Citroen Xantia HDi SX Bonnet finish

[stevestix8]

Hi all,

Have recently bought a S reg Xantia HDi SX and have been restoring and fixing problems. Have fixed everything now and am happy with it.

The last problem I have to solve is the bonnet. It appears to have some water or heat penetration that has caused the laquer layer to bubble. Very small bubbles all over the top of the bonnet.

I have recently filled, sanded, sprayed and laquered the bumpers back and front and they have come up nearly 100%. Am pleased with finish.

I was going to leave the bonnet but as I have fixed and restored everything else I thought I would try to solve this problem with bonnet.

Has anyone got any suggestions or seen this problem before as I have searched the web for other people with similar problem and found nothing.

The only thing I can think to do is wet&dry the laquer layer which will hopefully remove problem and then either re-laquer or t-cut wax to restore polish.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Steve

[andmcit]

Hi Steve, sounds like you need to talk to Xantiaman for professional advice
- that's his thing. If he doesn't see this it may be worth putting another
request with a mention of Xantia man in the thread title.

For all the work and possible expense would it not be easier to find
a similar age and colour bonnet from someone on this forum or ebay?

Andrew

[HDI Dave]

Hi all,
Has anyone got any suggestions or seen this problem before as I have searched the web for other people with similar problem and found nothing.
Steve

Steve, I have the same problem!

Small and large blisters in the laquer on the bonnet,mainly at the front.If I can get a pic of mine I'll put it on later.

Never seen owt like it before,(had around 100 motors in 30 years,buy and sell em etc), and I've always steered clear of French stuff,cars, even bikes,electrics etc seem to let em down, so maybe it's a French laquer thing?
Strange as the laquer seems really thick,so why is it so brittle?

One thing I do know is my cars history,(mate owned it for 4 years).
He did high/fast motorway miles. The problem is stone chips. New blisters every week.Any other car would have a slight mark..
..some? xants seem to get mahoosive blisters...It's like the laquer hasn't taken to the bonnet.

T'is a big panel though..do you rub it down/respray/laquer or chuck it in the bodyshop/painters?

I too would be interested to see if anyone else on here has/had the same laquer problem, as it really spoils my car...

[dnsey]

Hmm...I had a similar thing with my last Xantia. Tried rubbing it down, but it just made the bubbles bigger, and I couldn't find anything which would feather the edges - they just seem to recede without thinning.
I'm sure there's a correct way to do it, but straightforward wet&dry, cutting compound etc isn't it
If you think it's worth it, I guess a quich rub down to clean up the surface, followed by several new coats of lacquer, then a lot of rubbing to even it up over the bubbles might work, but I'd be worried about how stable the remaining lacquer is.
Obvious options are eiher a new (scrap) bonnet, if you can find a good one, or a complete strip and respray.

[XantiaDaveEire]

This happened on one of my old Xantias

I was at a car wash and the water was way way way too hot !!! and lifted some paint on the grille and caused other little bubbles ..maybe the same happened to your car in the past

[andmcit]

Steve - what's tha Xant's colour - the s2 will either have the paintcode on
the bulkhead face near the driver's strut top or on the driver's door jamb
tyre pressures sticker - I'll keep asn eye out on ebay and on my travels
as I'm always tuned in to Xantia/Citroen bits'n bobs. Whereabouts are
you located?

Andrew

[HDI Dave]

This happened on one of my old Xantias
I was at a car wash and the water was way way way too hot !!! and lifted some paint on the grille and caused other little bubbles ..maybe the same happened to your car in the past

Dave, no offence intended,but I think it has nowt to do with car washes. I speak from vast experience here, as I spent a good 5 years as a car wash manager,(IMO, now ARC).

Certain cars,bizarley,top end cars,Lexus etc,as well as low spec,early seats etc, were a pain in the @ss to even jetwash.
Lifted the laquer..then you got the owners flying back round effing and blinding...the laquer was obviously not right! So it turned into a 'your wash has done it/dumb car washer,peasant')
..not the laquer......claim form ..there you go mate

[stevestix8]

Hi,

Thanks everyone for responses.

Is interesting to see others with same problem. Everyone iv'e talked too hasn't seen this prob before. My Xantia is the quartz silver spray colour. The bubbling seems to come up from under the spray layer and poss even under the primer layer. Different size bubles ranging from a few mil to a fine dark mist over other areas.

I think it must be either water or heat penetration or poss both. That has caused the blistering.

Iv'e looked at cutting compounds ranging in courseness from something like G3 up to less abrasive compounds such as t-Cut (abrasive level 8). The prob is that I will have to completely remove the laquer layer and then the spray layer and then the primer layer. (which is alot of elbow grease) to take the bubbling fully out before re-primering, re spraying several times and then relaquering.

I can't see it being worth the expense or time.

I agree with the others that say I might find another 1 on scrapyard. Will keep my eyes open and hopefully will get a good 1 in time.

Many thanx again for help.

Steve

[andmcit]

s1 silver bonnet:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/XANTIA-BONNET-SIL ... 3f0207ca3a

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/XANTIA-BONNET-SIL ... 3f018595a1

s2 silver bonnet:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/CITROEN-XANTIA-19 ... 2308c6277c



Andrew

[the_weaver]

The clearcoat is very bad on my 1993 ZX. See this post for pictures:-

http://www.frenchcarforum.co.uk/forum/v ... highlight=

It's a black car but the clearcoat is turning white and coming off.

Paul