Paint scratch seems to more of a "split". Advice???

[desertrat57]

New owner of a 67 Beetle that is essentially all original restoration. Paint is beautiful Ruby Red.
The most glaring issue os what looks like a catch but looking closer, seems to be a split.
1- has anyone seen something like this before?
2- any advice as to what can be done to prevent the area from getting worse?
3- can it be mended and spot painted to blend with existing paint.

Oops. Fofr perspective, the crack is about 1 inch long.

Thanks for any feedback!

[wheel607]

Looks like a dough crack, surface incorrectly prepared. The only remedy for this is to break off the 1 inch offender and prepare surface again to repaint. Cracks in paint have to be dug out and redone, only way to correct. Look at back and you can tell if filler was used (usually dirty surface) and used to paint too quick. Hope your whole car wasnt done this way! Good for you that crack has not gone through, just into the dough.

[my3bugs]

looks like dough ? as in BONDO letting go .

i have some fenders re done n painted some 30 or more years ago . the car lives outside .......it has gotten a few of those over the years . it looked perfect for years .

[Schnitzelfuss]

It may be worth a try to mend it. Not expensive and fairly simple. If it reappears, well then, time to invest much more time and money. To mend it I’d carefully drill (slowly) a small hole at both ends of the crack until reaching metal then stop. Use a drill bit designed for acrylics or fiberglass, they have smooth shoulders at the tips and won’t grab and tear up the paint and filler. The hole should be approximately the diameter of the width of the crack. Then tape to protect as much of the paint around the crack, as close to the crack and end holes as possible. Mix a small amount of fiberglass filler and catalyst, and carefully almost completely fill the crack and end holes. Leave a little room for the touch up paint. Wipe away any excess and remove the tape, allow the filler to harden, then grab your Dr. Colorchip kit and touch up the crack.

[Bobs67vwagen]

As stated above a disposable syringe might be an option to get the epoxy into the crack after cleaning. It will work for a while.