Blasphomy!

[C3L81]

Much to my suprise I found some paint drips under my rear bumper near the exhuast tips. I didnt notice this when I bought the car and found them by accident. (yes I looked the car up and down before the sale, but hey sometimes you miss things ad ) Is it possible at all that Gm could have done this? Or do I have to face the fact either the car was repainted or the bumper? I had big plans of this being a show car and this is not in the plans.

 

[SpartanSith]

wow thats horrible, when i had mine repainted from being rear-ended by a woman driver it came back with some flaws, a few drips a bubble, and it separated some ...
since then i have put a few scraches, well not really, just black marks from the t-tops, accidentally opened them while going 75, and they flew off, but i held on and drove with my knee, lol...

 

[bill81vette]

wow thats horrible, just black marks from the t-tops, accidentally opened them while going 75, and they flew off, but i held on and drove with my knee, lol...

dang!!! you so lucky that it didn't go flying!!!!!:eek :eek


as for the paint on the exhaust tips,I would think it has been repainted and not from, the factory!!!!sorry.. but I know I would be ad ad as well I if I thoght it was original

 

[Nut]

C3L81..... you mentioned that the drips were "near" the exhaust tips and not "on" the tips. "ON" would surely lean towards a repaint. However..... since you have an '81, and assuming it's a St.Louis 1981, there is a good chance they are factory "drips". The later in the 1981 build, towards the end of the St. Louis built Vette's the lacquer paint jobs coming directly from the factory were to say the least, not of the highest quality (sic). This is a known fact and partly the reason why the rest of the 1981 production in Bowling Green (and all Corvette's to date) are painted in enamel.

If you can't find any other overspray or anything else that leads you to believe it was a repaint then there's a good chance it's factory. Personally I wouldn't sweat it at all. Look what you had to do to find it.

Also check your trim and paint tag numbers against the L81 Vette Registry info to see if the numbers match the color. That's another good way to check to see if it is the factory color too.

Good luck............. nut

 

[C3L81]

C3L81..... you mentioned that the drips were "near" the exhaust tips and not "on" the tips. "ON" would surely lean towards a repaint. However..... since you have an '81, and assuming it's a St.Louis 1981, there is a good chance they are factory "drips". The later in the 1981 build, towards the end of the St. Louis built Vette's the lacquer paint jobs coming directly from the factory were to say the least, not of the highest quality (sic). This is a known fact and partly the reason why the rest of the 1981 production in Bowling Green (and all Corvette's to date) are painted in enamel.

If you can't find any other overspray or anything else that leads you to believe it was a repaint then there's a good chance it's factory. Personally I wouldn't sweat it at all. Look what you had to do to find it.

Also check your trim and paint tag numbers against the L81 Vette Registry info to see if the numbers match the color. That's another good way to check to see if it is the factory color too.

Yes thats correct its near the exhaust tips ON the rear bumper underneath. I have already checked all the numbers and it matches 100% I do not see any overspray or any other drips on the car and have checked all the places I should to look for signs of overpaint and have found none. I am aware of the Stlous/Bowling Green switch over in the 81 year(thats what makes our year special) and this is a confirmed St lois car. I wasnt aware of the quality from st lous though. I was hoping that somone with a 81 had a similiar situation. I really hope you are right nut. The last owner swore to me that it was never painted or in a accident, but people are not always the most truthful (even though he was a retired cop) This is kinda a bummer, but every car is different and you take what you got. I just really hope this is a factory deal. THe drips are under the bumper and hard to see unless you go looking for it.

 

[craig32]

C3L81,
I'm assuming the car has the original urethane bumper? If so, they had a tendancy to fade different than the rest of the car and could have been repainted. They also needed a flex additive in the paint. The newer fiberglass replacements and 'flex-fit' units are stiffer and don't need the additive, and generally don't fade because it is the same material. If your bumper is faded different than the rest of the car, nothing has been touched. That's the sad thing at car shows, the originals don't have matching bumpers, and they tend to warp some. I know a lot of people here don't like the Fiberglass bumpers, but I think they finish up nicer than the originals. Just my opinion.
Craig

 

[C3L81]

C3L81,
I'm assuming the car has the original urethane bumper? If so, they had a tendancy to fade different than the rest of the car and could have been repainted. They also needed a flex additive in the paint. The newer fiberglass replacements and 'flex-fit' units are stiffer and don't need the additive, and generally don't fade because it is the same material. If your bumper is faded different than the rest of the car, nothing has been touched. That's the sad thing at car shows, the originals don't have matching bumpers, and they tend to warp some. I know a lot of people here don't like the Fiberglass bumpers, but I think they finish up nicer than the originals. Just my opinion.
Craig

Craig
Yes the bumper is slightly faded more then the car. The car is white so its not as noticable as other colors, but I myself can see the difference.

