Paint Problems

[SuperStock96]

I am looking at a 97 Viper GTS and there is bubbling around hood vents and front edge of the hood. The owner told me that the 98 and earlier models had a problem with the red paint and that it was a common defect with the car and that there is in fact no rust on the car. He didn't want the dealer here to do the work because of a bad reputation and had plans to do work on the hood but is selling the car now. Can some of you guys console me about this or let me know where to tell this guy to stick it?

[Viper 10]

I've been very active in the Viper community for 7 years and have never heard anything about paint defects in Red GTS or RT's from '97. Call him on his BS and offer a lower price. Keep in mind that red is one of the more difficult colors to match because the red pigments fade so easily.

Which edges are bbbling? The only paint defect that I know of is yellowing paint on the sills from the exhaust getting too hot. This usually occurs around the mid-section of the sill where the cat's are located. My heat shield got torched from the hot exhaust on my GTS. Darker colors don't show this discoloration as badly. A quick remedy to this is replacing the stock cats with Random Tech steel substrate cats (don't waste your time with the ceramic ones). The entire swap should cost you around $1,000 with installation. Jon Brobst at Parts Rack has a pretty good price on these.

What is this guys asking for the car? It should cost you $700- $1,000 to paint the hood correctly (if it's done by a good shop that will blend and color sand the hood the right way. Keep in mind (though this price might seem high) that prep is everything when it comes to paint (not materials).

I hope this helps shed some light on your question.

Brad

[steviewonder_13]

dude, gotta go with the silver and blue strips, i saw a viper GTS not to long ago with that paint, oh man did it look dope, but i'm only 13, i just really like that paint job, what engine is in it anyway?

[SuperStock96]

The paint is bubbling around each of the vents in the hood above the tires and also right in the center of the front lip of the hood. These are some of the most common places for rust. I would think that if it were a paint defect, it would bubble not just around the edges but over the flat spots also. I have already decided against buying the car anyway. It just sounds too fishy. Come to think of it, each of the Vipers I was looking at seemed to be fishy deals.

[terryterryterry]

i worked with viper the first 2 years painting vipers at pioneer engineering in dearborn.. my dad was the manager of the program we painted them for chrylser.they did have problems with the material they used and changed the material after a few years ..when we baked the paint on the parts we were still baking the body and got outgassing fronm inside the material..its a shame but it needs to be filled in again or glassed over and be repainted.. not worth doing unless you get a good price. vipers are a great car.. when you go fast and have fun who will see the bubbles.. lol,,