I am thinking of getting my car painted. It is factory bright red, but currenlty has a wrap on it. I am kind of a perfectionist, and with wrap, inevitably it starts coming off here and there...
If I plan to keep my car red, maybe a brighter shade of red, is it really that much better to do an off panel paintjob? Or should I just remove the door trim, spoiler, all the easy to remove stuff
I understand for a drastic color change, the off panel makes more sense. But if I am keeping the color more or less, should I bother?
I am not very mechanically savvy, so for me it is not an easy task to remove the panels. And if I take it to a generic body shop that does not know Fieros, they may or may not be gentle with all the various fasteners, clips, etc. I would replace all the fasteners regardless...
My experience of painting and of having a vehicle painted, is to remove the panels. By doing so, you can wrap the paint around the edges of the panels. That helps to reduce the possibility of the paint pulling away at the edge.
I removed my wheel well liners, lower quarters, rockers, belt line trim, rain gutters, mirrors, headlight doors, dew wipes, rear grills, and rear window moldings. Also the nose badge. I think I removed my tail lights when I got to the paint shop. The quarter windows were installed later, since I used a salvaged fastback clip. All the stuff that needed to be painted body color was left in the passenger side floor, with instructions to "paint these too". (The interior was also devoid of passenger seat and door panels.) Some stuff still needed to be masked/taped, but it was all big stuff like door jambs and windows.
I also had my windshield replaced at the same time, so that didn't have to be masked, either. They could pull off the trim and paint right up to the edge of the roof panel.
This was right after I got it home and installed most of the "loose" pieces.
I'm going to end up with all of my panels/bumpers off except my roof, so I plan to sort pain on those off the car. Getting the roof panel off seems like it's going to be more effort than it's worth...but I'm not certain yet.
Mine was repainted in 2009 and we/they removed all the easy parts and painted them separately. The roof and rear clip were about all that stayed on the car. The shop had either done a Fiero previously (or the owner had owned one, I don't remember which) and they wanted to take no risks of breaking the roof.
I pondered this a few years back, my car has been repainted with the panels on before I bought it. I chose a panel off paint job here's why.
Over spray, too many areas that weren't meant to get color got it.
Panel damage primarily rockers not to mention it would be fairly hard to get the underside without a lift.
The previous hood had several large paint chips/peeling and I happen to come across a fresh unpainted hood.
Fuel door ring (new) the curves on this mate up to the side of the rear panel so well that if not separated during color I'd be worried about peeling/long term durability.
Roof and rear body separation. My sunroof gasket & rails needed some intention. I had already removed the head liner as the fabric was shot. Under the rear section of the roof the weather seals have shown their age so it was a good time to replace it.
As far as shops go I share your sentiment. I tried several in my area and they turned me away or wanted the car fully assembled.
I was fortunate and found someone in the business willing to take on a panel off project.
If you've watched any of my daughter's videos... her car (before we got it) had been repainted with the panels on. It seems like all they did was tape off the trim. Like Stingray said, there were many areas that got paint that shouldn't have. She's removed every panel on that car except the doors (which we'll get to). Every area you can imagine that air can get into, had silver paint on it. The car just looks poor quality with overspray.
If you go through some of her videos, you'll see where she removes things like the hood, and the nose, and all of those black chassis and frame parts have silver overspray on them. You don't really realize how bad it looks until you've fixed it. She took every panel off, and then sanded down the chassis and repainted it with epoxy black paint. Painted every screw the correct flat black color, etc. She fixed everything. The wheel liners had overspray on them, even the turn signal lenses had overspray on them. I taught her how to sand down with different levels of sand paper, and then polish it back out, just to get the paint off.
If you can figure a way to get the panels off (this is a link to her videos: https://www.youtube.com/@GenerationZGarage), and can find a way to get them all to the paint shop, it's worth it to do it that way. It'll take time... but in the end it will actually be cheaper. You will have to buy all new clips though... most of them break when they come off.
[This message has been edited by 82-T/A [At Work] (edited 12-20-2025).]
