My ongoing project is an '84 L69 Trans Am that had low miles and was all original. It had been neglected however and looked more like a well worn daily driver than a low mile original that has spent the better part of its life in storage. Here we are four months later and I've finally finished the mechanical work (tune up, fluids, struts, bushings, etc.). It was time this weekend to start on the cosmetics. All of the paint is original on the car, but without a clearcoat, it had turned a crappy looking washed-out dark gray, with loads of surface scratches and waterspots. I spent over twelve hours taping up cracks, cleaning and buffing it on saturday. Here is a sample of the results. I have never been more satisfied with how a car has recovered than with this one. Given the era it came from and the paint used at the time, it looks pretty good for a 28 year old factory paint job. It still needs some hand-rubbing in some spots, but overall it turned out pretty good.

 

OMG that is a nice deep shine.

 

Wow, that looks awesome. What products did you use?

 

I started by wiping the whole car down with Dupont Prep Sol cleaner to get all of the tar/grease/wax off of it. Then I started with Mequirs paint cleaner and the buffer. Went from there to 3M Filling Glaze and the buffer with a fine pad. To finish it off, I used Mequirs Dark Crystal pure carnuba. It took all day, but it turned out really deep and swirl-free.

 

That looks great man! Take a step back and shoot a pic of the whole car!

 

Thanks Man!!! I need to get the window triangles and outer window sweeps put back on and I'll do a photo walk around on it. It looks kind of messed up with the rubbers and the triangles missing. Thanks Again!

 

I love that Carnuba!

 

looks awesome, my car needs that. My car has 49,7** on it and someone was not nice to the paint at all. No rust, but faded and, dings and scraches. I got it a bit better by hand, but needs more. Very good job man.

 

Thanks Man!

 

Post some of those before shots when you got it. Such a stunning car man!

 

Badnblack, I appreciate the compliment, especially considering how slick your Camaro is! I love your car.

Here are the shots of the day we unloaded it here. If you look closely in the photo, there was a pretty good dent in the hood on the right side and the paint was pretty clapped out. It was pretty dead looking outwardly, but it wasn't really hurt, just neglected and dirty. I didn't expect it to recover as well as it did to be honest.

 

Thank you!

I gotta ask where did you find that? The before pics it looks pretty amazing. I'm excited to see what "finished" pics look like.

 

It came out of Florida, one-owner. According to the dealer I bought it from the original owner was a Pontiac collector who had a major health issue in the early '90's which steadily became worse through the years. He was forced to liquidate most his collection around 2009/2010. There were a dozen or so cars in his collection. It sounds like he had some really neat stuff at one point including a bunch of old GTOs and older Trans Ams. His wife didn't really know how to properly care for the cars and they were all in serious need of attention. To her credit, she had them serviced annually and ran them through a car wash a couple of times a year, so at least she tried. The black car and an '89 Turbo T/A were the last to go. The Turbo had 3,000 miles on it, but it was long gone when I bought the black one. The dealer thankfully left it untouched, just like it was when he bought it. I contacted the original owner and the wife sent me everything she still had for it (paperwork, keychains and a brochure). She wants some pictures when it's all finished, which I think is pretty cool.

 

Sucks that the guys health let go, but great story on her keeping it up, and caring enough to want pictures. Man too bad you couldn't have snaked up that TTA also

 

That is one sweet car. Don't change a damn thing about it.

 

Very nice car, and the elbow grease you put into that shine was well worth it. Looks amazing.

 

Wow. Just WOW.

 

WOW... I thought I had scored one super clean 1984 L69 Trans Am, but yours is better!

 

Thanks Guys! I had hoped to have it finished this past weekend, but the heatwave we're having slowed me down a good bit. I worked on it last night for about three hours and still have to put the window sweeps and triangles in on the passenger side tonight. From there, all that's left is the headliner and detailing the interior and it's finished. The old car drives and runs really well and I can't wait to start driving it some. On a comical note, I had a kid at work ask me why it didn't come with the red light in the nose.

 

That is super funny!

 

nice find!

 

My.sentiments exactly, early 80's '82 KR '83s and '84s aren't too common anymore. Especially totally original.

