B4U paint fade

[Guest Anonymous]

has nayone had this happen to thier b4u? the paint fades out lighter than the rest?

[SmokesGTP]

Yeah and it looks like total shit.

[digitaloutsider]

Welcome to the world of Pontiac's cheap-ass plastic.

[DiscoStudd]

Welcome to the world of Pontiac's cheap-ass plastic.

Yeah, and just be lucky you (hopefully) don't have any rust underneath the door trim clips. By the time you see it poking out, it's too late. Gotta love that Pre-Bob Lutz Tin Indian styling!

[slick]

I don't think it's necessarily the plastic, more like the cheap paint.

[Guest Anonymous]

I'll have to post a pic of how bad the front clip looks. I never noticed it until now.

I have a tiny spec of rust just above the passenger door trim panel. I dont think there is much, thankfully, I went over it throughrully (sp?) and didnt find any.

But, the paint fade is bad... its gone from flaming blue to a shale gray

[Guest Anonymous]

This doesnt do justice to the paint fade, but you get the idea. It looks worse in person.

 

[DiscoStudd]

I have a tiny spec of rust just above the passenger door trim panel.

Does it look like it's coming from underneath the trim, or is it a spot nowhere near the trim?

 

If it looks like it's started under the trim, you'll most likely need a new door skin. That's what happened on my old Grand Am, and when I popped off the trim, every one of the "rivets" that held the trim clips to the door skin had huge rust holes around them. It didn't seem like there was much rust on the door with the trim still attached. Boy was I surprised...

[Guest Anonymous]

Its maybe a half inch above the trim. There is a little paint flake and it rusted underneath the flake. I would hope there isnt any rust under it, becuase like i said there isnt any other rust on the car, i looked underneath and such and still all blue.

[DiscoStudd]

What's the name of that shade of blue? It looks very similar to "Brilliant Blue Metallic" (which was only used from 94-96.) I want to locate a 95-96 B4U coupe in Brilliant Blue. That color kicks ass!!!

 

This is my old 94 GA which was Brilliant Blue (bought it brand new):

 

Here's how bad the rust was on my 87 GA (pic is after I cut out the rust and tried some fiberglass matting topped with a bit of bondo.) You can also see it next to my 94 in the above pic after I smoothed out the bondo and repainted it...

[Guest Anonymous]

On the sales invoice it says the color is "Light Blue Metallic" but its not really light blue. I really like the color, it looks awesome in the sunlight. Other petty owners just call it "petty blue" but I think that is more of a baby blue? Anyway, Ive seen the 94+ coupes in a very similar color, i think it has the slightest bit more of purple in it or am i mistaken?

 

I hope to God the rust isnt like tthat on my car. If so, I am hanging myself. What did you do with your GA and the rust?

[DiscoStudd]

What I should have done was cut off the door skins and replace them. What I did do (this was 10 years ago, BTW) was remove all the trim and clips, and take a 3M paint removing disc (hooked to a drill) to the paint, and cut out the rust with a die grinder w/a cutoff wheel. I then took a hammer and dolly to the edges of the hole to make an indentation (there are special vice grips to do this, too.) I then bought a fiberglass repair kit and used the mesh (dipped in resin) to fill in the holes. After some sanding, I smoothed over it with a light coat of bondo and painted it. I never put the side cladding back on the doors, fenders, and quarter panels and it looked better without it (on that car anyway.) I just put the black strip that went above the cladding back on.

 

Well, about a year later, the seam on the bottom of the door skin started to rot through! Anyways, I sold the car to my brother, and about 6 months later, he hit a deer and the impact caused the fiberglass from the repair to crack and it fell out of the door (the driver's side anyway.)

 

So it was most definitely "experimental." It looked fairly good when I was done, but I wouldn't recommend doing it at all if you want it done right. Especially since you have a Petty, if it's rotted through, just replace the door skins when you can afford it...

[Guest Anonymous]

Well the only problem is that If i replaced the doorskins, i'd lose the petty badging, unless there is a way to remove it and put it back on.

[5speedz34]

Can't you just buy another decal set through GM?

[Guest Anonymous]

the car is too old. they didnt even have touchup paint for it. They arent gonna have petty decal sets.

[digitaloutsider]

the car is too old. they didnt even have touchup paint for it. They arent gonna have petty decal sets.

I wouldn't be so sure. A dealer here has TGP emblems..

[slick]

If anything Petty stuff shows up on ebay every once in a while.

[Guest Anonymous]

It would be good if i could find them, my car is missing the petty head logos on the back.

[midnight rider]

you might try using that Flitz finish restorer and polish ball set they've been hawking on the Power Block on Spike. I've seen it used and it does do the job it promises.

[PeNZ]

You cant tell the different that much in a white car. Well at least if mine has paint fade you cant tell. But I dont think it does.