Paint cracking

[MitsuGTO]

I have an old Mitsubishi GTO twin turbo in silver. I bought it a few years ago and have done some minor mods, I love the shapre so have decided I will keep it as my "fun" car for as long as petrol cars last in the UK!

Now, this last 12 months has seen some odd changes in the paint work. On one side of the car, the side rain would naturally run off since the drive has a slope, I have a problem with the paint "cracking". Its like crazy paving which runs in lines down the drivers side of the car. It also appears in other areas on that siode of the car though. The finish still feels smooth, theres no rust or visible undercoat, its just cracking. There is a tree overhead but I have cleaned the car regularly and waxed afterwards. The cracking is all on one side of the car, a photo will follow tomorrow but its too late to get a good picture now.

I have not been able to find any threads of people having anything like this issue on any forums so I wanted to ask if anyone has had this before? Is there likely to be a simpler fix than a respray?

I will be going to a body shop soon to see if they have any ideas, I am becoming reconciled to a respray to fix it but money is tighter than I would like which means a full respray may be out of my reach for a while.

[driverrob]

I don't remember another example like this in my 3 years on the GTOUK site.
Is it the original paintwork or maybe it has already had a respray which was less than perfect?

[MitsuGTO]

It has been touched up in the past, but there was not sign of any cracking for at least 18 months after I had the car...then it slowly started but has escalated quickly these past several months.

[Shine-On]

I'm not sure of the exact cause, but I've seen it happen to various clearcoated cars - including my own M3. The roof went on that, and it got worse and worse until the clear started to lift and peel off, making it look like it was recovering from sunburn. Removing the clearcoat and reapplying is the only answer I'm afraid, bodyshop time.

[alsaautomotive]

The cause is too much material put on in one go!
Good luck with it, Al.

[Huw Pugh]

If it's not too bad, you might be able to wet and dry it then machine polish it. I've only seen it done once or twice though so don't quote me. Find a local pro detailer and ask them for their opinion first. Or chuck some pics up if you have any.

[Shine-On]

I am a detailer, and I haven't seen a case of this that can be fixed. Trouble is its not just the surface of the clearcoat thats crazed, it goes right through it and will seperate from the colour underneath, so a wet sand will just accelerate the process.