What did you do to your kombi today ?

[Grantus]

Do you think the fail was caused partially by the chemical strip, the first time ‘around ?
….just curious as I know how meticulous you are with prep.

Just a dodgy job by a total amateur! This is really not my game, but I gave it a shot.

8 years ago, it was stripped back to bare metal, as you point out. Next steps were to fill & repair, wash & clean, and a coat of single pack etch primer. This was followed with coats of 2 pac primer filler.

Primer sanded back, then wash and clean, ready for top coats. Baslac 2 pac solid colour top coats were then applied.

As with ANY painting project, be it car, house or even letterbox, it is all about the prep to try and achieve a satisfactory end result.

Because the original primer coats over the etch are still rock solid, I think I can rule out any chemical reaction from the previous steps.

I’ve narrowed down the fault to either a contaminated wash and clean of the 2k primer, or incorrect cut back of the primer, or a combination of both.

Being my first foray into 2 pac automotive solid colour, I was unaware of how much body it has, and covers fine sanding scratches with ease, until I used it. With “prep, prep & more prep” foremost in my mind, I cut back the primer to a level of perfection smooth, up to 2000 wet sanded, leaving it with a perfect scratch free sheen. I may well have left nothing for the top coat to hang on too…..

Needless to say, this time the primer will be dry sanded to no finer than 400g, followed by an Isopropyl Alcohol final clean, before applying the colour coats, and see if I get a better result…..