92rs85berlintta

iTrader: (1)

Well here it is ..my car is in the garage for winter and i finaly will start sanding it. Im not going straight to the metal because the paint on it is still sticking good. i took my VW bug to the metal when i was a kid and ruined it. haha. lesson learned. I have started to prep it all by hand but its gets overwhelming trying to figure out how far to go. My biggest concerns is the window seals and t-top seal. Should i take them out or work around them? I have a feeling if i take the t-top seals out its never going to hold water again. not sure how hard it is or if they are even reusable. The door window seals are coming off because they are cracked anyway and the handles are getting removed too. Im painting it with not actualy a pant but a clearable white sealer. The sealer is the whitest white there is and i want it the brightest i can get it. So im planning on clearing the sealer if i can get away with it. Anyones suggestions are welcome as this is the first 3rd gen i have attempeted to paint.


Im sanding with 100 300 then 400. not sure if thats ok but it seams to work.

crapy camera phone pic but i will get the 5mp pics I took on here soon.

86iroclamarque

I think you should take the seals off if you have the option and $$ for new seals. You might be sorry you didn't after your finished. I've seen some nice paint jobs until you get to the paint around the seals. It never seems to work out right trying to paint around them. Those t-top seals are pretty pricey too around $250 I think. You might be able to salvage them and then end up with a wet interior. They can be tricky to install correctly but there are great resources here.


Unrelated item.

My dad was a GM Fisher Body trainer when I was a kid back in the 80's and we always had F-Body parts laying around in our shop at home. TA wings, t-tops, ground effects, doors, hatches, etc... and I distinctly remember a huge box of seals of all types. Brand new, still in packages. After I left home to go to school he threw all of that good stuff right in the trash because he didn't have anything to do with it all. I think of that often as I scrap together change to get parts I need to finish my IROC.

92rs85berlintta

iTrader: (1)

Yea thats what i mean by how far should i go. We all would like to do full restorations but somtimes it just isnt pratical. I will have to decide about the t top seal when i get to that part of the car i guess but i would hate to take them off paint around them pay 250$ for new seals and end up with a wet interior. Ive decided to take the windshield out because it cracked anyway so that will be ok. Does anyone know how to get the door seals off? door and door window seals. because i pull on them and they start to stretch but dont come off. The window seal i cant get to the bolts. PITA

86iroclamarque

Have your T-Top seals ever been replaced? You have the car stripped down pretty much anyway. I'd go ahead and do it. JMO though.

Have you looked at this?

tech tips for T-Top weatherstrip

GM weatherstrip is expensive and might go on easier but the softseal will work fine and hold up just as well if you do it right.

I'd like to see more of your progress

Good luck!

92rs85berlintta

iTrader: (1)

nope never been replaced but they look great still really rubbery not flattened and still seal good. i will get some more pics as soon as i can. iv goten a little bit farther now. it really suck tho because i have the smallest garage out of anybody on this board lol. my car is all the way to one side and i still cant open my door all the way. hahha i will get some more pics soon. Im having trouble getting the door window seals off.

92rs85berlintta

iTrader: (1)

more pics. you can tell by the different shade of white under the paint it has been repaint once before, either that or its white primer. you can see in the pic were im feathering out some chips. hopefully this paint job comes out good when its finished

92rs85berlintta

iTrader: (1)

What should i do on the bumper? looks like tiny hair cracks all over it. How can i get paint/primer and sealer to stick to the raw plastic?

92rs85berlintta

iTrader: (1)

Pics Hosted externaly to follow the rules of course. It looks really weird on camera but its not that rough up close. its realy smooth. must be the different colors of paint make it look like that.

Another rear shot.


Door



t-top section



Its gonna be hell taking all this stuff off from the motor to prep the engine compartment. But i want the car to match. plus its in need of replumbing anyway.

92rs85berlintta

iTrader: (1)

Final product will be Super clean white car with billet grill, SS hood,clear corners,clear front turn signals and crystal blue headlights. Hopefully it will all look good together.

