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ConvertiblesDiscussed here are problems and solutions to convertible specific questions, including difficult to find part numbers and other convertible tech help.
Last night, before I went to bed, I decided to see if I could unsmoosh the front spoiler with a little floor jack persuasion, by jacking it up all night.
It seems to be having a good effect when I checked it this morning!
I would add a little time with the heat gun and you can probably make it look great. I was amazed what a little heat did to fix the smooshed front bumper on my 91 Formula.
I would add a little time with the heat gun and you can probably make it look great. I was amazed what a little heat did to fix the smooshed front bumper on my 91 Formula.
Thanks. I think I'll put a halogen lamp next to it later.
The deck, driver's door and front and rear bumper covers were repainted by what looks to be the same guy. I see a lot of wet sanding in this car's future.
As I mentioned, the repainted areas were not done by top shelf painters. The deck and tonneau especially, were too much for me to stand looking at.. Dirt in the paint, crazed clear coat, sanding marks, I mean WTF?!?!?
So, I started wet sanding. 1000 grit, then 2000 grit, then buffing with Megs 105 and then in a freak accident, the main bolt on my buffer snapped. So I've got to wait for it's replacement to finish the job. Here are some pics.
Poor picture, but this gives you an idea of what it looked like. The deck has had a quick 1000 grit wet sand and buff just to see where I was at. The tonneau cover is untouched. The difference already is notable.
Tonneau and deck wet sanded with 1000 and then 2000 grit.
And about 40% done with buffing. The blemish in front is where I inadvertently sanded into the color coat. This was a pretty nasty area which required a lot of sanding. I'll have to deal with that somehow
I am surprised you bought a non-high performance Thirdgen. A purple convertible auto with 2.73 gears. Car is probably a 16.5 in the quarter mile. By any chance is this a car that the wife can join in the 3rd gen hobby? This car is not your usual style of Thirdgen.
The car looks good. Would look really nice with the original anniversary stripes back on it. Did it have black or white stripes originally?
I removed the rear spoiler to both clean underneath it and make it easier to buff.
What I found were these three studs just lose and unattached and without bolts under the spoiler. Looks like someone had tried to glue or epoxy them to the inside of the spoiler previously, unsuccessfully. The spoiler was attached with 2 sided tape.
I'll have to sort the spoiler out while waiting for my new buffer. Anyone have a pic of the underside of this spoiler?
I am surprised you bought a non-high performance Thirdgen. A purple convertible auto with 2.73 gears. Car is probably a 16.5 in the quarter mile. By any chance is this a car that the wife can join in the 3rd gen hobby? This car is not your usual style of Thirdgen.
The car looks good. Would look really nice with the original anniversary stripes back on it. Did it have black or white stripes originally?
It actually drives really nice. My butt dyno tells me it's quite a bit faster than a 16.5, though.
This is the L98 cammed LB9 with an L03 exhaust.
And having the wife involved in the hobby is always a good thing!
This is not a Z03 car, so no stripes. It would look good with the silver Z03 stripes, which would have come with it. Phoenix Graphics has them.
I removed the rear spoiler to both clean underneath it and make it easier to buff.
What I found were these three studs just lose and unattached and without bolts under the spoiler. Looks like someone had tried to glue or epoxy them to the inside of the spoiler previously, unsuccessfully. The spoiler was attached with 2 sided tape.
I'll have to sort the spoiler out while waiting for my new buffer. Anyone have a pic of the underside of this spoiler?
It actually drives really nice. My butt dyno tells me it's quite a bit faster than a 16.5, though.
This is the L98 cammed LB9 with an L03 exhaust.
And having the wife involved in the hobby is always a good thing!
This is not a Z03 car, so no stripes. It would look good with the silver Z03 stripes, which would have come with it. Phoenix Graphics has them.
Ok, that makes more sense. I knew you could not own a peanut cam car. Even, if the car did not have factory Z03 stripes you should consider them. The car would look really nice with them and it might make that less then ideal paint work on the hood and truck a little less noticeable.
Awesome car! Damn too bad its not a heritage car, but still really cool none the less! How is the rest of the interior? That can be the most frustrating thing on these 92 convertibles. You can trim back the white plastic (exposed from under the vinyl) on the Airbag and re-glue the outer vinyl over it, but it still seemed to leave a larger gap and not look correct, but is much better than warped and curled look. I went through 3 "good" air bags before I got one with no curl at all. I think I still have one that was almost perfect with a minor trim job.
