Help with my 78 GMQ trunk.

[Grand1]

Looks like clear coat is gone. What do I need to do, to get this in better shape? to

[Kodachrome Wolf]

I’d say a little more than the clear coat is gone.

I’d probably say sand and prep the surface and do a repaint on the panel. It’s already missing a lot of paint. A good paint shop or body shop could work with you to make up some paint that’ll match the original paint as close as possible assuming you’re wanting to do the work yourself.

[Grand1]

Lol
Should have said clearcoat faliure that led to fading paint. What can one expect after 40 years?

So I definitely want to keep the vintage patina . This is the only place...little on my hood that the paint is this bad. Does anyone have a good link on how to do small paintjobs like this? Anything I need to look out for when buying paint, since this car is not fiberglass?

[gadget73]

I doubt that was ever clearcoat. 78 should have been straight enamel paint. Either way its through the paint and into the metal. Basically sand it and paint it is the fix here.

[Tiggie]

Depending on your purpose and means, I’d start to consider a full repaint.

Going to be very tough to match for a panel job, and even if the color does, the shine will not.

If going for the patina, sand with 600-800 grit and clear coat what you have.

[slack]

I had some good luck with just using some rattle cans from automotivetouchup.com this past summer on my '78. It's not a prefect match, but it's much better than it was before. I've seen some bad reviews on them so I'm not sure if you want to use the same brand. (I've had no issues)

Before:


After:

[87gtVIC]

Matching is never going to happen. Just no way to match 40 year old neglected paint. 40 year old pristine paint would have a hell of a better chance at kinda matching.


If you do not want a full on repaint but rather repaint the affected areas and are okay with it not matching (because it never will) go with slacks suggestion.


If you just want to prevent things from getting worse try this out: https://www.eastwood.com/eastwood-pa...r-aerosol.html


Anything short of a full repaint will result in mismatched panels.

[Grand1]

Thanks for the replies and the advice gentleman. Chewing on what to do. A new paint job....how much coin for a barge?

[gadget73]

depends where you go. Prices will vary from Maaco to several times that depending on quality of the paint and quality of the painter.

If you don't have the coin for a really good job now, strip as much trim and do as much prep work as possible on the car yourself. Mask the rest, have it done at Maaco.