92rs85berlintta

iTrader: (1)

Well its been over a year and I finaly got it partialy sprayed. Heres a few pics. I stripped it down to a shell and sprayed everything. It went farther then I intended, but its less time spent to do it correct the first time then it is to do it twice. Heres a few pics of the prim and seal stages. It was sanded down then coated with ncp then wet sanded for hours till it was flat. We filled the blems and then sealed it with dplf wet sanded it again for hours then base coated it with lamborgini white. Man its too bright to look at on a sunny day. Since it was sprayed over the white dplf it really lightened it up even more. Then we cleared it with ppg shopline clear and wet sanded. Still not done needs a whole lot more wet sanding and buffing to be complete. more pics soon. The materials alone cost me about $1000.00

I lost interest a few times and almost jumped ship, but the dedication to this car pulled me through it.

More and better pics of the base and clear stages coming soon. This was just a quik phone snap shot of the exterior prep.

CYARS92

Nice job, Glad to see I'm not the only one taking some time on their car. I started about a month before you. It's very easy to lose interest in these summer months.Can't wait for more pics.

92rs85berlintta

iTrader: (1)

Yea, I painted it in 3 seperate steps underbody, exterior then interior when I install my cage, so it took a little longer. Underbody was sandblasted and stripped bare then primed and sealed. The good part was it had no rust.

92rs85berlintta

iTrader: (1)

going on 2 years heres an update. ITs Very Very shinny but the 2.0 m camera does show detail good. It has not been wet sanded or buffed yet,its on the to do list. I t doesnt have the bumper or plastics on it and wont untill the motor and tranny are in. I dont want the lift or picker to damage them after fresh paint.

redfire82

I don't think I've ever seen a camaro that clean, nice job painting under body and everything, looks great

boss roc

WHAT WHITE IS THAT?

boss roc

WOW YOU ARE REALLY GOING ABOVE AND BEYOND I REALLY COULDNT DO THAT MUCH WORK CONGRATULATIONS MAN.

IROCME

****ing clean man i wanna a camaro with an underside that clean

92rs85berlintta

iTrader: (1)

Yea, Thanks guys its pretty clean. It took forever, Seemed like the sandblasting and prepping was never gonna end, It will be worth it in the end.
My floor pans got dented somehow which sucks, but when I install my Roll cage im going to fix them.
The camera really doesnt do the exterior justice. Its one of the flattest paint jobs I have ever seen, I wet sanded every coat to make sure it had no texture or dust. It took a full week to just get all the coats and that was after the body prep.

The paint Is the brightest white there is and the dplf sealer under it made it even brighter. You really cant look directly at it in the sun or you will see spots. Its 2004 Lamborgini White, I tried 4 other whites and this was by far the brightest. I tested toyota supra white, chevy arctic white, super white, kia bright white and then I choose this color.

Tobias05

nice man, that'll be a project putting her back together. hope you labeled everything. it'll be a sweet looking ride when you're all done, congrats on the hard work and the patience to do it right.

EvilCartman

iTrader: (1)

Looks like you took it a little further than you had first planned haha. Looks like it turned out really good.

I'm looking to get some color on mine Saturday! I've kept kinda quiet about it, been back working on it for the past couple of weeks. I'll start up another thread on the weekend with pictures from start to finish.

92rs85berlintta

iTrader: (1)

Yup, went alot farther than the original scuff and duff that was planned. It worked out since I ended up buying a ton of new body parts bumpers molding ect.. and suspension Items anyway. It will be nice when its done and I can say I did it myself.

APACHE JOHN

Now that's the right way to do it! Very nice!

EvilCartman

iTrader: (1)

That's the best part of doing a project like this, being able to stand back and say, "I did that." The first go around of painting my Camaro people would ask who did it so I told them I did. Then of course "hey, can you paint mine too?" One guy was actually serious and had me paint his truck and corvette. Can't wait to see how my car turns out this time around.

Frozer!!!

iTrader: (11)

Looks super clean, cant wait to see it all together! Great job

92rs85berlintta

iTrader: (1)

well... 6 years later Its still slow cooking. Not quite on the road yet, but i drive it around my drive way if they counts. The engine is not the prettiest yet but In about 10 more years it might be haha. Shes coming together, I am hopefully going to have her body work finished up by the fall. The pictures dont do the color justice. You have to wear shades when the sun is out or you will see spots its so bright. Just wanted to post an update since its been a few years.