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Auto Detailing and AppearanceShare tips and tricks on how to make your Third Gen shine! Get opinions on products or how something tasteful looks on your Chevrolet Camaro or Pontiac Firebird.
I'm currently sanding on my Camaro and I've got a general idea of what color I want but just to make my decision more precise I've been searching for color combinations and two-tone colors that go best with third-gen Camaros. So far I'm thinking black with blue gfx, does anyone have a third-gen Camaro with those color combinations that they could post pictures of? Also for my wheels, I was gonna do the same color combination as the car. I'm running the 1988-1990 Iroc wheels with 245/50/16 tires.
IMHO, ground effects need to be body color or silver. Gold if it goes with other gold trim. Rooted and art and design, you'll be hard pressed to find trim accent colors in anything else. Same with wheels, although in modern times, black has become popular. Think about it though, of ALL the trim levels and wheels, have you ever seen gfx another color? -and have you ever seen (stock) wheels that weren't silver or gold? Black Crosslace/GTA is the only thirdgen wheel accent I can think of that isn't silver or gold.
....but whatever you decide, it's a great time to be into these cars! Make it your own and enjoy the process! Welcome to TGO.
IMHO, ground effects need to be body color or silver. Gold if it goes with other gold trim. Rooted and art and design, you'll be hard pressed to find trim accent colors in anything else. Same with wheels, although in modern times, black has become popular. Think about it though, of ALL the trim levels and wheels, have you ever seen gfx another color? -and have you ever seen (stock) wheels that weren't silver or gold? Black Crosslace/GTA is the only thirdgen wheel accent I can think of that isn't silver or gold.
....but whatever you decide, it's a great time to be into these cars! Make it your own and enjoy the process! Welcome to TGO.
I was thinking black with blue gfx and blue accents as a way to be different from some of the others. I'm pretty much the only third-gen Camaro around besides the occasional white Iroc that comes out and the others I've found sitting in yards rotting to the ground, but in all saying there's a lot of third-gen Camaros that look the same so I was thinking about mixing things up. I'm not afraid however to change the paint styling if I don't like my end result. Thanks though for your input, I'll take it into consideration. I've been into these cars for a while but I'm not 16 and can have one for myself. My dad had an 83 z28/Iroc z back in the day with the 5.7l automatic. That's where I first fell in love with these cars and ever since wanted to get one for myself.
Last edited by 90sRSCamaro; Sep 30, 2020 at 12:04 AM.
No offense meant, but black car with blue ground effects would look comical. I'd never say it after the fact out of respect for you. But right here, right now, we can meet hands and prevent this disaster.
RS wheels were color-coordinated, even when they got 16" Z28 wheels in 91 and 92, and those didn't look "wrong." Firehawks had color-coordinated wheels, too, but they had the muscle to defend the look. And by that, I mean, I tend to think of color-coordinated wheels as being like a guy wearing pink; he better be big or strong, or else... LOL. Regardless, no reason IROC wheels can't be painted something other than silver or gold, if it's done well, a good-quality job, which is key to successfully pulling off "different."
As for the black/blue combo, while I was drafting this, QwkTrip posted pics of the Camaro I was trying to think of. Beautiful car. Accents like that could provide a base for a coordinating wheel color.
On IROCs, the stripe above the gfx provides a coordinating color, and blue was a stripe color for some combos. So maybe do all black paint, with a blue stripe, then coordinate the wheel color to the stripe.
As for "right" and "wrong," it's all about what people are used to seeing, as well as the quality of the finished product. And if not done well, then it's likely to just look, um, "different."
RS wheels were color-coordinated, even when they got 16" Z28 wheels in 91 and 92, and those didn't look "wrong." Firehawks had color-coordinated wheels, too, but they had the muscle to defend the look. And by that, I mean, I tend to think of color-coordinated wheels as being like a guy wearing pink; he better be big or strong, or else... LOL. Regardless, no reason IROC wheels can't be painted something other than silver or gold, if it's done well, a good-quality job, which is key to successfully pulling off "different."
As for the black/blue combo, while I was drafting this, QwkTrip posted pics of the Camaro I was trying to think of. Beautiful car. Accents like that could provide a base for a coordinating wheel color.
On IROCs, the stripe above the gfx provides a coordinating color, and blue was a stripe color for some combos. So maybe do all black paint, with a blue stripe, then coordinate the wheel color to the stripe.
As for "right" and "wrong," it's all about what people are used to seeing, as well as the quality of the finished product. And if not done well, then it's likely to just look, um, "different."
