident, which occurred in December 2015, banged up my front end and never touched the cap, but I don't know if the shock waves from the accident caused the original rippling. (They might have caused the buckling in my right B-pillar trim, but that's another issue . . ..) My dealer's body repair shop did redo the cap when I saw it after I got it back once my front end was rebuilt, but I don't know why it would suddenly ripple again five years later unless it wasn't properly primed, which seems to be the case. Maybe I should get it redone by a local body shop - after the pandemic! In the meantime, maybe I should just fill the ripples with epoxy and paint over them . . . how bad can that look?

 

[Thumper]

Anything you put on there now will just be something else the shop will have to deal with to fix it right.

You haven't pissed anyone off recently? LOL For that to happen 5 years after a paint from a release agent or prep issue is odd, it could be a chemical poured on, like a paint stripper..........it's going to be best to just have that stripped to bare plastic and preped and sealed from scratch or just buy and paint a new one to be safe.

 

[VW Steve]

Anything you put on there now will just be something else the shop will have to deal with to fix it right.

You haven't pissed anyone off recently? LOL For that to happen 5 years after a paint from a release agent or prep issue is odd, it could be a chemical poured on, like a paint stripper..........it's going to be best to just have that stripped to bare plastic and preped and sealed from scratch or just buy and paint a new one to be safe.

It must have been a defective mirror cap, or the shop simply redid the old cap and hoped it would work. I'll have to find some way to do something about it . . . if my mother lets me.

 

[trekker]

How you figured out what causes that? Looks like due to radiation from a very hot thing.