I am going to detail the front and rear suspension on my 83 Z this winter. I was wondering, does any one know the original correct color for the springs and other components. KEEP IN MIND this is an unrestored, original car not modified and will be shown in concours competition. It just needs to be detailed and it is kind of hard to make out the original colors on some of the parts. Thanks in advance, pictures will be nice if you have them as well as any suggestions.

 

I cannot answer the question, but I do want to say you have a very nice car. The 2nd gen is a beaut as well!

 

Thank you!

 

i thought it all was flat black.... at least my car looks that way. but some of the pieces didnt look painted at all

 

Stock sucks lol, j/k man, my dad has a 81 z and he dropped everything out from under it and painted it semi flat, he gets complimented all the time people go wow, how has it stayed to nice under there over the years, i'm doing mine all gloss black since i just want teh look, i'm obviously not worried about keeping it original.....If you really want to match it find a component like a spring thats still black and not rust colored and rub it with like thinner or something and see if you cant get teh original color out of it...or give you an idea anyways

 

I might just have some money for you:

 

:

 

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All this from a 2500 original mileage iroc-z

https://www.thirdgen.org/techbb2/sho...c&pagenumber=1

 

Pretty clean under there Steve!

 

PERFECT Thank that tells me EXACTLY what I need to do. It seems most of the items are a natural metal, (not painted) hoever for the sake of looking good I am likely oging to put some type of rust preventative on it....I'll shoot some pictures later and post them up of what it looks like now.

Any products you guys recommend.

 

Mine is all undercoated (everything) MY Z has 16k orginal miles on her. I believe the dealership did this. Its all flat looking. I want to do a gloss looking. If you have ideas and tips IROCbirdbuilder IM me or PM me. You know my aol sn.

 

POR-15 seems to be popular on the boards for undercoating and whatnot. It's probably the best rust preventative out there, but you'll get a glossy finish out of it. Do some searches on the Body and Interior boards and you'll find plenty of info.

 

doing so will hinder your chances in such a car show that your looking to participate in.

 

if you take good care of your car it will probably be fine however it's been proven that rubberized undercoating and other similar dealership items particularly in the 90's contributed to rust more then helped.

proper maintance, paint and even things such as por-15 are the way to go.

 

hmmm... really?? I dont have any rust at all. No rust. Maybe a tiny lil cirlcle spot here and there but the whole thing looks beautiful/mint. I just want to make it more glossy looking/ instead of that flat look. But the car has been a garage car its whole life. So thats why its great shape. They undercoated the brake lines and everything. Everything you can imagine under the car.

 

as u can see there some tiny rust spots. Overall great shape. I still want to hit the whole thing with gloss. The car has 16,500 miles.

So if anyone has good products let me know? Where can i get some POR 15? Can i get some at a auto store? Is it expensive?

 

Please allow me to clarify; On the undercarriage of my car I have no rust AT ALL on the floor pans, frame rails, or any body other componets. This is only a 6750 mile car. What I do have is on the rear differential, axle housing, sway bar and other rear suspension componets, as well as the front tie rod ends, I have some surface rust appearing. THis is what I am looking to get rid of it is a little unsightly and I want the car to look good as I plan to do concours showing with it.
The suspension componets are really what I am concerned about.

The ruberized undercoating on the one car looks good but I am not going to go through the trouble, and expense of having it done now. Basically I want to make the suspension componets look like new. and it may just require a real good clean up to make it happen. I don't know I'll post pictures in a little while to show mine off.

 

Semi gloss black for the springs, scothbrite and SOS pads for the rest, a little water and some elbow grease.

 

Ok guys here's the undercarriage things I am talking about as you can see I have a little work ahead of me. You read my mind about the scotch brite pads.

 

Has anyone tried to clear the parts that aren't painted? I'm installing new front steering components and will probably clean them with mineral sprits and clear coat them. Bad idea???

 

Wow, mine has 120k on the undercarriage and my sway bars adn stuff dont look as bad as that, i'd try the scotch brite, maybe you could even blast the stuff you can take off and then shoot a clear on em

"The ruberized undercoating on the one car looks good but I am not going to go through the trouble, and expense of having it done now. Basically I want to make the suspension componets look like new. and it may just require a real good clean up to make it happen."

