F-body Paint
10-17-2014, 11:18 PM
#1
F-body Paint I was cleaning my silver car this evening and was amazed to notice how few stone chips or other flaws there were in the paint - after 14 years and 132k miles. On the other hand, both SOM cars I've had have had numerous stone chips - so much so that I had the front clip refinished on my current car.
I remember hearing about the "water borne" paint system being used on these cars when they were new and questioning it's longevity. I have to say, especially regarding my silver car, that it has proven to be extremely durable over the years. I wax or polish it once or twice a year. And although my SOM cars have suffered from stone chips, otherwise the paint has remained shiny and durable.
F-body paint - quality or not? What's your experience?
I remember hearing about the "water borne" paint system being used on these cars when they were new and questioning it's longevity. I have to say, especially regarding my silver car, that it has proven to be extremely durable over the years. I wax or polish it once or twice a year. And although my SOM cars have suffered from stone chips, otherwise the paint has remained shiny and durable.
F-body paint - quality or not? What's your experience?
10-17-2014, 11:34 PM
#3
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I'll just add that the SLP painted parts (such as hoods and spoilers for the SS cars) seem less durable than the GM paint on other panels or non-SS cars. I also noticed this with the ASC painted hood on my WS6.
10-18-2014, 09:09 PM
#4
my paint was ok i guess.
i mean it got beat to **** from being outside. plus some ******* hit it.
as was said the clear on my SS hood started to peel though it was old.
you want to talk about bad paint from the big three look into cars from the 80s. it was crap.
i mean it got beat to **** from being outside. plus some ******* hit it.
as was said the clear on my SS hood started to peel though it was old.
you want to talk about bad paint from the big three look into cars from the 80s. it was crap.
10-18-2014, 09:58 PM
#5
It doesn't seem that you see the clear dry up and blow away as often as on a lot of 80's and 90's cars - Hondas come to mind.
Also I've never seen an f-body where the paint peeled off completely down to the primer, like I've seen on many 90's GM trucks - particularly white ones.
Also I've never seen an f-body where the paint peeled off completely down to the primer, like I've seen on many 90's GM trucks - particularly white ones.
11-08-2014, 12:42 PM
#7
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Almost every one of these cars I see on the road or in parking lots (which is not too many at this point) looks like garbage. Only nice ones I ever see now are at local car shows/events. Granted, Chicago weather makes most 12+ year old daily driven cars look like hell, so it's not really specific to F-bodies in this regard.
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11-08-2014, 08:40 PM
#8
I see some dogs around here, but also some nice ones. There are a couple of red T/A's in my area that are daily driven and always look pristine.
I'd attribute the good quality of my silver car's paint to the fact that I wax or polish it a couple of times a year, but my son's MRM paint is still in good shape and he's too lazy to have ever put a coat of anything on it. Plus it's parked outside 24/7.
The sad thing is how infrequently you see them at all these days. I've had people make comments about my car that reveal they think of it as some kind of "classic musclecar."
I'd attribute the good quality of my silver car's paint to the fact that I wax or polish it a couple of times a year, but my son's MRM paint is still in good shape and he's too lazy to have ever put a coat of anything on it. Plus it's parked outside 24/7.
The sad thing is how infrequently you see them at all these days. I've had people make comments about my car that reveal they think of it as some kind of "classic musclecar."
11-09-2014, 05:58 AM
#9
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I see some dogs around here, but also some nice ones. There are a couple of red T/A's in my area that are daily driven and always look pristine.
I'd attribute the good quality of my silver car's paint to the fact that I wax or polish it a couple of times a year, but my son's MRM paint is still in good shape and he's too lazy to have ever put a coat of anything on it. Plus it's parked outside 24/7.
I'd attribute the good quality of my silver car's paint to the fact that I wax or polish it a couple of times a year, but my son's MRM paint is still in good shape and he's too lazy to have ever put a coat of anything on it. Plus it's parked outside 24/7.
It is possible to keep them looking pretty nice on the top side even when driven in foul weather, my '02 still looked good and often got noticed even with 6 figures of mileage and several Chicago winters under it's belt. I too was quite diligent about paint prep and wax, and it showed. But there was no hiding the weather damage in the engine bay and undercarrige - you'd have to go to extreme lengths to keep those areas looking nice long term on a 4-season daily driver around here.
At this point, the low hanging fruit is mostly gone in my region. You're left with mostly rough, high mileage cars and expensive low mileage garage queens. Those really-nice-but-not-perfect 40-70k mile examples are tough to find now, and exponentially harder to find if you are at all picky about options.
Well maybe not classics, but the earliest 4th gens are just a few years away from AV status; hard to believe since I remember buying these cars new and that just doesn't seem so long ago.
11-09-2014, 02:47 PM
#10
At this point, the low hanging fruit is mostly gone in my region. You're left with mostly rough, high mileage cars and expensive low mileage garage queens. Those really-nice-but-not-perfect 40-70k mile examples are tough to find now, and exponentially harder to find if you are at all picky about options..