I've cleaned the dirt off the undercarriages on cars from Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota and this one from California. The nicest dirt is by far from California!
I took it to cruise night tonight. There were two other '92 Purple Haze RS coupes there. It must have been the highest concentration of Purple Haze cars in a long time.
Brought my '89 back from ThirdGen Expo and started fiddling with the '92 again. Did a few things, but just wanted to show you guys something. I sprayed all purpose cleaner on the driver's side seatbelt because it looked pretty dirty.
This is the towel after ONE WIPE.
Yuck! Another couple wipes and and needed to go to another towel.
Good thing I wasn't wearing my Armani tux when I was driving it!
Brought my '89 back from ThirdGen Expo and started fiddling with the '92 again. Did a few things, but just wanted to show you guys something. I sprayed all purpose cleaner on the driver's side seatbelt because it looked pretty dirty.
This is the towel after ONE WIPE.
Yuck! Another couple wipes and and needed to go to another towel.
Good thing I wasn't wearing my Armani tux when I was driving it!
Yeah.. that looks nasty, but i bet your seat belts are better.
What APC do you use? I have used Folex and have had awsome results with my seats.
Yeah.. that looks nasty, but i bet your seat belts are better.
What APC do you use? I have used Folex and have had awsome results with my seats.
Wait a minute..... Armani Tux???
Megs. It's pretty strong and I don't think it will etch aluminum like Simple Green might. Actually, I would usually use Simple Green on something like this, but the Megs APC was within arm's reach.
Nice find, I have a 91 z28 vert and they painted over the clear protection strip also. I covered mine with Carbon Fiber vinyl until I can have it repainted. It looks nicer than what it did. Also you can use 3m clear bra material which is very simiiar to the original clear material. How do you find out what engine and gear package you have?
Nice find, I have a 91 z28 vert and they painted over the clear protection strip also. I covered mine with Carbon Fiber vinyl until I can have it repainted. It looks nicer than what it did. Also you can use 3m clear bra material which is very simiiar to the original clear material. How do you find out what engine and gear package you have?
Thanks.
Engine and gear ratio info is listed on the SPID. I also ran a Compnine on it which confirmed it.
Nice find, I have a 91 z28 vert and they painted over the clear protection strip also. I covered mine with Carbon Fiber vinyl until I can have it repainted. It looks nicer than what it did. Also you can use 3m clear bra material which is very simiiar to the original clear material. How do you find out what engine and gear package you have?
Any chance you can post a picture of it with the carbon fiber vinyl?
Any chance you can post a picture of it with the carbon fiber vinyl?
Sure. I did this in 2 pieces. I put a small seam to the right of the metal lock plate which I covered also. This is 3m carbon fiber. I also did the scoops on the hood with the same vinyl.
Sure. I did this in 2 pieces. I put a small seam to the right of the metal lock plate which I covered also. This is 3m carbon fiber. I also did the scoops on the hood with the same vinyl.
That actually looks really good. Not sure about the blisters.
Thank you. I wasn't sure about the blister scoops also, but it is growing on me
I like them. The ones on my 91 are painted flat black now & I was thinking about getting them wrapped in a carbon fiber. Where did you get it done - vehicle wrap company? Did they take them off to do it or just wrap them on the hood?
I like them. The ones on my 91 are painted flat black now & I was thinking about getting them wrapped in a carbon fiber. Where did you get it done - vehicle wrap company? Did they take them off to do it or just wrap them on the hood?
Mine were painted with a spray can...and it showed. I am a graphics guy and own a local shop. I did them myself. You should be able to go to your local sign shop(wrap co.) to get this done. I did take mine off so you can wrap fully around on to the backside. Carbon fiber can be expensive(it cost me $50 per yard) so you may want to shop it around. Oracal and Avery are other brands of carbon vinyl and tend to be a little less expensive.
I've cleaned the dirt off the undercarriages on cars from Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota and this one from California. The nicest dirt is by far from California!
I bought my 4th gen convertible from the inland Californian desert, sight unseen. Being from Canada, 2 things that immediately jumped out at me were 1) the amount of dust everywhere (including in the A/C vents), and 2) the factory paper tags were still on the steel brake lines.
I bought my 4th gen convertible from the inland Californian desert, sight unseen. Being from Canada, 2 things that immediately jumped out at me were 1) the amount of dust everywhere (including in the A/C vents), and 2) the factory paper tags were still on the steel brake lines.
Yeah, it is a dusty kind of dirt - and it's everywhere.
