Waaay beyond repair!

[Web Docta]

I purchased this '94 Caravan back in '99 and the only problem that I've had with it has been the transmission. It's been rebuilt for the second time a couple of years ago and hopefully for the last time. It's really very reliable now. It's kind of the workhorse in the family.

Unfortunately, a lot of people who own mini-vans tend to ignore the roof. ( The PO and myself included ). Yesterday I decided to remove the roof racks and see how bad it was up there. I was pretty shocked. I don't think the top has ever been cleaned or waxed

I think that it is pretty much beyond repair. Would some spray cans of touch-up paint be in order or should I consider getting the top repainted? The rest of the vehicle actually doesn't look too bad.

 

[White95Max]

My dad's 94 Grand Voyager (same color) is going to be one of my first details this season. As far as I know, there aren't any spots like that on his roof (yet). It was garage kept until 2000 so maybe that's why. It's got bad oxidation and swirls though.

I never bother to wash the roof on the van either. My dad doesn't care what I do to it. He's one of the Get-Me-From-Point-A-to-Point-B types.

 

[Web Docta]

I spent some time today removing the roof racks and the plastic strips. There was a lot of adhesive and it's almost impossible to get that stuff off. I really don't have any use for the roof racks and I'm not going to put them back.

I used some mineral spirits and some rubbing compound. It got a lot of it off but it's going to take a lot of work to remove all of it.



It's not visible from the ground. The only parts that are visible are the sides and some of the front spots. I'm thinking that if I can get all the adhesive off I can then wet sand and seal the bare spots with some touch-up spray paint. That should stop any further errosion of the paint.

 

[romar]

These mid-'90s vans often had finish problems, including peeling paint. I had mine a year before it needed repainting, which was done under warranty. Finally sold it in April of last year, and it still looked pretty decent. The shot of your van looks pretty much like it did before the repaint...

 

[Mochamanz1]

Looks like some primer failure is the culprit partially IMO. I have seen hoods, tailgate,trunks all with the same defect.... either bad primer or contaminated paint. This is a factory problem usually and be wary. repainting over the existing primer does not always result in a fix....

 

[the other pc]

As long as the rest of the paint is holding solid you should be able to redo just the roof. It may not match really well but it would be functional.



If the topcoat is still peeling you may have to remove all of it from the roof and expose whatever is still sticking well to the metal. Assuming the primer is intact with no rust or metal showing you can scuff sand it for grip and apply a primer/sealer.



If there are spots going through to metal you should sand down to clean metal, remove any rust, use a converter and shoot them with an etching primer before doing the overall coat of primer/sealer.



Then you can lay on the color and clear. Since there's plenty of glass, a visual break at the roof and not much area where new paint will meet old you should be able to blend it with the old paint well enough to not be hideous.



Rattle cans won't work very well on so much area. You may be able to find a painter who'll do just the shoot at a reasonable price if you do all the prep yourself.





PC

 

[safetyman2010]

I purchased this '94 Caravan back in '99 and the only problem that I've had with it has been the transmission. It's been rebuilt for the second time a couple of years ago and hopefully for the last time. It's really very reliable now. It's kind of the workhorse in the family.

Unfortunately, a lot of people who own mini-vans tend to ignore the roof. ( The PO and myself included ). Yesterday I decided to remove the roof racks and see how bad it was up there. I was pretty shocked. I don't think the top has ever been cleaned or waxed

I think that it is pretty much beyond repair. Would some spray cans of touch-up paint be in order or should I consider getting the top repainted? The rest of the vehicle actually doesn't look too bad.

This is actually a fairly common problem for some mid-90's Chrysler vehicles. I know that the 1995 neon hada MAJOR issue with the same problem and the paint would peel from the roof/hood/trunklid. The explanation I was given by my paint consultant was that the Chrysler assembly line was periodically sped up to meet production quotas and the paint shop did not adjust to accomodate for the increased volume. This oversight led to poor quality paint jobs and inadequate film build which in turn led to premature paint failure in the areas that received the most abuse - the top surfaces of the vehicle. I suggest that you take the van to a decent paint shop and just have the roof repainted right. It shouldn't cost you more than about $500 or so provided there isn't any damage to correct other than the defects you discussed.

 

[chef]

This is actually a fairly common problem for some mid-90's Chrysler vehicles.

Actually this was a problem with other makes as well. GM had a problem with some models and I believe even Ford had a couple of models affected. The probelm was the bonding between the primer and topcoats.



My Dad's 95 Astro van had the problem and when we took it to the paint shop the owner explained that it was a widespread problem. The companies got away with a silent recall - read:they didn't tell anyone, and they only covered it if the original owner made a fuss. The owner of the paint shop had done the work for dealers so that is how he knew.



My Dad bought his second hand so it cost him a new paint job.



However, proper paint care can minimise the problem. Good for Autopians:xyxthumbs