So True. I bought my first LT1 in 97 and first LS1 in 03, a year out of production, so they still seem contemporary to me. But they're not.
11-10-2014, 08:58 AM
#11
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I always find it funny when some of the enthusiasts scoff at stuff from the 80s and 90s being in car shows or when someone registers something from that era as a classic.
I always enjoy putting things in perspective for them.
"When did you buy your '69 Camaro? In 1994? When it was 25 years old? Well, that '84 Fiero you are scoffing at as being 'too new' is thirty years old, buddy. Here's a bag. Eat all of the dicks."
I always enjoy putting things in perspective for them.
"When did you buy your '69 Camaro? In 1994? When it was 25 years old? Well, that '84 Fiero you are scoffing at as being 'too new' is thirty years old, buddy. Here's a bag. Eat all of the dicks."
12-08-2014, 02:48 PM
#12
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my paint was ok i guess.
i mean it got beat to **** from being outside. plus some ******* hit it.
as was said the clear on my SS hood started to peel though it was old.
you want to talk about bad paint from the big three look into cars from the 80s. it was crap.
i mean it got beat to **** from being outside. plus some ******* hit it.
as was said the clear on my SS hood started to peel though it was old.
you want to talk about bad paint from the big three look into cars from the 80s. it was crap.
12-09-2014, 05:26 PM
#14
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Like had been mentioned above I think the paint is a reflection to a point on how it's been cared for threw the years. Me and my buddies f-body's are pretty much in perfect condition ( 5 f-body's )
All garage stored in the summer, as in not sitting in direct sunlight when not being driven, not driven in the rain and having **** kicked on them, not parked in crowded Wal-Mart parking lots with people rubbing against them to get by.
In the winter they are all stored in a garage till the salt is gone. No salt touching the paint, no brushing snow off the body, no sitting outside in negative temperatures.
In turn with all that none of them have flaking paint, dull clear coat, few rock chips if ya keep a decent distance from the person ahead of ya when driving, no bubbling sails, cracked interior panels or wore cracked leather
With all that said I think the paint is a hint of the life it's had. If you take care of your stuff it will last and stay very nice for a very long time
All garage stored in the summer, as in not sitting in direct sunlight when not being driven, not driven in the rain and having **** kicked on them, not parked in crowded Wal-Mart parking lots with people rubbing against them to get by.
In the winter they are all stored in a garage till the salt is gone. No salt touching the paint, no brushing snow off the body, no sitting outside in negative temperatures.
In turn with all that none of them have flaking paint, dull clear coat, few rock chips if ya keep a decent distance from the person ahead of ya when driving, no bubbling sails, cracked interior panels or wore cracked leather
With all that said I think the paint is a hint of the life it's had. If you take care of your stuff it will last and stay very nice for a very long time
12-10-2014, 12:10 AM
#15
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In turn with all that none of them have flaking paint, dull clear coat, few rock chips if ya keep a decent distance from the person ahead of ya when driving, no bubbling sails, cracked interior panels or wore cracked leather With all that said I think the paint is a hint of the life it's had. If you take care of your stuff it will last and stay very nice for a very long time
Black paint absorbs more of the heat/sun, so the issue has shown up more (and faster) on the V8 Camaros which, for the affected years, all have black roofs (sans 35th LE and B4C cars). The lighter colored roofs of non-black Firebirds/Trans Ams/V6 Camaros are still affected, but again it takes more time and more exposure for the issue to show up. Hotter climates with more intense sun will also accelerate the condition.
12-10-2014, 09:20 AM
#16
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Unfortunately, the bubbling sail panels aren't a simple matter of owner neglect, but rather the result of an assembly line change near the end of 1998 production, and therefore an issue that every '99+ (and some late '98) F-bodies will eventually suffer from. The only way to prevent this is to avoid heat and, especially, UV exposure. So the more you keep it out of the sun, the longer you can avoid the problem.
Black paint absorbs more of the heat/sun, so the issue has shown up more (and faster) on the V8 Camaros which, for the affected years, all have black roofs (sans 35th LE and B4C cars). The lighter colored roofs of non-black Firebirds/Trans Ams/V6 Camaros are still affected, but again it takes more time and more exposure for the issue to show up. Hotter climates with more intense sun will also accelerate the condition.
Black paint absorbs more of the heat/sun, so the issue has shown up more (and faster) on the V8 Camaros which, for the affected years, all have black roofs (sans 35th LE and B4C cars). The lighter colored roofs of non-black Firebirds/Trans Ams/V6 Camaros are still affected, but again it takes more time and more exposure for the issue to show up. Hotter climates with more intense sun will also accelerate the condition.
12-10-2014, 11:16 AM
#17
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As yours is a '98, depending on your build month this may not be something you even have to worry about in the first place.
12-11-2014, 11:45 AM
#19
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12-11-2014, 12:08 PM
#20
TECH Junkie
By the way that black ws6 I posted was not garage stored by previous owner and has been driven in Minnesota winters, sad but true. I was not including it in my previous post of the mint 5 f-body garage stored example I gave above. That black ws6 is a nice car but had been neglected by previous owners