So it's time I finally get the old girl ready for paint. I will be prepping the car, stripping her down, sanding her, and taking her in for a MAACO paint single stage Urethane paint job in the original White. I started today by removing the stripes with a 3M Eraser wheel and then removing the front bumper cover so I can fix the giant crack between the fog light opening and the turn signal on the driver's side. I will be using Eastwood epoxy primer (I hear its just Kirker Enduro Prime) and Finish 1 FP410 2K primer for the spot repairs I will have to do. This is going to be a summer project so I plan to update it as I go (mainly every weekend).


Before.




Before.




Before.




Before.




Stripes Removed.




Stripes Removed.

 

Nice

 

What's left of her stripes.




3M Eraser works like magic.




Cracked/torn bumper cover.




Grill insert and turn lights removed.




Front Bumper cover removed.

 

I would replace that bumper cover and mirror. IMO

 

For the cost of a bumper repair kit I am going to make a attempt at repairing the bumper cover myself. If it fails or I bugger it up completely I am more than ready to buy a new one. As for the mirror, if you look closely you will see a dent under the mirror. The guy bought it off of said that a shelf in his garage collapsed and something heavy landed on the mirror. It not only dented the mirror but it peeled the top of the door skin about 2 inches away from the glass. I was able to straighten it out so its not noticeable but the whole door needs replaced as I intend to do. So yes I will replace the mirror with the door and I will replace the bumper cover if my repair looks bad. I appreciate the opinions.

 

Agreed 100%. I just finished lots of bumper work on mine, filling in the big factory indentations and repairing a 3-4" crack in the middle of the bumper. It was a time consuming project. Your crack is very long and goes to an edge. You would need to use strips of urethane and epoxy them over the cut like you would steri strips on a deep cut on your body. You would also want to drill through the bumper and urethane strips so the epoxy had little finger projections to help hold it. Seriously for the amount of time and supplies you'll have in this you're better off grabbing a better piece from a yard or part out. I would also heavily advise against single stage. It will never have the gloss or depth of a base coat clear coat. You also won't have the level of uv and scratch resistance a clear coat has. Difference in price for single stage vs clear coat isn't really night and day either. You'll want this paint job to last the entire time you own the car, don't end up wanting to kick yourself everyday when you think you only did this to save a few bucks.

Seriously, you'll have more than you think in repairing it. You'll need the flexible bumper adhesive, flexible filler like poly flex, compatible plastic strips. If you found a bumper for $100 take it. After $100 it just depends on how much time you have vs funds.

 

My 89 I painted had a badly ripped front bumper. I was able to repair it but like Tibo said, the amount of time alone is worth jut finding another bumper. I understand if you are on a super tight budget but if you can afford it get another bumper.
If you have no choice but to repair it use the 3M or Bondo brand Bumper repair 2 part epoxy. It works good.
If you are looking for a budget friendly paint go to Paintforcars.com Get basecoat clear coat. Its much more forgiving.

Not trying to nit pick just speaking from experience.

 

Back side of the front bumper cover before trimming the extra fiberglass tape.




Front side curing.

 

Pulled off the body molding strips, the IROC badges on the rocker ground effects, the outer door sweeps, and the side mirrors.

 

Badge removed.




Molding and outer door felt removed.

 

I dont think i have the talent to fix this, so im gonna replace the door.

 

I would remove the door and take it to a body shop or welder then. It wouldn't be difficult to cut that out and weld in a new patch. Same process as shaved door handles. Compare that price to a parts yard door in good shape. A different door will probably be a different color which would mean sanding the entire thing down and it would possibly hang differently.

 

That's an idea I hadn't thought about. My local junkyard has an 86 Z28 door for $150. It's blue with PW, PM, and PL's. They also have a white door from a 91 Firebird but then I would have to drill the door for the gfx.

 

as far as i know the doors for camaro's and firebird's are a different shape.

 

The doors are the same. It's the GFX that are different

 

Got a couple of low spots but its definitely looking better.

