I have the engine out of my 1987 coupe now and have been scrubbing and removing everything to clean and paint.

I notice that there are several different shades and textures of black paint used on everything. My frame rails (where I have removed parts that have protected them) appear to be a little higher gloss than the firewall. The inside of the front bumper area has red overspray from lousie body work done before I owned the car.

I'm, to a small degree, a puriest and would like to make everything look showroom new, but after a trip to Wal-mart and Home Depot I'm more confused than ever. There must be 6 or 8 different discriptions of BLACK paint. Gloss, Semi Gloss, Semi Flat, Flat and a few others throwen in just to really confuse things. Isn't Semi Gloss and Semi Flat the same thing, looking at it from different perspectives?????

My question is, has anyone identified off the shelf paints which seem to closely aproximate the original hues of black GM put on at the factory.

Secondly, was the inside of the front bumper painted or bare urithane? How about the underside of the hood? Firewall?

Any help or direction would be greatly appreciated..

 

I recently refinished the wheel well pieces on my 92 and I was concerned about getting the "right" sheen. Back when the Search function worked I found some threads that said to use Dupli-Color Sandable Primer in black (DAP 1698). The finish coat was Krylon Semi-Flat Black #1613.

Using this combo, the wheel wells came out looking almost exactly like the factory paint.

Over the years, GM has probably used a variety of engine compartment paints. Early on, GM bought the cheapest semi-flat blacklacquer they could find to do the frame and engine compartment. I have seen C4's with different shades of gloss on the underside of the hoods. My 87 has more of a glossy look than my 92 does. This may be due to different GM paint suppliers. The hood underside and the firewall should be the same color along with all of the different brackets found under the hood.

The Eastwood Company has a good black underhood paint that is very close to a factory color and comes in quart cans. I think that buying a bunch of rattle cans would not do a good job as you just don't get as good a spray pattern as you would from a gun. You might try the Dupli-Color or Krylon websites to see if they sell the paints that I used in pints or quarts.

The backside of the urethane bumper covers are not painted but there is usually some color overspray on them as they went thru the paint line as part of the body painting step.

I think the frame got a different type of paint. It's probably a special mixture that will seal moisture out and resistant to oils and grease. I had to repaint part of the rail on my 87 below the battery when the battery leaked and the paint definitely was different that what was on the rest of the engine compartment.

 

I tend to agree. Since you have the engine out and will be doing some major paint work under there, pick up or rent some real paint equipment and do in right.

Do a good job on the prep, use quality products and you should have a finished product to be proud of.

 

Semi flat is a little different than semi gloss. I like semi flat better.
-Matt

 

Thanks Guys!!!

It's Sunday, and I am spending the whole day in the engine compartment

I think Wal-Mart carries Krylon. I'll get a few cans for the little parts but I'll take the advice to use my spray rig on the major stuff. I have both a touch-up gun and a full size gravity fill gun so I'm starting with the under hood and working down.

I guess I can probably find Eastwood on the net. I had a catalog years ago but It got away from me and would be very out-of-date by now anyway.

Thanks again, and any more advice will be appreciated from you guys who have been there, done this.