 

wow man that looks amazing...brings back alot of memories too my first 3rd gen and car was an 84 t/a black and gold with the ground effect package

awesome ride man

 

That is just beautiful! Sweet looking car! Great job I spent a few hours doing the same thing last weekend. Didnt turn out like that. will have to try the product you use. Any good tips with the buffer?

 

Thanks for the compliments guys! It was pretty bad as far as surface scratches go, having always been run through car washes. I detailed cars all through high school and college and did a lot of these when they were new. They didn't have a whole lot of paint on them to begin with, which makes buffing them a little tricky, especially on the waterborne paint cars. The safest way is always to go on the slower side in terms of buffer speed, go with the softer pad and the milder cutting polish. You can always use something with more cutting quality if that doesn't work. I have a Makita variable speed buffer I've had since about '85. I used that set on 5, a 3M foam pad and Mequir's Scratch and Haze remover followed by 3M filling glaze and a hand waxing with pure carnuba wax. The same process will work on the base/clear cars as well. You just have to be patient and see what speed/pad/compound works best. I always use a low-tack house painter's tape to cover all of the edges/cracks to keep from burning through with the buffer. I've found through over 30 years of trial and error that these cars will usually polish up pretty well if the paint is sound. A lot of times the ones that look the worst will turn out the best, especially the non-clear coated ones.

 

Nice ride, I loved that car when it came out, I remember the TV commercial. Nice job with the buffer car looks really good

 

There was no clearcoat? Wow! My clearcoat is mostly peeled off, wonder if I will get similar results?

 

Uh no, sorry

 

Here are some quick overall shots. I finally got the window sweeps and triangles installed. I'll try to do some better shots before too much longer.

 

Here are a couple more. Still waiting on the replacement factory wheels to come back from the refinisher. They will be mounted on some repro Eagles. I'll drive it the rest of the summer on the 16" stuff that's on it now and install the stockers at the end of summer.

 

That looks so great! What wheels are those. I have seen people asking about what wheels those are in the wheel thread. I almost bought a berlinetta with those wheels in it when I was 15.

Your house and everything turn out ok after the storms?

 

Thanks Man! They are Ronal R9's, 16x8. I always liked them on third gens and cars from the era. I put them on my new '83 back in '83 on a set of 255 Corvette gatorback tires and I've loved them ever since. They fit really well with no rubbing and they're relatively light. I had used this set for autocrossing, so they were a little edgy. We stripped/painted them the correct '84 T/A gold and left the little bead polished like the stock wheels. I always thought the W62 Trans Ams looked like they need more wheel/tire anyway.

We got through he storms pretty well. Just had some limbs down and some erosion in the yard in a few places. These afternoon storms definetely screw up our summer drive time. In light of some of the events over the past week around the country, that's a pretty minor problem to have though.

 

I had in my head that they were Ronal's but could not confirm it anywhere. I figured you must have sprayed them I have always seen them silver face with black windows, or a body color face. Those look great and fit the car well.

Yeah a few limbs down is a lot better than other places for sure... Colorado has got its butt kicked recently with tragedy Oh well makes the good days that much better.

Back onto your amazing car!

 

hate to ask but need to know.
1. what kind of buffer and at what speed.
2. what color pads and who makes them
3. did you use clay bar??

 

I used a Makita buffer, set on five---mid speed

I used a grey 3M pad, which is a polishing pad as opposed to a cutting pad

The car was free of contaminants, so I didn't use the clay bar. It actually still felt pretty slick, even before I started.

I just took my time, being sensitive to the almost 30-year-old single stage paint. After a buffing with the Meguirs scratch/swirl remover and a final buff with 3M filling glaze, I hand rubbed it with pure carnuba. Final wipe down was with a fresh microfiber.

 

She is gorgeous

 

Thanks!

 

that is a sharp looking car!!!!!! great job

 

Thanks Man!

 

Wow, that's cool.

 

Just beautiful work. Be proud.

 

Thanks for the compliments guys! It's amazing how many people come up at a gas station wanting to look at it. It's cool that people are starting to appreciate them again.