Crappy GM 80's paint question

[Tuggy24g]

I am not a body guy or know to much other then detailing. I have talked to a few body shops and local people in my area about there gbody. Everyone has told me that the paint on are gbodies was not the best. I have to agree since my car scratches everytime I wipe it with one of those microfiber rags. I use mothers and you can see a haze after your done. Plus the car scratches more and more when I touch it.

So I was wondering what do I do? How can I salvage the paint before it all just scratched and ugly?

 

[Fox80]

First off the paint on a G-Body is no different than any other car from that era, all solid colors are single stage some/most metallics are base clear. With that said the paint on these cars does hold up quite well for how old they are, when I got my car everything except the header panel and the top of the drivers door is original paint, I used 3-M trizac polishing system,( I only used step one and two, my car is white I didn't need the swirl remover) the 3-m system is the only one I have used that works well and cleans up easy. You need a single action buffer and all the foam pads to do it right. Mothers products are designed for new car finishes, polish the car correctly and use Pro brand gold wax it's about the only thing left still designed for single stage/aged base-clear

 

[Tuggy24g]

I was told it was a laquore car paint. That is why it is so hard to take car of. Like I said body work is not my thing at all. I will try Pro brand gold wax and see if that works. Thanks those for the help.

 

[Fox80]

I can't say for sure it's not lacquer but I doubt it, the EPA cracked down on that in the 70's but most people think "single stage" ( non clear coated) paint is all lacquer and its not, you can have lacquer, urethane, acrylic, and even resin single stage paints to the best of my knowledge all these cars had an acrylic enamel produced by PPG for General Motors, you can tell by the fact these cars have obvious "orange peel" in the finish, lacquer lays down flat as glass as it takes so long to dry

 

[King_V]

I had come across some reference or other that the paint formulation changed somewhat in the 80s sometime, and it wasn't that the paint itself was the problem, but the primer used was not entirely compatible with it (?) - thus resulting in the typical issues that these cars tend to have.

Don't hold me to that - just read it in a magazine some time back.

 

[olds307 and 403]

You think the paint bad on the G bodies? The peeling paint a few years later was much worse. I could remove about half off my 94 Z71 with a pressure washer. I would say the garbage wiring is more of an issue on these cars. My paint was just too faded and stone chipped to bring back, so I went semi gloss black.

 

[pontiacgp]

if the paint has lasted 30 or so years then it owes you nothing. Repaint the car if you think the original paint is crap.

 

[Ribbedroof]

The original finish on G bodies was in fact lacquer, at least through 86. My 80 Malibu and my boss's 86 GN both had lacquer on them. In most cases, when plants were retooled to another carline, that's when the paint technology changed.

 

[tc1959]

The original finish on G bodies was in fact lacquer, at least through 86. My 80 Malibu and my boss's 86 GN both had lacquer on them. In most cases, when plants were retooled to another carline, that's when the paint technology changed.

X2

 

[FE3X CLONE]

They must of changed in '87 because my Olds had base/clear according to the RPO sticker on the trunk lid. However it was also a metallic.