Out of curiosity has anyone painted the sail panels on a notchie? I'm getting my Formula painted black and remembered they were pretty faded, would it look bad if I had my guy paint them while he's painting the car? Or would it be easier/better to just buy one of the replacement panels on the market? As of now it appears he has the panel covered to not paint them so I was wondering if anyone had any feedback on this before I told him whether to paint them or not.
No problem with having them painted. I had mine painted satin black along with the mirrors. I also had my black trim painted too. A more glossy black. Looks great. Mine was a pannel off job though.
Mine isn't panel off but I am having the black trim and the mirrors painted as well, along with the rockers and the air dam on the front. Thank you very much!
Well I just sent him a text to let him know and he sent me back a picture of the car painted so it may have been a little late, but overall it looks great so I'm not even upset. I always did like the full replacement windows the Fiero store sells anyways. I'll post some pictures of it in a couple days!
I'd like to get a replacement arrowhead from the Fiero Store as I do like the arrowhead, just the whole black piece in general is very faded. That being said I have heard the quality of the replacements from TFS aren't as good as the originals (mine never had the originals), at least for the front emblem. I found NOS front emblem on eBay in the gold colour rather than the silver from the 88s but I think I may buy that one anyways. Then I'll probably buy the arrowheads from TFS
I bought the PONTIAC name plate for the back bumper of my Formula from Fiero Store. I heard before hand that they had issues with fading. So I took some clear paint made for plastics and clear coated the plate wth about 4 coats thinking that may prohibit the fading. It didn't work. It was nice and shiney silver when I put it on. Now it's just a solid black. Weird.
Good to know, unfortunately mine I had on was in very poor condition, I'm assuming it was not original either as my front emblem wasn't either, so I'll probably be stuck with the Fiero store rear emblem. The NOS front emblem is metal for about the same price as the Fiero store's so it's a no brainer. It makes me skeptical of the arrowhead emblem too now. I'm going to wait on the Formula decal, if at all, but I'll probably buy it from Fierosails.
I bought the arrowheads from Fiero Store and they held up good for over a year. So you should be good there. Luckily I had the original Formula decals from GM. The only thing I haven't put on is the Fiero decal on the deck lid. However I kind of like it without it. If I do buy one I will get one from Fiero Sails.
I painted my 85se sail panels with black plastidip. It is available in a aerosol can from most auto parts stores. No need to mask, just spray then use a exato knife to cut around what you want to leave. Then peel off the excess. The final product looks factory and can be redone any time you need. Mine is 3 years old and still looks good .
Joe Sokol
------------------ 85 SE Daily driver with a 3.4 DOHC OBD II 88 Formula/GT 4.9 Allante Intake (My Baby) www.fieroking.com
I bought the PONTIAC name plate for the back bumper of my Formula from Fiero Store. I heard before hand that they had issues with fading. It was nice and shiney silver when I put it on. Now it's just a solid black.
A replacement PONTIAC name plate was put on my Formula two years ago and most of the silver is now gone. Cheaply made crap.
I painted my 85se sail panels with black plastidip. It is available in a aerosol can from most auto parts stores. No need to mask, just spray then use a exato knife to cut around what you want to leave. Then peel off the excess. The final product looks factory and can be redone any time you need. Mine is 3 years old and still looks good .
Joe Sokol
Didn't think of that! That may be the perfect solution!
quote
Originally posted by Patrick:
A replacement PONTIAC name plate was put on my Formula two years ago and most of the silver is now gone. Cheaply made crap.
That's a shame. Mine was a very dull grey and plastic. Were the originals metal like the front emblem?
[This message has been edited by Dylpro (edited 10-22-2015).]
You can spend a little time and effort and sand down the arrowhead for that smooth look. I did that on one of my notchbacks and it looked pretty good.
I thought about doing this on my 84 but they were rubberized so I wasn't sure if it was really sand-able with the bare metal showing when I took the faded arrowheads out. I ended up painting the arrowheads black and putting them back in with the intent to someday remove the rubberized coating and redo it with some black plasti-dip spray. Didn't ever get around to it before I sold it though.
[This message has been edited by Khw (edited 10-22-2015).]
I peeled the cracked glossy panels off my '87 parts car & painted the entire plastic frame with Dupli-color trim paint. I put the SE decals on for my '84 - the aluminum frames under the plastic were corroding; warping and twisting the plastic.
You just need to scuff them up and paint them. If they have sun cracks, the paint will not cover them up. Even if you primer it, sand it smooth and paint them, they will shortly come right back. This goes for GT 'windows' too. If they are cracked and your going to paint them without replacing, you need to put a layer of fiberglass over it, then sand and prime.
You just need to scuff them up and paint them. If they have sun cracks, the paint will not cover them up. Even if you primer it, sand it smooth and paint them, they will shortly come right back. This goes for GT 'windows' too. If they are cracked and your going to paint them without replacing, you need to put a layer of fiberglass over it, then sand and prime.
Do you think the cracks would show through something like plasti-dip that is rubber* based and would flex with the panel as it expands and contracts?
* I don't know if it's rubber or some other elastomer.
From what little ive seen of plastic dip the guy next door uses to do cars, i dont think it hides flaws any better than paint. Scratches, chips and cracks still show thru the ones ive seen.