Gottabblackngray

I maybe didn't emphasize enough but, yeah you want to use top-shelf products in whatever paint line you go with. I have sprayed Glasurit on a few classics. Very good stuff. I believe they are in the BASF family of paints. All paint company's have their cheaper line of materials and they have there place. Some dealerships like to use cheaper materials that will just look good just long enough for them to get it sold. I use Axalta (DuPont) Premier Paints. The Glasurit I used was a single stage solid color on a 48 Plymouth. I added clear to the final coat for easier buffing. That was 20yrs ago and the car still looks fresh today but it sits inside all the time and comes out for shows and parades. Glasurit is what Mercedes used and maybe still does I'm not positive. Paint problems such as peeling is not always caused by "cheap" paints but more from not giving proper flash times between coats; using the wrong reducers for the air temperature or not getting enough mil thickness on your clearcoat. Axalta has a lifetime guarantee if the shop is in their program

You definitely want to go with a basecoat/clearcoat system. Most are Urethane. If you are doing it yourself you should stay with the same brand such as Axalta,Sikkens, Diamont, PPG so everything is compatable from your primers to the sealer the basecoat and the Clear. Very important in your area to make sure you get enough mil thickness on your Clearcoat. Some of the cheaper clears are thinner and require more coats to get enough film build especially if you are gonna sand and buff afterwards. I had a young fella bring in a cowl induction hood for me to paint and he brought his own paint and clear. It was Nason (axalta's economy line) and I had to put 4 coats of clear on to get enough build that I was happy with. Your higher end clears have more solids and are thicker and require less coats to achieve the same thickness. Waterborne systems I believe are color only, the clears are still solvent based as far as I know

If the paint on your grille isn't peeling off it is not necessary to strip it or blast it. The first thing you would wanna do is wash it with hot soapy water then either scuff with scotch-brite pad or sand with 320-400 grit. Then wash with the hot soapy water again. If you have any burn thru's where you have bare plastic you should hit that with a plastic adhesion promoter DuPont has one in an aerosol can, then you can paint with your choice of paint SEM has quite a selection of plastic trim paints in aerosol. I have painted grilles and emblems and then taken a rag dampened with lacquer thinner and carefully wiped the paint off of the chrome edge instead of trying to mask it off, but the rag needs to be just damp not soaked with lacquer thinner and it works good

You can remove with piano wire you just have to be extra careful not to cut the molding that surrounds the glass. I have the removal tools but also used piano wire on the top when I removed mine

It is 3M called Press In Place emblem adhesive #08069

I believe it is 3M strips I have at the Bodyshop they come in a pack and it is like adhesive in a tube but without the mess. You set your letters on the tape and press then you pull off and adhesive is stuck to underside of letter very simple to get a good install without any adhesive showing where you don't want it. They are very slick and easy to use for those scripted type emblems that double backed tape would be time consuming

I wouldn't hesitate to cut where you have marked as long as you make a nice cut and do a nice weld when you are done it will be just fine. If your worried about weakening it just add another plate across it and plug weld it over top but with a good weld you'll be just fine

The lower reveal molding shouldn't be hard to find. There must be a weatherstrip missing that attaches to the A pillar along with the trim that is molded to the glass. Barney is correct the trim on the glass is cosmetic only the windshield urethane is what seals it from wind and water leaks. You possibly could cut the encapsulation off of a broken windshield and bond it back on but would be pretty tough to get it to look smooth

Are you just missing the lower molding that is on the cowl where the wiper arms attach?

The only way I would buy any headliner or vinyl material is if I could match it up to a sample. If you bought a burgundy material from 30 different suppliers you would probably have 15 different names for that color

A lot of the time paint manufacturers give colors their own name. The other day I mixed up a color that GM called Steel Green and my Axalta formula called it Evolution Blue. The manufacturer code is the only thing you can follow

Please don't cut any wires and splice them. If the fine folks at GM got em in there they will come out.