 

It'd be a lot cheaper to replace the door in my area. A door is 60 bucks in the junkyard here.

 

Man, I'm jealous.

 

If you want I have a manual mirror and a power mirror for that passenger side you have to replace. PM me if you are interested

 

Got some 2k primer on it this morning. Its got a little orangle peel but nothing I cant sand out.

 

It looks like it came out well. The chin spoiler being bolted to the bumper cover will add some strength but I would still be extremely careful not to flex it when handling it until it is mounted and then be very careful when pulling up to parking blocks, curbs or walls. It looks like you did a good job but I would still be conscientious about the strength of it.

 

^^^^^^ Yes

 

I agree. I will be taking it easy with the bumper cover. I do have to say that so far it seems pretty strong with the back side reinforced with the fiberglass mesh.

 

Ok, so i thought i would at least take a shot at the door dent (see above #11 for the before). What do you guys think about my hammering skills so far? The problem is the damn door reinforcement strip that runs behind the top half of the door. I cannot get a dolly on the backside at all. I figured spending a couple of hours on this might be cheaper than a door swap. If anyone has any recommendations I am all ears.

 

Just be cautious not to overwork the area and get the tin can effect. If you can push it in and it rebounds out or vice versa it really takes a skilled person to fix it.

 

Slathered it in some bondo glass to give the mounting holes some strength. Don't worry none of the dents are deeper than an 1/8th of an inch.

 

Sanded the fiberglass with some 80 grit. They are not joking when they say this stuff is hard to sand.

 

After getting the fiberglass sanded out I filled the low spots with body filler. Then I sanded it with 80 grit and 180 grit and feathered the paint edges with 180 then 320.

 

3 coats of Eastwood Epoxy primer later. Yes it has a few runs but i will sand them out. I just wanted to get the bare metal covered.

 

I would sand the body down with 400 grit or so and use the stock paint as the base without sanding the whole car down to metal. Just bare metal wherever the bad paint checking is and where the bondo needs to be applied. Then finish off with high build primer and last minute block sanding before taking it down to MAACO

 

If it's a dark or metallic color go to 600 grit. You can use a pre existing paint job as a base before color but the adhesion of the color coat may be effected. Always best to at least spray a coat of epoxy primer of the same manufacturer that made the paint you'll use.

 

Been busy at work so this has been a slow project. Finally got the spoiler and tail lights removed. A lot of grime under there.

 

That is pretty much the plan.

 

That is pretty close to the plan. Since I am keeping it White I was planning to only spot prime the areas that need it and have MAACO use a sealer.

 

I am planning to keep it white but pay for MAACO to use a sealer since I will be spot priming.

 

**UPDATE**
I broke my foot in four places on the 3rd of July in an ATV accident so sanding the body for paint has been put on hold. I will continue to update with any progress I make but the doctor said no walking for 6 weeks.

 

Ouch. Sorry to hear that.

 

Update:
So I'm finally up and walking again after crushing and breaking my foot in 14 places. I got all the paint that was flaking off on the A pillar, roof, reardeck, quarter panels sanded off. Then I sprayed it all with Eastwood's Epoxy primer. I managed to get a lot of runs on the quarter panels so I waited 7 days and wet sanded it all with 320. The plan is to spray it with Finish 1 2K high build primer this weekend. Pics are below.

 

 

 

 

 

Good work! How's the foot?

 

The foot is slowly getting better. Because I crushed it, it's still swollen.

 

Finally got the Urethane primer laid down




Finally got the Urethane Primer laid down.

 

Spurgeon, where you at on this?

 

Update: Block Sanding sucks.

 

Update: Block sanding on the back half of the car is finished. I need to spray a few low spots with more urethane primer, then block it again. I will start sanding the old paint this week.

 

It only sat in primer for 8 years before i got back to finishing it. But here is the finished product that i picked up today.

 

Looks good! Nice work as well on the prep. And I thought I was the only one who had a third gen in the garage (completely torn apart for paint), sitting in high build primer (for years now).