DAVECS1

iTrader: (2)

I just got my car back from the body shop. Everything looks excellent, BUT the GTA emblem on the front fender is positioned below the trim piece! How hard is it to move the emblem? The shop is going to look at it but they are concerned that removing the emblem will damage the clear coat. Another thing that bothers me is he retained the front liscence plate holder. I thought we had agreed to remove it, but I guess he forgot. I have seen alot of GTA's without these holders. Can it be taken off easily or is it going to require extensive work to the front fascia to make it look nice without it. I am not totally tweeked at the guy. He did do a nice job. The engine bay and the interior were all shot and covered with clear. Cost me about 7000. I would be extremely happy if it were not for these two problems. By the way it is a 91 GTA. Any suggestions or similar mishaps I would like to hear about. Thanks all.

TAdan

Id check out the history/resto board, www.Transamgta.com

and www.gtasourcepage.com, it should have everything your looking for

The_Maniac

iTrader: (2)

If the emblems were in the right spaces before he worked on the car OR you had all this pre-agreed upon, for a $7K paint job I would tall him to make it right.

If he has to remove it things and repaint the entire car, well, darn, shoulda done it right the first time. $7K is a lot of green, I would not accept any impressions due to neglagence..... For $7, as long as it did not require a lot of body work, it should be better then when it left the factory....

Sorry if I sound harsh, but you spent a lot of money, you deserve it all to be perfect (as per the agreement prior to dropping it off).

Just my 2 cents. Take'em or leave'em. If you're not that bothered, well, all up to you.

But to answer your question, I believe emblems can be removed (with careful use of a heat gun). But it might leave a tacky spot that you'll need to find the appropriate cleaner to remove. But, it does have potential to actually remove paint....

BirdonFire

Some info about your front license plate holder. If you remove it now,if it was not done prior to the paint job you will have a different color underneath it(if you changed paint color) The paint underneath will obviously be a different shade if you chose along the same lines as the orginal color. If you decide to remove it and leave it off,you will also have 2-4 holes to contend with(mounting holes) So its all up to you what you want to do. IMO Firebirds front ends look better without "mandatory tags."

DAVECS1

iTrader: (2)

I agree with you Maniac. 7k was alot of money. Not much body work was done. Actually he said it was one of the most complete unmolested cars he had worked on. I haved talked to the shop owner and he did not dis agree about the emblem placement, but he did not jump to get it right either. He said he will setup an appointment next week. We will see.
The liscence plate holder was removed during the process, but the holes where never filled in. So I suppose for it to be totally removed with out flaws the front fascia would have to be removed, holes filled and repainted. The car was taken down to bare metal and urethane and painted from the ground up, so I am not worried about conflicting shades. Boy I could sleep alot easier if the GTA emblem was just put back were it belong. THis shop does some extragavant Hot Rods so it sees some major money come through the door. I guess this tends to give them somewhat of an arrogant attitude. While they know they did wrong they act as if a customer who has only laid down seven grand should only expect certain things from the shop and the hobby. This bothers me and makes me wonder how the good shops get to be so good. The bad thing about this whole thing is while there was a contract for a factory finish little details such as liscence plate holders and emblem placement isn't directly called out. I guess I will know better next time. Sorry for the long vent guys.

SilverChevy

Lets see some piks

86FyrBrd

iTrader: (1)

The front license plate problem happened to me. The reason I had the problem was because since my car is from Jersey (requiers front plates) when I brought it to PA I didnt want one, took it off, and the bumper cover was a lil warped from 15 years of having one. At the body shop the guy said the best thing to do is leave it on and buy some cool plate for it. well the day I picked it up he was about to put it on and i said "screw it" I want it like it is. I just didnt want a big plate covering up my front end. here is what it will look like if you take it off. Will probobly even look better.


and by the way, since september when my car was completed no one has commented on my bumer cover so it cant be that bad.

The_Maniac

iTrader: (2)

86FyrBrd,

I thought I'd share, I have multiple PCs I work off of (2 at work in the office and a collection of a few at home). I tend to put car pics as my wallpaper. Right now that pic you attached is the background of a PC in the office. I LOVE THE BIRD!! If I was ever to own one, I'd have to have one that matched yours (hood, color, year). It's too sweet!! That color is PERFECT for it.

BTW - Do you have the paint code for that color (I'm in the process of collecting paint codes of sweet colors for possible future use in other projects).....

Also, I had a feeling it had a front plate, but the notice is drawn away by other details (like the sweet hood).

Sorry, I sound like a suck up (but I'm not, I'm just an admirer).

DAVECS1

iTrader: (2)

Well I hope you guys will hang around until this weekend. That will be when I get the first chance to go out and snap some photos. I really appreciate the input. That is a nice Firebird 86byrd. I think we used similar paint. I think your front fasia looks great. I don't see much warping at all. My front and rear bumpers were actually coated with a type of epoxy before they were painted in order to smooth them out. It is the same sealer they use on older vettes to straighten out the body imperfections. So he actually went to the trouble of drilling new holes and lining up the plate holder. Well I have come to the conclusion I am stuck with the plate, but I am sure as hell getting the emblem moved. The kicker is he got the sail panel emblems correct, the side molding, and reapplied all the factory stickers in the door jams. Just what the heck went through his mine when it came to the fenders. This weekend I will post pics. hope to see you guys this weekend

Black85TransAm

Hey dave, where did u tak eur car to get that done? j/w i live in peoria...like 10 mins from u

DAVECS1

iTrader: (2)

I took it to TJ's Rat to Roll Hot Rod Shop in Aledo. It is about an hour north of Peoria. I am genrally pleased with the job he did, but it was expensive and this whole emblem fiasco still isn't straightened out yet. That is the reason I have not posted any pics yet. It will probably be another week before I get to see my car and take pictures.

jm91rs

I would make sure to let him move the emblems. It is his problem and if you had agreed to something and paid 7k for it, he better do it exactly like you wanted.

88 WS6 TransAm GTA

iTrader: (1)

For 7k, your car should look better than new. 7k is a hell of alot of money, and EVERYTHING should be done right! Especially the little nitpicky stuff!