The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Fish eye?

If I have fish eye in places what is the corrective method? It looks like the epoxy did fill in. I have scuffed all my panels and blended in the high build over the bad reaction areas. I think I am ready to try and shoot this stuff again as long as other think I can shoot over areas that originally fish eyed on me.

I think you just have to sand them out and re-shoot. I'm going that route on one that I have on the cowl of the cab I just painted. I'm thinking of a soap and water washdown AND wax and grease remover before I re-shoot it. I sanded down just into the primer layer, but left some on.

Maybe someone else with more experience with fisheyes will weigh in.

It could be something in or on the primer that caused the fisheye. I have always sanded to bare metal, cleaned with wax and grease remover, primed, filled with spot putty if necessary, primed, sanded than shot the color again. Anytime I tried a shortcut, the fisheyes reappeared, then I just doubled the work.

Maybe there are others that have had success with other methods.

One real important thing to remember, if it is actually fish eye due to contaminants, you want to clean the surface with wax and grease remover/laquer thinner/etc. before you start sanding. If the contaminants are oil/silicone the sanding will imbed them into the paint further.

I fixed my fisheye today. Washed it with dish detergent and water, rinsed and dried, then used wax and grease remover. It's gone now. Cleaning prior to sanding is a good idea. I dodged that bullet.

👍

Are you saying it went away just from washing? Or you washed it, sanded it, and resprayed it?

Ya, that's what I was wondering.

I sanded down into but not through the primer, washed with detergent, wiped down with wax and grease remover and resprayed that spot.
It would have been a lot less work if just washing it with detergent made it disappear, but unfortunately, it doesn't work that way.

I first thought you were able to wash it and then sand it out.

The paint was thin enough at the bottom of it that the primer was showing. So that wouldn't have worked.

It looks like the bottom of the eye filled in with material. I have it sanded close to the bottom of it. Can I hope it self levels (As advertised) in, or not?

I sanded till it was level, and like i said into the primer layer. If there's still a depression, and you have it clean, and can get paint into the bottom of the eye, it should self level. You may need multiple coats to get it completely flat. Maybe sanding between coats. Mine was on a basically flat surface and I shot about 3 coats before each coat was completely dry. It's the best looking spot on the cab.

Not something you might want to do, but something I observed back in the early '70s.
A friend with a wrecking yard was fixing up a vehicle, which I don't remember anything about. It may have been a vehicle for the yard, I don't recall. He had invited a friend, an old painter to come by to shoot the paint.
He shot little more than a panel when he recognized the fisheyes. He took the cup off, sprayed WD-40 into it and kept painting. Sprayed WD-40 into the rest of the paint. and the finished vehicle looked just fine.
The paint was plain automotive enamel that dried very slowly. The oil in the paint was compatible with the contaminants on the body and the paint flowed out as it should. I have no recollection of how well or long it survived.

Maybe not something you'd try on your nice truck, but a mower or something .

I think something like that is used for paint that has a hammered look. Might be something to try on a Stovebolt heater to get that effect. I think back in the 70's, WD-40 still had silicone in it. Normally that's death to a good paint job.

Early 60's 3M came out with a fish eye elimnator called Smoothie, don't know if its still around

Still available. Smoothie