Yes, QwkTrip posted the car where I got this idea from. I was even thinking of painting the car a somewhat deep blue with silver gfx with charcoal grey wheels. As said I'm running stock Irocs from the 1988-1990 style. I'm still in the process and prepping and will be for a while so as much info on color combs or solid colors that look good with our cars would be a big help.
This would be the 90 Iroc with the blue stripe. I've always found this to be a sharp color combo, however as Quicktrip said, the whole lower gfx I think would be too much.
As for "right" and "wrong," it's all about what people are used to seeing
....some of us have taken auto design classes. It's not just random corporate suits throwing ideas against a wall and seeing what sticks. -though it's ultimately subjective of course.
This is like your car. Now imagine it with blue ground effects...
.... and be honest and tell me if it would be an improvement.
Hard to improve on this Camaro, although I don't think the one with teal accents looks bad at all, but I'd only put the accents on the ground effects and not the hood.
Black looks great all by itself. If you want two-tone, I think other colors work better.
I have always liked the blue or red over silver Trans Am two-tones.
This is like your car. Now imagine it with blue ground effects...
.... and be honest and tell me if it would be an improvement.
I think if a dark blue chrome wrap existed or they were painted a dark blue kandy.. it wouldln't be awful.
Not my thing but, not my car either. Gfx would be pretty simple to repaint if you didn't like the color, since
they are mostly removable anyways.
I've seen far worse real paint jobs done to these cars over the years than this idea...
Ok, so what about Charcoal grey body and gfx with dark grey semi-gloss wheels? I'm not the best at deciding colors so would y'all mind putting out suggestions? I want something custom and something to make it stick out over other third-gen Camaros. Also are there any aftermarket wheels that would look good on our cars? I'm wanting to change my drum brakes to disc also and was wondering if I could do this with my rear end that's already on my car or do I have to get a 4th gen disc brake rear end?
Mass-produced cars have to appeal to the masses, who, for the most part, have little-to-no taste, whether it's in cars, clothing, food, or whatever. "Meat and potatoes, please, plain." Little money, too. Designers would LOVE to have free-reign, but color and material palettes have to be simple and basic, which, not coincidentally, also happens to be the most cost-effective. But because of what we were fed, most people use that as the basis for "right and wrong," as if it's biblical, etched-in-stone. We often read someone say, "these cars" look best this way or that way. Really? "These cars?" Why? Says who? Oh, familiarity.
If the Trans Am in "Smokey and the Bandit" had been some other color combo, then... But black and gold is what they fed us. If the IROC or GTA had been two-tone, then a monochromatic scheme would be blasphemous. Why? Familiarity.
When people ask a question like this, stating intentions based upon the UNfamiliar, they receive much criticism. Yet every month, COTM is filled with incredible cars, many of which are different, and people love them, proving that you can be creative with "these cars," that there are no rules for "these cars." But however different, do it WELL. The quality will either sell it or kill it.
So I guess the moral is, "don't ask, don't tell," just do it, THEN show it. Build a 305? Don't ask, don't tell, just do it LOL.
As for the chrome wrap suggestion, that looks very nice, but probably only because the black paint is flawless. Wraps can look amazing. And, yes, there is a blue chrome vinyl wrap. Chrome wraps are available in many colors. A lot of very expensive cars are wrapped in chrome colors, and they look stunning.
Another suggestion for this car: black paint with blue metal flake, light blue metallic gfx, and similarly accented IROC wheels.
Mass-produced cars have to appeal to the masses, who, for the most part, have little-to-no taste, whether it's in cars, clothing, food, or whatever. "Meat and potatoes, please, plain." Little money, too. Designers would LOVE to have free-reign, but color and material palettes have to be simple and basic, which, not coincidentally, also happens to be the most cost-effective. But because of what we were fed, most people use that as the basis for "right and wrong," as if it's biblical, etched-in-stone. We often read someone say, "these cars" look best this way or that way. Really? "These cars?" Why? Says who? Oh, familiarity.
There's no "right" answer. Blue, silver, black, monochrome, or heck, hot pink!!! There's no point arguing because we can all agree there's no right answer. That being said, YOU can't say the masses just follow along with what they're fed anymore than I can you say YOU just like to be different for the sake of being different. Who's to say what's in our heads, and what ultimately drives us to seek out our tastes and preferences. If someone like blue GFX, I have no issue whatsoever with that. I CAN tell you that if you ask 100 people and show them a rendering, most won't like it. Does that matter to you? Maybe not. Maybe it does. That's up to the OP and what drives them to build their car.
