Re-Paint Issues

I had most of my Dad's old Delorean repaired and re-assembled by "experts" and most of it came out pretty good. The car was sitting for about 25 years, and I guess it was time to fix it so he could ideally get some use out of it in the future.

The car was re-painted and the quality looked acceptable. They said it was just like original, and it probably was -- mediocre and original silver and dark silver paint with a quality slightly above that produced by a rattle can of this modern era. Everything looked correct when I got it 60 days ago. I drove it from California to Arizona, and after a few tries (towed back once, driven back once, and then it made it!) it got to Arizona.

It's very hot here at the moment and the car was driven in the sun. Bounced around, driven at up highway speeds and perhaps a bit more. Driven on rough roads, and around corners. I figured since everything was fixed, something must be broken and of course plenty of things were.

But, here 60 days out some of that silver rattle can quality paint under the DMC logo in the front of the car is flaking off, and then I have two pins on the left and right headlights poking through the front bumper section.

I'm thinking that this relates to something being assembled wrong, but they are suggesting that someone bumped the car into something.

Any thoughts?

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The paint can be spotted in on the front fascia and be invisible. I do this type of repair almost on a daily basis. If I had to guess, either it was hit and the paint fractured or there is filler under the paint that cured incorrectly or was applied wrong(too thick). Other things could cause that but that's my 2 cents. It's hard to diagnose in pics as close up details are lost.

The two pins poking through can probably be carefully heated and pushed back with no paint damage but whatever caused the issue will need to be addressed.

There will be always issues if it’s the factory urethane fascia. In the hot sun, that fascia will warp. So it’s probably the headlight bracket making those points.

As for the paint... who did the paint job?

If the part is not properly prepared the paint will not adhere and can flake off. Especially if they did not use the right paint, it has to be a little flexible.

That looks like insufficient prep to me. The paint, primer, or filler may be missing a flex additive. I'd guess the high spots are from an eyebrow repair. Maybe something not seated correctly? In any case, not restoration-quality work.

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