I've been on a paint touch up and wet sanding frenzy this weekend. I'll post some pics later.
I ordered the Dr Colorchip "road rash" kit. The hood had literally hundreds of tiny stone chips. There was no way I could touch them all up by hand. The system lets you squirt paint on an area and spread it around with a squeegee, filling many chips at one time. You then buff off excess paint with a special solvent, leaving only the paint in the chip. I wish I would have taken some before pics. I had a couple friends stop by the garage and they were dumbfounded by the results. You're supposed to let it cure for 3 days before you buff it, and that's what I'm going to do.
Amongst other things, I also wet sanded the driver's door which was more terrible than the deck. the clear coat was loaded with dirt, dust, fish eyes and some sort of curly thread or hair. Yuck!
Don't you worry, it's behind the post. No way could it fall on the car.
BTW, that's a 1976 Schwinn Continental purchased new by me, with the first $350 I ever made. It was my first yellow vehicle.
In 76 I was riding on a Ross Apollo 5 Speed - which I too bought for myself with my paper route money!
Car is looking good - just some time & effort to get it to where you're happy with it. I think I'd be bored if I ever bought a car I didn't have to mess with even a little.
In 76 I was riding on a Ross Apollo 5 Speed - which I too bought for myself with my paper route money!
Car is looking good - just some time & effort to get it to where you're happy with it. I think I'd be bored if I ever bought a car I didn't have to mess with even a little.
Thanks. I know what you mean. In many ways, this is the most fun part of getting a car.
I was pleasantly pleased with the Dr. Color Chip system too. Works well, and made my convertible look night and day better until I could afford to do complete re-paint. Looks really good man. We are gonna need some more shot outside.
I was pleasantly pleased with the Dr. Color Chip system too. Works well, and made my convertible look night and day better until I could afford to do complete re-paint. Looks really good man. We are gonna need some more shot outside.
Will do. I have told my buds that the paint on this car will be presentable for cruise night by Friday, (if it doesn't rain).
Let's see how this turns out. I was planning on having the front bumper cover repainted anyway. It was repainted by the same idiot who did the deck and driver's door, due to clear coat failure. He must not have used a flex agent because the paint is cracked and a chunk came off, exposing the factory paint. I feathered the edges and filled it in higher than the rest of the surface. In a day or two, I'll sand it down and buff it and see what we have.
Let's see how this turns out. I was planning on having the front bumper cover repainted anyway. It was repainted by the same idiot who did the deck and driver's door, due to clear coat failure. He must not have used a flex agent because the paint is cracked and a chunk came off, exposing the factory paint. I feathered the edges and filled it in higher than the rest of the surface. In a day or two, I'll sand it down and buff it and see what we have.
Man.. maybe someday I will have the guts to wet sand my car. I think I'll try on my 03 Silverado first, just to see how bad I screw up.
Here's what I've learned about the Dr. Color Chip paint. It's awesome if used as directed. But the paint is pretty soft, even after it's cured. So you can't really sand, buff and finesse it like regular paint without mostly removing it.
Sorry guys, haven't been stopping in on this thread. I've done about a 100 things to it in the past week or two.
Today, amongst other things, I buffed it out with Megs 205. I had previously wet sanded some problem areas and buffed with 105. And I took some pics!
Here's the hood in process with the 205.
Not a 100 point Concours d'Elegance, but a spectacular transformation from how I got it. Also note, I repainted the fake vents in the the blisters trim black.
Here are some more.
That river of mud came from the other side of the driveway. It's from cleaning the inside of the RF wheel and scrubbing everything in that wheel well. I did the other front corner in the garage last night, since it was raining. Jeeze, what a mess. That there folks is an outside job.
There are still some defects in the paint, small scratches etc. But at some point you've got to live with a few, or risk getting too aggressive in your correction.
Also, I think I'm going to have the front bumper cover repainted. The more everything else improves, the worse that looks. I'm also going to get a new front spoiler. There is a purple one about 3 hours from me. I hope we can work something out with shipping, because I sure don't have 6 hours to go get it.
BTW, this car had really floppy sun visors. I disassembled them and put super glue down the metal pin's shaft. Let them dry and reassembled. Seems to be working. We'll see how long it lasts.
BTW, this car had really floppy sun visors. I disassembled them and put super glue down the metal pin's shaft. Let them dry and reassembled. Seems to be working. We'll see how long it lasts.
You can get new visor collars from Hawks for $10 a set. They are really tight if you screw them down good.
05-15-2015, 09:04 AM
