Some of you know that I was planning on selling off my gold GT 3800s/c. I've been kicking around the idea and the last few months pushed me over the edge. First, the clearcoat literally started falling off in sheets. The final straw was when I drove it to work, the passenger side quarter window fell off. Mechanically, the car is perfect. It has a new transmission and a spare with a pair of spare axles.
Here is a pic from years ago.
A little more recent...
And here is a few weeks ago and my frustration.
So, I drop it off at the body shop that I have done business with for years. I tell him to keep the bill reasonable because I plan to sell it. He calls me up a few days later and asks me to stop by. He asks why I don't like the car anymore. I told him that I just don't like the gold....it looked great for a few years and faded quickly since the last paint job. He told me the car was painted three times total and If I were to change the color, now is the time to do it. Puzzled, I look into the shop and find my car with all the body panels removed. My initial thought was to have him just sand and respray the clear, but if he took it that far, let's change the color.
Now, I am looking forward to keeping it. It is funny how when you find the one little thing that was bothering you about the car and fixing it, your prospective changes. I still may sell it, but the price will have to be right.
Maaco painted it five years ago. I hoped that with regular washing and waxing, it would have lasted, but it didn't. This time, I'm doing it right. The Maaco paint looked good, but it started to show its age about a year ago.
Maaco wasn't exactly cheap by their standards. I went with their 5 year (hence the irony) paint job for $2500. I plan to get some in progress pics to post up this week.
I never ask price when I deal with this body shop. I've been dealing with him for many years and he is always fair. Once, I lost my cool and took a shovel to a customer's Audi A6, he fixed it for me at a very reasonable price. I realized after the fact that I may have gone a little overboard.
It has come time for me to paint my black 87GT as well. There is a slight bit of peeling but not very much, I have decided on a single stage paint job. With todays high tech enamels you can apply and buff single stage paints to a very high gloss. With black you might not even be able to tell the difference between a single stage and clearcoat job. Basecoat/clearcoat if properly applied probably has a deeper gloss but the clearcoat must be applied while the basecoat is still tacky. It looks like the shop applied the clearcoat while the basecoat was too dry and it didn't take hold. If you have a nice Fiero I would hold on to it. They are a blast to drive. We were at Somerville cruise night last Friday night and parked next to a Vette. The Vette owner remarked "I wish that I owned one of these small supercharged plastic wonders" and he had an LS2 w 400 HP. Just for laughs, I asked him if he wanted to try his luck at the track on street night and he backed down. I never thought that a 3800SC Fiero could be that intimidating but the name "The Black Paralyzer" and the sound of the supercharger seemed to scare him away..
------------------ " THE BLACK PARALYZER" -87GT 3800SC Series III engine, custom ZZP /Frozen Boost Intercooler setup, 3.4" Pulley, Powerlog manifold, Northstar TB, LS1 MAF, 3" Flotech Afterburner Exhaust, Autolite 104's, MSD wires, Custom CAI, 4T65eHD w. custom axles, HP Tuners VCM Suite. "THE COLUSSUS" 87GT - ALL OUT 3.4L Turbocharged engine, Garrett Hybrid Turbo, MSD ign., modified TH125H " ON THE LOOSE WITHOUT THE JUICE "
If the car is parked outside all the time in New Jersey weather I am sure that is very tough on the clear coat what with the ice, snow and then hot sun in the summer. Hope you get a good job that you like
Typically the gold car stays in my enclosed trailer over the winter. My garage already has the VR6. My orange car stays at the shop. Last year was the first year that the gold car unfortunately wound up outside on the worst possible weather days due to needing the trailer to move my shop.
Mechanically, the car is perfect. I may redo the interior later on. It looks good, but I'd like to add black to mix in with the saddle brown.
After you get it painted try using Malm's pure carnuba wax on it. A perfectionist friend of mind who happens to live in New Jersey told me about it years ago. You won't believe how it enhances the depth and quality of the paint.
After you get it painted try using Malm's pure carnuba wax on it. A perfectionist friend of mind who happens to live in New Jersey told me about it years ago. You won't believe how it enhances the depth and quality of the paint.
I've been using Zaino. It is made locally and I seem to bump into the owner driving in his Ferrari or Mclaren. The stuff is really good. here are a few pics of my other Fiero from this weekend.
I do think people end up hating their cars because they dont fix what is wrong with them. They let one thing go.. then another.. then more, then look at it one day and say what a piece of junk. Its almost never the cars fault Good choice on keeping it and fixing it.
lol.....Here are some in progress pics from yesterday.
All of the best paint jobs seem to be done by disassembling the body panels and thoroughly sanding to remove all of the imperfections. Far more work but best results. I am assuming a coat of plastic adhesion promoter will be applied before the paint goes on..
------------------ " THE BLACK PARALYZER" -87GT 3800SC Series III engine, custom ZZP /Frozen Boost Intercooler setup, 3.4" Pulley, Powerlog manifold, Northstar TB, LS1 MAF, 3" Flotech Afterburner Exhaust, Autolite 104's, MSD wires, Custom CAI, 4T65eHD w. custom axles, HP Tuners VCM Suite. "THE COLUSSUS" 87GT - ALL OUT 3.4L Turbocharged engine, Garrett Hybrid Turbo, MSD ign., modified TH125H " ON THE LOOSE WITHOUT THE JUICE "
Remove the two front fenders and fix those door hinges NOW !!!!!!!!!! Piece of cake.
I am gonna gloss black the undersides of my hood and trunk. Saw one that way at a meet, it was fine. Replacement decals are in the mall and Rodney has some.
