Anybody know what GM was doing with paint in 1982? Reason I ask is when I bought my 82 Z-28 it looked like black primer, however tonight I got a wild hair up my *** and broke out the buffer and some different compounds and she shines pretty good too I might add, it's always had a small amout of glisten to it when headlights hit it at an angle and now it has a reflection can any body shed some light on this subject? Perhaps severely neglected factory paint?

 

The completed bodies were submerged into an electrostatic primer bath tank which in 1982 was filled with a satin black primer.

For the 3rd-gen the paint shops were updated with robots and paint guns to apply the exterior paint.

 

I concur. Even my white '82 T/A had black primer. From day 1 it was not nearly as white as a Corvette, or other white cars I parked next to. Black was probably used because it had the most titanium dioxide, to maximize corrosion resistance.

 

I know that Van Nuys & Norwood used different painting techniques in 1987, I am not sure how early Norwood started using the Baer "Turbo Bell" system. I do not think that Van Nuys ever got the process...

Typically speaking Norwood cars hold up better from rust than the Van Nuys cars because they used better paint... Again I am not sure when they converted over but Van Nuys was using a Waterborne Paint, Norwood was not... I want to think that Norwood may have used Urethane later on, especially when they went to the BCCC system...

Again to answer your question in 1982, I believe it was a Single Stage color, and depending on what plant your car was made is would determine what kind of paint you actually have on your car from the factory... A badly weathered car may be buffed out... BUT you can buff Primer too, I have seen some shops actually buff Primer to see the reflections better

 

How the heck did you know that?

 

My car was a Norwood car

 

okfoz, according to an magazine article I have that covers the build of a '83 Firebird S/E from start to finish at the Norwood plant, the "Turbo Bell" system was installed during a 1980 renovation.

Maybe LeonardS can shed some light on what the Van Nuys plant was using at least at the very end since he was there. The Van Nuys '82 Trans Am I just bought has some areas in the engine compartment where not enough paint was applied allowing the black primer to show which leads me to believe they may have still been painting them by hand.

 

My Norwood car has GRAY primer under the paint, under the hood is very obvious because like yours the paint is very light, no clear...

John