With the car gone I could start doing some of the things I was handling myself to save my body man time and to save me $.
The first thing I started with was the fog light covers.
A little bumper black and new decals from Positive Impressions and they look good as new.
[B]Scott[/B] 86 GLHS #408 88 Shadow ES 92 Spirit R/T 04 SRT-4
The next thing I attacked was the tail lights.
The tail lights in the car were done. The reverse lights were all cracked and weathered.
I managed to find a mint set of taillights in the junkyard.
Stealing a cue from Greg Sultner's blue GLHT, I took a little brake clean on a rag and rubbed off the chrome highlights on the lenses. This did two things, it provided for a cleaner look and eliminated me worrying about how to make the chrome strips look new, as they had a couple little spots where they weren't perfect.
[B]Scott[/B] 86 GLHS #408 88 Shadow ES 92 Spirit R/T 04 SRT-4
The next step was the side moldings.
Trim Gard makes an aftermarket molding that is VERY close to original. However, it wasn't exactly the same, so before going that route I decided to try and restore a set of moldings.
I had a set of moldings that were decent that came off a parts car. The best time to get these moldings off a car is in 90 degree plus heat as you can pull them off pretty easily.
I next removed the double sided tape off the back. This was a painfully slow process. I used a heat gun and slowly rubbed off the tape with my thumb. Then I used a fine sanding drum on a dremel and lightly sanded the remaining adhesive off.
Next I attacked the outer side. I cleaned it with warm water, let it dry, and painted it. It turned out like crap. I sanded it some and painted again. Still looked like crap.
At this point I switched from 800 grit paper to 220 grit. After doing the pieces in 220 grit I then sanded them in 400 grit. Then I switched paint from bumper black to SEM Trim Paint based on another thread I found on TM.
They turned out like this and look like new.
[B]Scott[/B] 86 GLHS #408 88 Shadow ES 92 Spirit R/T 04 SRT-4
The next step was to go at the bumpers.
I tried stripping them first with Tal Strip. However, I learned that Tal Strip works best between 70-90 degrees. It really didn't do anything to the paint in the 30 degree weather I was working in.
So I started with a wire wheel on a drill and went at the bumper in a spot. For all the chips in this factory paint, the stuff didn't want to come off easily.
I decided to investigate having the bumpers powdercoated at this point. I thought this would prevent stone chips better as I do intend to drive this car, and I thought the powdercoating would turn out better than my efforts. In talking to the powdercoater they told me they would blast the bumpers anyway so don't waste my time trying to strip the bumpers. That was music to my ears. Here is how the bumpers turned out.
[B]Scott[/B] 86 GLHS #408 88 Shadow ES 92 Spirit R/T 04 SRT-4
Dang, this car is going to look GOOD! Is the powdercoat on the bumpers gloss, or satin? One thing I might add is that if you want to keep the "chrome" strip on the tail lights, you'd be surprised what a silver sharpie will do. I did this on my old GLH and it actually turns out pretty decent all things considered.
~Tyler Larsen~Salt Lake City~
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I had the bumpers done in gloss black because I thought it would look better with the gloss black paint the car will be done in.Originally Posted by Turbo224
However, I'm going to have the ground effects done in satin for the sake of originality.
[B]Scott[/B] 86 GLHS #408 88 Shadow ES 92 Spirit R/T 04 SRT-4
Two words... BUMPER TUCK!
I love these kind of builds! This car is gonna be sweet!
Carroll
SILVER, 85 GLH-R/T, TIII powered, Fueltech, ID1300's. PTE5857
RED, 91 Spirit R/T - Holset HE351 - 12.6 @ 107...R.I.P.
Two words ... heck no!
---------- Post added at 10:42 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:42 PM ----------
I hope so ... it's been a long road to get it to this point, but well worth it!
[B]Scott[/B] 86 GLHS #408 88 Shadow ES 92 Spirit R/T 04 SRT-4
Two more,.. Why not?
two words.......pure ist. lol
Carroll
SILVER, 85 GLH-R/T, TIII powered, Fueltech, ID1300's. PTE5857
RED, 91 Spirit R/T - Holset HE351 - 12.6 @ 107...R.I.P.
Bah,...
Go to bed and wake up in the morning it'll still be an Omni... I'm not saying to cut a hole in the roof... It's a change that could be made and reverted easily if someone would offer him $20k+ for it,...as if... Not my car thought, just a though...
Carroll's on the right track :-)
If it was a GLH-T or say a famous TBI purple Omni, a bumper tuck would be more of a possibility.
[B]Scott[/B] 86 GLHS #408 88 Shadow ES 92 Spirit R/T 04 SRT-4
If not a bumper tuck, then why no chrome on the tail lights? Where's the love?
Subscribed! Great build!
James Reeves - Reeves Racing
World's Fastest 8 Valve - 146.88 mph
86 GLH-T 9.99 at 143.78 mph
86 GLHS #169 Mom's - complete Super 60 car
87 Shelby Z 14.16 Dad's - mostly stock, no sh*t!
88 Shelby Z 13.5 - been in storage for 15 years
03 SRT-4 12.24 Mom's
07 Charger 5.7L 12.48 Dad's
Snap!
Jeez Reeves you're stirring the pot for t-sizzle haha!
I like the look of no chrome on the taillights AND as a practical matter, taking the chrome off was easier than trying to restore it or spending $ on NOS taillights (if they're still available, I haven't checked).
While the bumper tuck would be reversible, I just prefer to leave that stock.
[B]Scott[/B] 86 GLHS #408 88 Shadow ES 92 Spirit R/T 04 SRT-4
I just took the chrome off the Whore's taillights. Much nicer!
Yeah, I stole this idea from HP.
I was thinking about doing the door handles in black with flat black stickers to hide them but that damn chrome is a pain to paint.
[B]Scott[/B] 86 GLHS #408 88 Shadow ES 92 Spirit R/T 04 SRT-4
send them to Rob(92Spiritrt)and let him blast and powdercoat flat black.
Carroll
SILVER, 85 GLH-R/T, TIII powered, Fueltech, ID1300's. PTE5857
RED, 91 Spirit R/T - Holset HE351 - 12.6 @ 107...R.I.P.
Can't do that - they've got that stupid plastic piece on the inside of the handle that unless Rob has some sort of infrared curing light will melt in a regular powder coating oven.
I painted a set, sanded them down, painted w/ self etching primer, then filler primer, then top coat with this POR-15 black cote stuff that supposedly has a nice hard finish but they just turned out so so. I probably should have used gloss black instead, but after doing all that work I didn't feel like doing them over.
NOS handles are still available and the route I'm most likely going to go.
[B]Scott[/B] 86 GLHS #408 88 Shadow ES 92 Spirit R/T 04 SRT-4
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