Trying to figure out if my white 1987 Cutlass has a clear coat. It's too oxidized to tell by looking...very dull white.
Did G-bodies come with a factory clearcoat?
- Thread starter jamesejam
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I'm wanting to say yes. If you look at your RPO code stiker the bottom number or alpha/numeral should end in BC/CC or maybe U for it to be a Clearcoat. And unless your car's color is white. The dull sh*te color would be the clear seperating from the base
I'm pretty sure no g-body came from the factory with clearcoat. Your SPID will likely indicate "DIS. LAQUER" before the paint code on the bottom left.
Recent topics on the Grand National boards have said that at least the GNs were painted with laquer. I thought that went out in the 70's, but learn something new every day I guess.
Easy way to tell: Take a soft cloth and a good quality polishing compound, and polish a small inconspicuous spot of the car. If the cloth comes back the same color as the car, you don't have clear coat.
In the case of a white car, use a dark colored cloth.
Easy way to tell: Take a soft cloth and a good quality polishing compound, and polish a small inconspicuous spot of the car. If the cloth comes back the same color as the car, you don't have clear coat.
In the case of a white car, use a dark colored cloth.
I don't believe that any G body had factory base/clear paint. GM was just starting to use the base/clear system in 1987/88, which was when the G body cars were being phased out. GM had some problems with some vehicles that had base/clear paint early on, with paint and clearcoat delamination. Some vehicle lines got extended warranty protection for paint problems.
all the g body cutlass came with laquer paint you can tell if the paint is weather checked it will have little lines going through it mines got it all over i painted my hood with base clear and same paint code and the hood lookes 10 times better but kind of dumb because the hood looks good and the rest is fadded
No they didn't which is to bad the paint would have lasted longer.On my Regal the paint is flaking off and starting to rust.My old 87 Civic Wagon had base clear as most Honda s did and even with 570 000kms on it the paint was still good except for dings and chips.
Even today, many white cars are single stage paint. I do not think white G bodies ever came with clear on them, but some of the metallic colors might have. Lacquer paint is available in clear, so it is possible. As for the peeling paint issues, that was due to GM implementing water-borne finishes to reduce VOC emissions from the manufacturing process. They didn't get it right somehow, or the paint was formulated wrong. GM was not the only company to experience problems with their water based finished either. All of the big 3 had issues with it, especially white cars for some reason. The Japanese were not immune either. My 1998 Nissan Frontier had peeling paint issues when it was 6 or 7 years old, and it was coming off in huge sheets. I wound up having to partially strip it and repaint it about 3 years ago to stop it from rusting the truck out. It is not the only Nissan I have seen with that problem either, it was just more rare than it was with American brands.
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