 

[Tritium007]

As I understand it, the trim tag itself is a good telltale for repaints since most don't tape it and will show evidence of overspray. I believe the trim tag is affixed to the car after the factory paint, so it should be clean.

Mike

 

[gmjunkie]

Much to my suprise I found some paint drips under my rear bumper near the exhuast tips. I didnt notice this when I bought the car and found them by accident. (yes I looked the car up and down before the sale, but hey sometimes you miss things ad ) Is it possible at all that Gm could have done this? Or do I have to face the fact either the car was repainted or the bumper? I had big plans of this being a show car and this is not in the plans.

Feel Lucky My 03 don't have enough paint on it to Match it!! No 2 panels match!! And you can see the primer 0n all edges of the panels junk!!

 

[Nut]

C3L81........ I'm convinced you have factory drips. It's OK. It's all good. If it ever gets noticed by anyone just spin the St. Louis paint story and make it a talking point of your car. Even my custom paint job on my '81 that was put on almost 25 years ago has a couple "drips" on that rear bumper. My '81 is the only documented '81 delivered in primer gray. The "original" color is the custom Nutmeg Bronze color it now has and I have drips too.

later......... nut

 

[C3L81]

As I understand it, the trim tag itself is a good telltale for repaints since most don't tape it and will show evidence of overspray. I believe the trim tag is affixed to the car after the factory paint, so it should be clean.

Should the trim tag be silver plated or the color of the car?

 

[gmjunkie]

Should the trim tag be silver plated or the color of the car?

Mine stainless Steel on my 81 and my 78!! junk!!

 

[C3L81]

Mine stainless Steel on my 81 and my 78!!

And this is the plate on the inside of the drivers door, correct?

 

[gmjunkie]

And this is the plate on the inside of the drivers door, correct?

Correct!! junk!!

 

[GerryLP]

C3L81..... you mentioned that the drips were "near" the exhaust tips and not "on" the tips. "ON" would surely lean towards a repaint. However..... since you have an '81, and assuming it's a St.Louis 1981, there is a good chance they are factory "drips". The later in the 1981 build, towards the end of the St. Louis built Vette's the lacquer paint jobs coming directly from the factory were to say the least, not of the highest quality (sic). This is a known fact and partly the reason why the rest of the 1981 production in Bowling Green (and all Corvette's to date) are painted in enamel.

If you can't find any other overspray or anything else that leads you to believe it was a repaint then there's a good chance it's factory. Personally I wouldn't sweat it at all. Look what you had to do to find it.

Also check your trim and paint tag numbers against the L81 Vette Registry info to see if the numbers match the color. That's another good way to check to see if it is the factory color too.

Good luck............. nut

Nut,

All this time I understood (perhaps wrongly) that the "enamel" paint was used on the early L81's and later L81's had base and clear coat polyurathane paint....

GerryLP:cool

 

[JJS]

Mine stainless Steel on my 81 and my 78!! junk!!

Mine looks as good as the day if came off the showroom floor. It looks brand new.

 

[speedmaster4]

i ordered a new 68 (yeah im an old fossil) and was there when it was unloaded from the truck....there was overspray on the exhaust tips and the chrome bezels around the exh...if i ever find that car and restore it,i would have to fog the exh to be 100%---right???

 

[Tom Bryant]

My wife's '81 still wears 100% original St Louis laquer, what they actually bothered to put on, and it was shoddy when it rolled off the transporter. There are runs in several places. The lower body paint is so thin that it is almost non existant in places. The front bumper is very thin. The right door has a chip in the bottom that you can't see unless you open the door and lay on the ground. I suspect the door was fumbled during installation. To repair this they just sprayed some more paint on it which ended up as overspray on the rocker moulding and sill plate, lower front fender and all over the right fender black grille. The leather steering wheel had a cut in it which was found during dealer prep and replaced. The right wiper transmission mounting outside below the windshield and the right half of the cowl top is litterly burried in some black sealer. The car obviously failed the water leak test at the end of the line.

Thankfully it is Frost Beige so all of the paint stuff is not noticable without close inspection. Since it is an outstanding NCRS Bowtie candidate it will stay just the way it was built and none of this stuff will be fixed.

I would bet that your car has original St Louis runs in the paint too.

Tom

 

[gmjunkie]

My wife's '81 still wears 100% original St Louis laquer, what they actually bothered to put on, and it was shoddy when it rolled off the transporter. There are runs in several places. The lower body paint is so thin that it is almost non existant in places. The front bumper is very thin. The right door has a chip in the bottom that you can't see unless you open the door and lay on the ground. I suspect the door was fumbled during installation. The right wiper transmission mounting outside below the windshield and the right half of the cowl top is litterly burried in some black sealer.


I would bet that your car has original St Louis runs in the paint too.

Tom

Gee, the same Guy's must have worked there in 1978!! junk!!

 

[Nut]

Here's a Trim and Paint tag. St.L built 81's should look like this.

nut