I'm not judged concours or anything like 1k points but even the judges i have talked to say, if it looks like someone has put the time and effort into it even if its not great they usually give credit for it, in some cases, if your looking to win high end judging i'd say you need to go through the expenses now as it will pay you back when its show time, thats my 2cents, i'd just kinda experiment, maybe go to the junkyard and pull some parts and experiment on those to see what it will look like using different processes, thats what i do anyttime i'm doing something custom or one off, go get another one in case i dont like it, no big deal

PS where can i see some pics of that 81, we also have a 81Z fully restored 50k on the clock, its white though

 

The pictures actually make it look worse than it is because of low light. IT is in fact only surface rust no pitting, scale or anything like that. I figured probably to use scotch brite and a few other little things like that to get this stuff off there.

Keep in mind though about cars with 120,000 mile they don't set, they have a chance to get a little oil and other lubricants on them off off the road and engine. Not all road grime is bad.
This car unfortunately set for about 22 years and was driven VERY seldom in the last 20.

As far as the 81Z goes I don't have a lot of pictures I am willing to display yet, the ones I have are not real great, I'll be taking some new ones here in a couple of weeks after I get a couple of things done to it and then I'll gladly show it off. send me over a email and I'll let you know when I post them.

 

sweet deal man you got mail, sent a few of our 81, cant wait to see that one in black

 

Well ya my car has a little over 123k miles on her now and barely any rust. Even just surface rust its almost non-existent. Maybe your right about the being driven part as i can definently see that but maybe also the later years they coated the parts differently from the factory? I dunno, my car is definently not undercoated like nicks as such other then fenderwells obviously.

 

I used Eastwood cast iron and bare steel paints on my 1971 Trans Am. These are regarded as "correct" for concours judging because they replicate the factory bare metal look.

60% semi-gloss black chassis paint was phased out with the 3rd-gen F-body. GM switched to a duller 40 or 50% gloss black. This paint was unfortunately just recently discontinued from GM last year.

When you take the car apart, make sure you take photos of any factory inspection paint marks. I found a ton of them on the front suspension that was preserved under a layer of grease and road debris

 

Dens and ALL

How does that product work, is is a spray on or one of those "brush" on products. All my flat black items are SUPER, its just the "bare" metal stuff that looks ratty. The differential, while it looks bad is all surface I took the trusty ole scotch brite to it and it came back relatively smooth (as smooth as differentials get) so I can say there is no metal damage - pitting, etc..

I like the way the bare metal items looked on your picture of the 71 suspension that is the look I am looking for. I don't want to get a lower score because of using the wrong color (flat black) on those items.

I still not exactly sure if the differential was originally painted or not but through this forum and seeing some other pictures I think I have figured out the bare metal is the look I need on the pumpkin and axle housings, Please correct me if I am wrong.

I know the sway bars and other items like that aren't supposed to be painted nor are the tie rod ends and such.

A product I have looked at is the combination of POR15's metal ready and Metal Mask (their natural metal coating) Is the Eastwood better?

The 81 is simple it's not a bone stocker, so it gets the, old what ever I can dig up to make it look really good treatment. The 83 is a different story I don't want to alter it in anyway that is not necessary.

THANX to everyone so far for all your help!

 

The products are called Detail Gray(steel), Aluma Blast, and Spray Gray(cast iron). They are paints that make parts look like bare metal. They're available in spray cans or quarts to use in a spray gun. They also have high temp paint for cast iron exhaust manifolds and brake components. They're made by The Eastwood Company. I think Duplicolor or Plasticoat has simular products.

I'm not impressed with any of the POR-15 products. None of it is on the level of concours restoration quality. You don't hear about any of the top 400-point restoration shops using their products. Most use Eastwood or mix their own.

The rear axles were bare metal pretty much since the early 70's. With the low mileage on your car, if its surface rust now, it was bare metal originally.

Here is a restored '72 Trans Am rear axle. Detail gray on the axle tubes and rear cover, Spray gray on the center pumpkin. Semi-gloss black on the brake backing plates.

 

I believe there is a write up in one of the Chevy Magazines a few issues ago about cleaning up stuff like a rusty rear end and whatnot. When I have some time later on, Ill see if i can find the issue. They did a clean up of a 4th Gen rear, along with some other parts.

Mabye Camaro Performers?

 

Nice, detail on that undercarriage! I am looking into those products now

 

Now just for giggles I want to throw this out there,
If I removed all this aforementioned surface rust, would it be feesible to not treat it with any type of paint instead just keep it cleaned and lubricated with a light oil?
Before you laugh, I am looking at keeping the original integrity of the car, i want to keep it primarily unrestored and only detail when necessary, what do you guys suggest. I am willling to try anything. HOWEVER I do not want to drop the whole axle housing to do this detail, I don't have that kind of time.