There's no "right" answer. YOU can't say the masses just follow along with what they're fed
LOL, I can say that, because that's exactly what they do, with blinders on--in all facets of life. It's as if designers' opinions and creations are beyond reproach. So to consider straying from that, the norm, the familiar, it's often met with criticism, "wrong" or "bad," like in this thread, or any that involve something different or "unusual." But you're exactly right about there being no "right" answer. I agree. That's my point.
[QUOTE=My dad had an 83 z28/Iroc z back in the day with the 5.7l automatic. That's where I first fell in love with these cars and ever since wanted to get one for myself.[/QUOTE] Better research that one before you get yourself bullied
As for color scheme, there are good combinations, and there are bad ones. You can love how you've made your car look which in the end is all that matters.. but that doesn't mean it actually looks good. Infinite amounts of people have painted their GFX a vibrant color that doesn't match the body, and I've never seen a single example where it looks good. You can have everything painted professionally with extremely high quality, and it will always look like you half ***'d it in your driveway.
Now not to say there aren't ways to make a 2 tone scheme look good. Take the black Zedder pictured before with the light blue accents. That's a ballsy move that ended up looking killer, but it wouldn't have if he had painted the full plastic. There's also another member that did a 2 tone job, but it cuts off almost level with the door handles, and it has a pinstripe to accentuate the split. That's tasteful, and the results are excellent.
What about leaving the car one color, but adding an accent of sorts? There's a guy out there that dressed his Third Gen up with Yenko liveries, and it looks excellent.
Mass-produced cars have to appeal to the masses, who, for the most part, have little-to-no taste, whether it's in cars, clothing, food, or whatever. "Meat and potatoes, please, plain." Little money, too. Designers would LOVE to have free-reign, but color and material palettes have to be simple and basic, which, not coincidentally, also happens to be the most cost-effective. But because of what we were fed, most people use that as the basis for "right and wrong," as if it's biblical, etched-in-stone. We often read someone say, "these cars" look best this way or that way. Really? "These cars?" Why? Says who? Oh, familiarity.
If the Trans Am in "Smokey and the Bandit" had been some other color combo, then... But black and gold is what they fed us. If the IROC or GTA had been two-tone, then a monochromatic scheme would be blasphemous. Why? Familiarity.
When people ask a question like this, stating intentions based upon the UNfamiliar, they receive much criticism. Yet every month, COTM is filled with incredible cars, many of which are different, and people love them, proving that you can be creative with "these cars," that there are no rules for "these cars." But however different, do it WELL. The quality will either sell it or kill it.
So I guess the moral is, "don't ask, don't tell," just do it, THEN show it. Build a 305? Don't ask, don't tell, just do it LOL.
As for the chrome wrap suggestion, that looks very nice, but probably only because the black paint is flawless. Wraps can look amazing. And, yes, there is a blue chrome vinyl wrap. Chrome wraps are available in many colors. A lot of very expensive cars are wrapped in chrome colors, and they look stunning.
Another suggestion for this car: black paint with blue metal flake, light blue metallic gfx, and similarly accented IROC wheels.
I like that idea, thanks for commenting that. I'm gonna look into that and see if I'd be skilled enough to do it and yes I am planning on just building the 305 in the car as I don't have the skills to do a full engine swap.
[QUOTE=RKeats;6397346]Better research that one before you get yourself bullied
I'm going off what he told me and I've seen only pictures of the car. I know it was a v8 but not sure if it was a 350 or 305 but I know it was automatic. As for the Iroc z or z28 it was either one but I remember him saying it was a z28 with some Iroc z parts on it.
Better research that one before you get yourself bullied
I'm going off what he told me and I've seen only pictures of the car. I know it was a v8 but not sure if it was a 350 or 305 but I know it was automatic. As for the Iroc z or z28 it was either one but I remember him saying it was a z28 with some Iroc z parts on it.
I'm just messing with ya. No 350's or Iroc's in 83' though
Ok, so new colors I'm thinking about. Black with blue metallic flake with dark silver or grey 16 in Iroc wheels. Black with silver metallic flakes with the same colored wheels. Royal blue with metallic flakes and charcoal grey wheels. Cobalt candy blue with silver metallic flakes and charcoal grey wheels and last any dark blue, red, or normal orange with silver metallic flakes and charcoal wheels. Any of those unique or different but good ideas?
Build a 305? Don't ask, don't tell, just do it LOL.