You will probably have to disconnect all your wires inside the door and pull them through. GM didn't start with connections in the kick panel until late 90's

Total automotive in Minnesota makes hinge kits. I've put lots of their deluxe kits in the 99-06 chevy silverado. The website doesn't show Reatta kits but has a form you can fill out to request one. I wouldn't be afraid to take hinge apart and just find the right size pins and brass bushing to fix myself or try Jim Finn in Minnesota for a good used hinge.

If you can get ahold of some tabs Dent-Fix has a hot staple tool that I use quite often in the Bodyshop. It melts a wire into the plastic works very well and if you think it needs extra strength you can plastic weld on top. Every handyman should have these tools in their toolbox you'd be surprised how much use it would get

Cargirl is my Hero! I've loved the 83 Hurst Olds since I was 12 when the 1st one came in to our hometown dealership. I tried talking my dad into it for our family car but no dice. When I decided last year I needed to get another "fun" summer cruiser I looked for a 83 hurst but ended up buying an 89 black w/gray Reatta just like the one I had just outta college. And as it seems to go with Reatta's ya can't just have one. So I got a 91 black/black top/tan interior Reatta with only 50k miles for under 10 grand. Always looking for that Hurst though love love those cars!

Just make sure you use a new razor blade. I put a scratch in a new windshield once when I grabbed the wrong blade. So always use a NEW blade

W&E Company or Auveeco is where I get most of my door panel retainers from. I will check my books and see if I can find anything out

Just replaced the speakers on my 91 vert and the covers just pull off and 4 screws and speakers were off

Bought my 1st Reatta in 1990 it was an 89 dark gray with gray interior, sunroof and 16way seat. I was fresh outta Autobody school and bought it with front end damage and 7k miles took it all apart and painted it black drove it a few years and then sold it to a college buddy. 25 years later decided I needed another one again so bought a 89 sunroof 16way black with gray interior now tore it all apart and restoring it so found a 91 black vert with 50k miles awesome cars! I'm now 44 yrs old

Owning a body shop I would estimate I install maybe 100 windshields a year. Every so often we get a little mark or scratch in glass. If it's not something that can be polished out we just toss em. I knew a few college kids that worked at the main warehouse for auto glass as a after school job and they said windshields get broke all the time in handling and boxing them up to ship out they acted like is was no big deal just grab another one and go

SEM products are very good for painting plastics. DuPont has a green paste that you use with a green scotch brite pad and rinse with water and then spray DuPont plastic adhesion promoter you can get in aerosol then paint with your topcoat also Urethane Supply Company is another supplier of plastic refinish materials, they work well it's just how much you wanna spend

You won't need that big of hammer to tap that back in place. Just have someone lean on a block while you tap where there are kinks or ripples that are along the lower radiator support. Then hammer and dolly out the kinks and maybe a wide wide chisel to get the bends back where needed. Just take your time and don't over hammer it. The most things I see in the bodyshop somebody's gonna help me out and pound out the worst of it before they bring it to me and they have the metal all stretched and I have a mess to deal with to get the metal shrunk back to shape

If you could paint with lacquer you can spray the basecoat/clearcoat system. The basecoat you just need coverage and the clear if you have any screw ups you can sand it and buff it out. In my opinion it's a much easier system just be sure to give it plenty of flash time between coats and use the proper reducers for the temperature you are spraying and as for the gravity feed guns once you try one you won't wanna go back to your Binks you won't have the overspray and you'll save materials and they are easier to clean also. Back in the day I had a Binks #7 very nice gun but preferred my Sharpe 975. Now it's Sata or Iwata that seem to be the top dogs

I'm not quite understanding what you are saying about your clearcoat? The hood is just hazy light scratches? Or is it delaminating and starting to come off? If just scratches you may be able to sand with 2000 or finer and polish it back to shine or if scratches are deep you will have to have them sanded out spray base color on spots and re clear entire panel if it's delaminating you need to sand off all the clear and possibly all the color and start over with sealer, base, and clear