Let me apologize in advance for not having any accompanying photos. I will try to get some taken.

I own a 1981 C3 with the silver-over-gray tutone paint. I bought it from the second owner of the car, who is a friend and who had owned it since 1983. He swears that he never the car painted, and that he was not made aware of it having been repainted before he owned it.

I am eager to know whether there was ever a repaint, in that the paint on the hood and the front fenders has aged differently than the rest of the body. In those areas, the paint is somewhat lighter in color than the rest of the car, and has almost a shattered-glass appearance. It isn't immediately noticeable when a person walks up to the car, but it is clearly there.

Even more strange is that at the front, middle of the hood, where the end of the decal is, there is a place in the front where the paint does not have the lighter appearance, and it sort of curves around an area where it does have such an appearance. It is baffling.

If there was a repaint, it had to be a very long time ago, as the hood decal is well faded, and this car barely left my friend's garage since the late 1980s.

Again, I apologize for the lack of photos, but I am certain that the issues that I mentioned will even show up in them.

Does anyone have any thoughts?

 

Sounds like it may have been wrecked before your friend bought it.

 

That's what a fear. I guess that my questions is whether any paint specialists have any idea as to whether paint, particularly silver, fades at different rates or in different manners when it is near the engine compartment.

 

The vette was originally painted with lacquer. Also, the 81 was the last year a Vette was assembled/painted at St. Louis. Paint will fade unevenly, depending on film build, heat, sun exposure, etc. Also, the substrate, either fiberglass/ resin or urethane will out-gass over time, causing what you are seeing. But that doesn't discount the possibility of a repainted section at the factory or the dealership making delivery. G/L

 

Yes, paint can show uneven wear like that. My cars maroon had the crazing you mention, but also the splotchy wear. Its just another symptom of a fiberglass substrate. Ya ever notice how truck caps and boats do the same thing?

 

Just wondering why you are so concerned if it had a repaint or not at some point in it's 24+ year life. Regardless, vettes of this age will need to be redone and that typically means stripping off what is there due to the issues of these older materials as mentioned in the above posts.

 

That's a good question. Not long after I bought the car, I was telling some guy about how it had been owned by the person for over twenty years, it was an unmolested original car, blah blah blah. His response was to rip me and the car (though he has no experience in the field) that because of the paint issues, the car had clearly been wrecked. It really got under my skin.

 

I am by no means a paint expert, however I do remember back in the day Silver cars had a reputation of being the worst victims of sun damage of all colors. Of course this was with lacquer. The flake in the silver pigment probably had a lot to do with that. The new Base Coat/Clear coat systems seem not to be affected as much. Just my 02.

PS. just as BIG_G stated still doesn’t mean that your car hasn’t received and auto body work, but could justify the fading.

 

This might not apply here but, I used to know some guys that worked for GM in the late 70's-early 80's and I distinctly remember one of them driving around a new Caprice 4 door that had a 2-tone paint job when purchased new. He told me it was a re-worked assembly line damaged car and that it was not unusual to repair them that way and sell them as new. I don't know if it was a program car or otherwise but I thought it would add to the discussion.

GM did re-work things when it made economic sense to do so. I have a factory reground undersized crankshaft in my '80 L-82 that I discovered when I had the engine down for an overhaul. Special sized bearings that are not commecialy available were used. Extra paint marks as well on the crank. LOTS of things were done to these cars before they left for the dealership.

-Mark.

 

Interesting stuff. In my case, however, the tutone paint was an option and is reflected as such on the window sticker, which I have. Thus, while anything is certainly possible, I do not think that the car was turned into a tutone model solely as a result of damage at the factor. Thanks for your input, though.

 

I wonder how much of it is caused just from sunlight coming in through the garage window? Sure some of it sounds funny but shadows might do that? So could reflections.
I got a sunburn on my arm from chrome reflections around the window. Figure that one out! Hey it lines up when I bend my arm like this. Just like hanging your arm out the window.

If it was damaged and they painted it to match I would think all the 'new' paint would change color. The sticker thing shouldn't be affected this way if all the paint changed.