I'm with fierofool, I had my Red Formula done with all the panels removed, the job came out beautiful. The roof was the only panel left on. It may be more expensive this way, but it was well worth it to me.
Check with the shop to see if they have done a Fiero before, you don't want somebody that will break something.
Great advice, thanks everyone. Lucky for me, I do have a few local friends with Fieros who are much more skilled than I am and who have offered to help me remove the panels when winter is over (it is amazing how much guys will do for free beer and BBQ
I will leave the roof panel on.
I was told that the headliner has to come out if I remove the rear clip. Is that true? My headliner is absolutely perfect, and I really don't want it to get ruined. Does it have to come out?
If you've watched any of my daughter's videos... her car (before we got it) had been repainted with the panels on. It seems like all they did was tape off the trim. Like Stingray said, there were many areas that got paint that shouldn't have. She's removed every panel on that car except the doors (which we'll get to). Every area you can imagine that air can get into, had silver paint on it.
Now that you mention it, one of the reasons I had to have my car repainted was because certain of the body panels had been repainted previously, and they generally weren't very well done. Besides the usual defects in the paint itself (occasional clear coat issues, peeling, and even runs in the paint!) there was lots of overspray on the underside of the car. The sheetmetal "box" that forms the bottom of the trunk had a lot of it, as did various areas along the pinch welds and coolant tubes on the sides of the car. Fortunately the areas which are more commonly visible (under the front and rear hoods, door jambs etc) are fine.
Can someone please confirm? If I remove the rear clip on my 88 GT, the headliner has to come out? Yes or no? I am trying to understand why it would need to come out since it is entirely inside the car and the rear clip is outside the car. Is this necessary so that I can reach the fasteners holding down the rear clip?
Can someone please confirm? If I remove the rear clip on my 88 GT, the headliner has to come out? Yes or no? I am trying to understand why it would need to come out since it is entirely inside the car and the rear clip is outside the car. Is this necessary so that I can reach the fasteners holding down the rear clip?
Did you watch the video I linked?
The link shows a notchback, but it is very similar for a fastback.
So YES, to remove the rear clip / panel on a '88 GT, the headliner has to come out.
{Edit} When I replaced my '88 GT headliner, I removed: *Seats {to get more workspace} *B-Pillars {buy 2 new ‘carrot’ type push fasteners} *A-Pillars {buy 4 new clips} *Headliner
[This message has been edited by Vintage-Nut (edited 12-20-2025).]
Can someone please confirm? If I remove the rear clip on my 88 GT, the headliner has to come out? Yes or no? I am trying to understand why it would need to come out since it is entirely inside the car and the rear clip is outside the car. Is this necessary so that I can reach the fasteners holding down the rear clip?
thanks
Yes, watch the video that Vintage Nut posted above. There's a lot that needs to be removed, but it's not complicated. A normal adult male can remove the entire rear fiberglass clip by himself too... but it's much easier with a friend so you don't scratch it or bang it.
One of the things you can do too while you have it off, is have the opportunity to replace all of the old weatherstripping that's underneath the rear quarter.
All of that weatherstripping can be bought cheap in rolls off Amazon.com, and it's one of the key things that can eliminate squeaks and rattles from the chassis. Well work going through that process.
Here's a video my daughter made... we remove the rear quarters at 4:20, and she goes through all the things you can (and should do) with the quarter panel removed.
She also links to the exact same video that Vintage Nut did ("It's a Steve Thing" removing the rear clip). But in her video, you'll see the foam padding and stuff that you can buy.
I've had the panels off and sent to a painter in the past,but only because I wanted to keep working on the car in the meantime. the next one I'll do will likely have the panels with the standard trim/taillights/badges off. This is mainly due to space that I have. I don't have enough garage to have every single panel laid out and it seems like most auto paint tutorials show how to paint with all panels on the car. Perhaps I was also burned with a less than stellar painter when I did have my panels removed as edges weren't done properly anyway. I suspect that when I next paint with "panels on" I may remove the rear decklid and paint/mask separately as it can be a difficult spot to paint correctly and would be easier to mask.
