Tech Tip: Do Not Paint!

By: Terry Tanner

Do not paint your Bricklin body panels without the correct procedure! Time after time, calls come into my shop from a Bricklin owner that has had the car painted and now it has started to crack big time. The reason is that the acrylic body materials do not like any paint! All paints have chemicals that can, and will, change the actual molecular structure of acrylic. Body panels will change from a very strong material to a big cracker. Once this chemical change has started, there is no way to reverse the process. Any body panel that is contaminated must be replaced.

I have a '75 Bricklin in my shop that was painted blue. The body has started to crack. I sanded the top of the left door skin and found 12 coats of paint and primer. Somebody put a lot of money in paint and labor, trying to get a good looking job, in vain! The acrylic panel under the 12 layers of paint is cracked like a road map and must be replaced. The shop that painted this car is responsible for the total destruction of the body.

This is not the first car I have had to replace body panels on because of incorrect paint application. Over the 20 years I have been in the Bricklin business, there have been many cars damaged by the lack of understanding that a Bricklin body is not a Corvette or any other type of normal surface. Can a Bricklin be painted? Yes, if all existing cracks are repaired correctly and the acrylic surface is coated with a special sealer (Nova Prime HP-100 manufactured by R&M Paints) prior to application of any primer or paint. If you are thinking about painting your Bricklin, be sure you know the correct method and make sure the painter will use the correct materials.

I had another car in my shop now that required a complete body change. The owner stood in my shop and I told him the correct material. I even wrote the procedure for him and asked that the painter call me to discuss the job. I never heard a word until they called for an appointment to fix "a few cracks". A few cracks! Ha! The whole body is gone, along with a great deal of money. The bottom line is do not paint unless it is absolutely necessary. Then you must be sure the sealer (R&M HP-100) is properly applied before the primer and paint.