[This message has been edited by josef644 (edited 09-03-2014).]
yeah, they are taking off the fenders and the rocker panels next. They called to say that they are pulling the headliner. I'm not crazy about that idea. I know I can strip the interior without breaking anything. They need to repair the area by the sunroof.
It has been moved to Tuesday or Wednesday. Here are some pics from yesterday. They spent some time repairing the roof that had cracked all the way through by the sunroof. Maybe it is the sticky tires and the torque, but that is just a theory. I dropped of dew wipes for them to change as well.
[This message has been edited by bmwguru (edited 09-07-2014).]
Here are more pics. They had to repair part of the fastback clip that was improperly previously repaired. I knew about that and they wound up fixing it....I'm glad because that was bothering me.
This is in the booth getting ready to be painted today....
and this came out of the booth yesterday and still need to be wet sanded.....This is the color.
I really fell in love with the color of a 2012 Ford Mustang GT500 and wanted my car that color. It really is a nice blue and every time I see the Mustang, I turn my head so I chose that. The other color I planned on using was Porsche yellow, but I changed my mind. There is a lot of pearl in the blue and the painter sprayed it in a way to make the metallics stand up. I'm really not sure of what that means, but he said it would look great when it is done. I think it will be a nice match with the yellow powdercoated calipers and valve covers.
The side molding, mirrors, decklid vents and fastback inner clips are staying black.
I've been using Zaino. It is made locally and I seem to bump into the owner driving in his Ferrari or Mclaren. The stuff is really good. here are a few pics of my other Fiero from this weekend.
Wow that is like my DREAM paint job.
However my fiero has orig red paint on it in perfect condition as it was garage kept.
Not sure if I should re-paint it more to my style or keep it stock since it will be worth more.
I dont have a garage to keep it in anyways so the paint will fade eventually either way.
Dave, nice to see your keeping the car. Plus, I like the way the bodyshop guys are doing the job with caution and care. Doing it right is the solution.
The other 88GT you have is very, very nice. That paint job is a classic.
BTW, I notice the front passenger marker light has the older groove molded light...gotta fix that.
Dave, nice to see your keeping the car. Plus, I like the way the bodyshop guys are doing the job with caution and care. Doing it right is the solution.
The other 88GT you have is very, very nice. That paint job is a classic.
BTW, I notice the front passenger marker light has the older groove molded light...gotta fix that.
Cheers,
I intentionally had the bumper trim modified to use the grooved molding and the front bumper on that car. I had a 1986 SE that was destroyed the day after Christmas 2000 and the only part left of the car that wasn't destroyed was the front bumper, so I wanted to keep it on my orange car. The SE was the first Fiero I purchased back in 1993 and I was very attached to it.
I stopped by the body shop yesterday to check on the car and it is all painted. I didn't get pics because they were in the middle of buffing it, but the color looks awesome. I am hoping to be able to get some assembled pics this weekend and they are hoping to get the completed for this weekend.
After you get it painted try using Malm's pure carnuba wax on it. A perfectionist friend of mind who happens to live in New Jersey told me about it years ago. You won't believe how it enhances the depth and quality of the paint.
$34.95 for 1/2 pint on Amazon!!! + 7 bucks to ship it!!
------------------ "Kilgore Trout once wrote a short story which was a dialogue between two pieces of yeast. They were discussing the possible purposes of life as they ate sugar and suffocated in their own excrement. Because of their limited intelligence, they never came close to guessing that they were making champagne." - Kurt Vonnegut
It has come time for me to paint my black 87GT as well. There is a slight bit of peeling but not very much, I have decided on a single stage paint job. With todays high tech enamels you can apply and buff single stage paints to a very high gloss. With black you might not even be able to tell the difference between a single stage and clearcoat job. Basecoat/clearcoat if properly applied probably has a deeper gloss but the clearcoat must be applied while the basecoat is still tacky. It looks like the shop applied the clearcoat while the basecoat was too dry and it didn't take hold. If you have a nice Fiero I would hold on to it. They are a blast to drive. We were at Somerville cruise night last Friday night and parked next to a Vette. The Vette owner remarked "I wish that I owned one of these small supercharged plastic wonders" and he had an LS2 w 400 HP. Just for laughs, I asked him if he wanted to try his luck at the track on street night and he backed down. I never thought that a 3800SC Fiero could be that intimidating but the name "The Black Paralyzer" and the sound of the supercharger seemed to scare him away..
"Just for laughs, I asked him if he wanted to try his luck at the track on street night and he backed down."
You were bluffing, right?
------------------ "Kilgore Trout once wrote a short story which was a dialogue between two pieces of yeast. They were discussing the possible purposes of life as they ate sugar and suffocated in their own excrement. Because of their limited intelligence, they never came close to guessing that they were making champagne." - Kurt Vonnegut
Definitely looks awesome! I love that color so much! Congrats on finding the love in the car again! I too go in spurts of wanting to get rid of my fiero and driving it a thousand miles a week! Roller coaster of emotions all the time haha
Wow, now that's a killer paint job! The car looks better than new!
------------------ " THE BLACK PARALYZER" -87GT 3800SC Series III engine, custom ZZP /Frozen Boost Intercooler setup, 3.4" Pulley, Powerlog manifold, Northstar TB, LS1 MAF, 3" Flotech Afterburner Exhaust, Autolite 104's, MSD wires, Custom CAI, 4T65eHD w. custom axles, HP Tuners VCM Suite. "THE COLUSSUS" 87GT - ALL OUT 3.4L Turbocharged engine, Garrett Hybrid Turbo, MSD ign., modified TH125H " ON THE LOOSE WITHOUT THE JUICE "
