458 paint defect HELP

Looks like rust from here!

 

That looks like the result of "galvanic corrosion" which is from dissimilar metals (aluminum and steel, for example) making electrical contact near the painted area.

This is basically a design defect.

I believe there are other threads associated with the same issue.

 

www.ferrarichat.com/forum/threads/bubbling-paintwork-corrosion.544995

 

We see this quite often in the aluminum body cars we restore. It is indeed a problem that needs to be addressed (Kieth is correct: "galvanic corrosion") as it can eat through an aluminum panel much faster than "rust through" on steel.

Probably sounds silly but that's one of the reasons I looked for a car that lived it's life in Arizona, Nevada, or California. Super dry out there. Less likely to happen where there's an absence of significant moisture and use of road salt and or chemicals.

 

Salt is particularly bad as it's a desiccant so attracts water. Then the dissimilar metals and the salt water are essentially a battery which cause an electrical current and oxidation of the less noble metal, the aluminum, under the paint.

I used to paint my aluminum sailboat boom every two years near where there was stainless steel hardware attached to it. Finally replaced the boom with a carbon fiber one.

 

That ain't gonna be pretty when you remove the paint...

Factory paint jobs are usually pretty durable in my experience. I wonder if that's a repair and a re-spray?

Ray

 

I understand the process but where are the dissimilar metals? Aren't the 2 panels in the OPs pic the same alloy?
Not good for 458 and probably 488 owners in the future.

 

Probably the bolts holding the panels together. Ild say the other panel is the bumper

 

I'm going to have a close look around the 488 tonight...

 

Nothing on the 488 mate. There is a very good chance Ferrari picked up on this with the 458

 

haha..i hope so...just like they fixed the sticky buttons on all my cars so far..

 

Original paint should not like that. How come dealer said it is common ?


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One would hope that the bolts are the same alloy as the panels. This is basic stuff but so often overlooked as like the sticky buttons, not an immediate but an impending problem.

 

Normal road chemicals and even just constant moisture can cause this too. I'm no metallurgist, so I'm only going by what I see. It is true that the direct contact of a ferrous metal to a non ferrous metal like aluminum can cause the problem shown in the OP's photos. As mentioned, it may very well be the inner fender steel bolt locations.

But with that said, I can leave a piece of aluminum outside in the rain for months and see some surface degradation from just the chemicals in the air and in the rain water. Also If you consider the TIG welding of aluminum it is very important to have a very clean part and a sometimes even a feed of shielding gas from the bottom of the part being joined as well as the Argon shielding gas coming from the TIG torch. This is because aluminum oxidizes very quickly and will immediately contaminate the weld.

We have seen vintage aluminum cars that have panel degradation in areas (severe oxidation and even holes) that have had no contact with steel fasteners or other steel reinforcements-- albeit, this is usually a paint failure leaving the aluminum panel unprotected for years. In the case of the OP's car most likely the "intrusion" of chemicals and moisture found their way into the very edge of the fender's aluminum where the paint is most very "thin". It doesn't take much to get the process started and soon you end up with what the OP is looking at.

 

First, my sympathy. I also just dealt with the sticky button issue myself. I wonder how common the corrosion problem is, and how electron transfer occurs without the metal surfaces in contact.

Second, there are obviously some chemists on board. As a Chem E., we were taught LEO says GER (Leo being a lion). LEO means lose electrons is oxidation, which is essentially corrosion.

 

To me it looks not like a failure of the paint but a failure (oxidation) of the aluminum under the paint. It has the signature of the galvanic corrosion effects I saw over and over again on my sailboat boom, always near attached stainless hardware.

I'd look for a non-aluminum fastener or part in the area that's not electrically isolated from the body panels.

Of course I could be wrong.

https://blog.samtec.com/post/dissimilar-metals-in-mating-connectors/

 

Don't feel too bad.. my Nero 488 had a couple of very nice, tiny gold paint flecks included at no charge.

Ray