After waiting almost 6 months, I finally got it painted! Once the paint hardens and my new headlights get here I get to put the front bumper back on, until then I'll be working on installing all the other new parts I have (power locks, windows, and mirrors being the biggest). Here's some pictures I took when I dropped it off and when I picked it up. I'll be taking it back in a few weeks once the paint has hardened to have him buff out and wet sand some problem spots. Before: After: Here's what the bumper looks like too: I've got a few pictures of the damage to the front end and what I had to do to get the new impact bar on that I might post up later.

looks good.. ..Those bumpers are fun to r/r. Lots of bolts an air rachet helps though.

Did you have the rims painted at the same time?

Yeah, the wheels were painted at the same time.

woah dude!! serial!? thats nice man, get that bumper on there and the side trim and thats gonna be one sweet ride. i think 3rd gens look too rounded without the side trim

I'm gonna leave the side trim off for now, I told them to take it off but not throw it away in case I change my mind. If I do change my mind I'll have to get it painted to match though.

good idea i took mine off and it looks soo much better and smoother. your car looks great but you should have got a crappier b4 pic b/c the paint doesnt look that bad in the b4 picture. hopefully i will be getting mine painted soon as well.

they look worse without side trim, especially on 91-92's. just too rounded out and goofy lookin with the gfx. its ok on the 82-90 cars

My car was a 20ft. car before. It did look damn good at a distance (except for the hole in the front bumper) but once you got up close it looked like **** (chips, swirls, scratches, etc.). I'll have to see if I have a good picture of the hood before paint. I forgot to ask him how many coats and paint and clear he used before I left.

I completely agree with you.

yeah..i debated on leaving the trim off... i installed it in the end. First time someone cracks your door with theres. Its will look like *** on that body line.

btw jt your car is awesome i really like the color and rims and the ls1!

Good idea re-painting those wheels.
I'm not sure how i feel about the side molding, but if you are in a lot of parking lots it's not worth the risk. It's just a matter of time till someone dings it.
Either way i love the car and i can't wait to see it finished

I don't ever park next to people, so that would rarely be an issue. I think they'll probably make it back on the car after I can get them repainted too, I think I like the look better with them there.

EDIT:

Here's some pictures of the damage (the headlight bar was damaged in a bunch of places too):







And here's the pictures of what I had to do to get the new impact bar on the car:

What I started with:


I tried to bend it back to the right position but it all wouldn't move at the same time:


So I just put the new bar on and put a huge washer on the most damaged hole and tightened the screw and bent it back enough to make it work. It looks like ***, but the bar is on there and...




it's LEVEL!


I also put on a new hood latch support since the old one was bent:

(Yes I know the piece that connects the support to the headlight bar is missing, the old one was ripped out of the headlight bar and the new piece will go on with the new headlight bar.)

All done:

(I put the absorber pad back on yesterday, no pics yet)

how much did it cost to paint it?

I paid $700, but it helps that he's my cousin's father-in-law.

I've gotten a good bit of work done over the last few days, and finally got the bumper on the car today! Ground effect piece and grill will go on tomarrow.

wow...what a difference! That car is gonna be so clean! Good job on getting it all straight again.

Sorry if i missed it...but what did you hit?

Kinda looks like a Delorian without the nose clip hehe

Looks really good man, congrats.

A Yukon. She started to slow down (I did too) and when she slammed on her brakes I didn't realize it at first and when I slammed on mine I locked it up and slid into her hitch at 5-10mph. Thankfully, it didn't hurt her truck at all. The only good thing was that I had a legit excuse to by a new bumper and ground effect.

I got the fog lights hooked up and I got the ground effect and grill put on this morning. I never realized how ****ty the paint looked on the old bumper until I looked at it side by side with the new bumper.

I'm gonna take it out for some pictures later today.

Pictures as promised:





And my favorite (as well as new wallpaper):


All the new lights make such a difference. I'm gonna try and replicate that last picture when I get the emblems and the hub and lug nut caps back on.

so did you get new OEM parking lights?

the car looks amazing man, nice job

All the lights on the front are brand new (except the fog lights, but they weren't on the car before so...).