so what is stock on black cars, specifically my '88 IROC... gloss or satin headlight buckets? my car has satin/flat headlight buckets, but that doesn't mean it came from the factory that way. I'm getting new paint applied tomorrow, and while I like the satin look, all other black thirdgens I've seen on this website have gloss headlight buckets. which is 'factory correct'?

The satin should be correct if I am not mistaken.

Glossy looks better.

That's a matter of opinion. I think satin looks much better. Glossy looks cheap. However, for authenticity, I believe it's more of a glossy finish, but not super glossy. It's tough to get it just right. It's slightly less glossy than gloss black. I believe that you'll get the best results by using a satin color, then wiping armor-all or a similar product over it to bring up the gloss.

I have wondered about this also since I have an 87 IROC also. Is there a certing paint code for this factory black headlight paint? Adam :-)

Ive also always wondered this. My car is gloss black and it matches the headlight buckets as well. Im pretty sure its still the original paint also.

Semi-gloss is correct.

This was me. I was useing a friends comptuer at his house. And didn't fell like login out. lol.

Now this is the same shade of black as the hood louvers right? I just wan't to make sure everything is right when I restore the IROC. Thanks! Adam :-)

ok, semi-gloss it is. thanks!

So was there ever a specific paint number for the semi or satin black? When the shop repainted my car they used the factory original numbers/paint. This shop is big on that so I know they did. So now I got to wonder if there is another number?

And what about clear over the satin? I have clear coats...3 mills I think so were the pockets originally clear coated.

Before I painted my car the original paint was gloss black and so were the pockets. I didn't have any fade or sun/clear coat damage either. I just wanted fresh paint. So was this an option or only done on IROC's? Just curious. I want to be "factory correct" as well.

Just semi-gloss black for Z28's and IROC-Z's.

Thanks...so I will stay as I am.

On my 91 it looks as if they didn't get the clear coat.

I am also wondering about this. I took my car to the Carlisle All-GM/Camaro Nationals this weekend and got a chance to observe MANY MANY stock, unmolested thirdgens. On my car (30k miles) the headlight buckets appear to be the exact color of the car (gloss black). There was only one other Black/Red Heritage car there like mine and it was a Canadian Export car that had 42k miles (66,000 km). That car definately had FLAT (no gloss at all) headlight buckets. I was extremely disturbed because I wasn't sure what was right so i went around looking at the other cars. About 1/2 of the cars there had satin/flat black headlight buckets, and the other 1/2 had gloss black (and on the black cars they were the same color as the paint). Why are there such variances?


Edit: And on my old White Heritage the headlight buckets were flat/satin black.

I'm bringing this up again because I am getting the nose of my car (bumper/grille/spoiler) repainted due to going off road to avoid an animal and chipping off some paint on each piece.

Currently my headlight pockets are gloss black (same as rest of the car). I am considering going back to what many people consider to be 100% stock/original, which would be the semi-gloss (although this whole topic is still debatable). What is the paint code for semi-gloss black and is the shop supposed to clear over the headlight pockets or leave them with no clear coat???

Any help would be appreciated as I am having this done in a few days.

It's not a debate, they were semi-gloss when new! The paint is just regular semi-gloss black and I'm pretty sure there is no clear. That would probably make them glossy and you can feel a little edge from the black to body color transition. It's not smooth as if it was all cleared together. Hope that helps a little.

so if i were to repaint my car and put the black headlight pockets black would i clear, then paint the pockets or visa versa and just mask off the pockets?

(BTW, This is with all due respect):

1. I do tend to lean towards your end when it comes to gloss or semi-gloss, but until you show me irrefutable proof (ie: a sales brochure, testimony from a dealer or salesmen who absolutely 100% remembers what every year's headlight pockets were colored) saying the headlight pockets of ALL years were semi-gloss black, I do have to say that the argument is, indeed (and at the very least), DEBATABLE.

2. I truly do appreciate your input on the subject, as obviously I'm having the nose repainted on my car and I want it to be 100% original...but is there any way you can give me, or point me in the direction, of more certain information regarding the way the headlight pockets SHOULD be painted to replicate factory (or what we believe to be the 100% factory style of semi-gloss). I know I'm going to have to specify to the paint shop EXACTLY how they should be done, and if GM used extra coats of the semi-gloss in place of clearcoat, etc., I'd really like to know. I'd hate to have the pockets oxidize real easily due to lack of clear or not enough paint, etc.

I will also point out that I'd like the headlight pockets, if they are to be painted semi-gloss, to be as easily maintainable as possible. I know that on my white/red Heritage RS they were semi-gloss and they tended to show water spots ALOT more and they were harder to get rid of. Also, when waxing/polishing the pockets the paint tended to come off quite easily onto the wax applicator. On my Z28, which has the gloss pockets, water spots are much more easily removed and there is never any black residue on the wax applicator when I wax that area.

Honestly, I don't know if I can give you much detail about the clear or not, but I've seen them repainted before on other peoples cars and they were never cleared and done in semi-gloss. When I detailed them, black never came off, nor does it on mine.

I've personally seen extremely low mile mint black Z28s and IROC-Zs with original paint and they were always semi-gloss. The 91-92's I'm not really not sure but I'd bet they were. Search for sale ads or ebay and see how they are, the 4.3 mile IROC looks like it has them also.

I was just at the paint shop today watching my car get repainted. I am glad this thread came back to life.

I went with the "satin" black masked off from the clear. I can tell you how it comes out tomorrow but I believe that was the way we did it last time.

Yea if you could let me know how it turns out and get me a picture or two, I'd really appreciate it. I wont be getting this done on my car until probably Tuesday-Thursday so I have a little bit of time.

Sorry amack6 I can't help for another week. The stupid painter forgot to look at my instructions and painted the entire car gloss black. So I take the car back next week to wet sand and repaint the buckets. I plan to go satin with no gloss. It looked great last time. And it is hard to photograph and tell the difference, even with a digital camera/

i also want to do this to my car is all black including the bucket gloss black but i believe it will look better flat black or semi or so.

sorry if im kinda hijacking here, but its on topic and dont really need its own thread. ok, on the 82-84 z28 are those slots in the chin supposed to be blacked out to? ive seen some that are and some that arent. also is it the same satin black?

The lower valence of the 82-84 Z28s should also be painted satin or semi gloss black. The exact paint code is unknown but I believe them to be the same as the headlight bucket color.

Hey I am taking my car to the shop to repaint the bumper tomorrow... can anyone give me a high-res shot of a black car with semi-gloss black headlight buckets so I can print it out to clearly show the bodyshop what I mean. I do not want any misunderstandings with this and I feel like a good, high res shot will go a long way.