1996 Under Hood Paint Finish

[Joe C.]

I am a fairly new member but having been following the NCRS Regional Judging which takes place each January in Kissimmee, FL. Now that my 1996 LT4 Collector Edition Coupe is eligible for judging, there are a few shortcomings that I am planning to correct in the coming months in preparation for entry.

The biggest challenge I face is the under hood paint finish. I purchased this vehicle in 2007 and have entered it in several local shows with reasonable success. Now that I am planning to enter my car in an NCRS Chapter meet in the fall and the Regional meet in January 2012, I am planning to get everything up to judging standards sooner than later. I have tried several suggestions for cleaning the under hood surfaces with cleaning agents such as Dawn but without success. The paint surface, particularly in the center of the hood is marked with what looks like liquid stains and drips.

I have reviewed the Judging Manual and did not find any reference to the under hood paint finish. Is there a GM part number for this paint? If not, I would appreciate guidance as to how to restore the underhood finish to acceptable standards.

Thanks in advance for any help or suggestions that are offered.

Joe

[Joe L.]

Re: 1996 Under Hood Paint Finish

I am a fairly new member but having been following the NCRS Regional Judging which takes place each January in Kissimmee, FL. Now that my 1996 LT4 Collector Edition Coupe is eligible for judging, there are a few shortcomings that I am planning to correct in the coming months in preparation for entry.

The biggest challenge I face is the under hood paint finish. I purchased this vehicle in 2007 and have entered it in several local shows with reasonable success. Now that I am planning to enter my car in an NCRS Chapter meet in the fall and the Regional meet in January 2012, I am planning to get everything up to judging standards sooner than later. I have tried several suggestions for cleaning the under hood surfaces with cleaning agents such as Dawn but without success. The paint surface, particularly in the center of the hood is marked with what looks like liquid stains and drips.

I have reviewed the Judging Manual and did not find any reference to the under hood paint finish. Is there a GM part number for this paint? If not, I would appreciate guidance as to how to restore the underhood finish to acceptable standards.

Thanks in advance for any help or suggestions that are offered.

Joe

Joe------


The paint is a low gloss black. A very good match is the old GM #1050104 Black Reconditioning Paint. This product is GM-discontinued but it's now available in reproduction. Most of the major Corvette parts vendors can supply it. However, it's only supplied in gallon cans and it's pretty expensive.

[Pat M.]

Re: 1996 Under Hood Paint Finish

Hi Joe C., the first image below is a nonflash pic of the untouched underhood of my original 1996. As Joe L. advised, there is some gloss, but not much. As shown by the second pic, with the flash on it almost looks flat.

[Peter M.]

Re: 1996 Under Hood Paint Finish

My recommendation is that you avoid repainting the underside of the hood if at all possible. It will be hard to match the paint piece meal and very difficult to properly mask everything to avoid excessive overspray. Any overspray will cost you judging points. Only repaint as a last resort if all other options fail to give you your desired results.

As an alternative, find out what the oily spot is on the underside of the clamshell. I suspect that it may be oil from your leaking A/C compressor. If it is, you need to get the A/C prag oil off ASAP as it will eventually eat your composit hood. Sooooo, first find what is splashing on your hood and fix it.

Next, thoroughly clean the hood. Wash with hot soapy dish washing liquid detergent & rinse thoroughly. When it is completely dry, use 3M adhesive remover to remove any of the remaining oil stains. This stuff works great and will not harm your paint. You do not need to rub it very hard. This solvant will, when dry, leave your finish a hazy washed out color. You can easly correct this by applying and rubbing in thoroughly, Mother's Back To Black. When the Back to Black has dried thoroughly, buff it off. Reaply Back to Black as needed to get back to your near original finish.

Remember - repaint as the last resort.

[Grant W.]

Re: 1996 Under Hood Paint Finish

Here is the perfect match for under the hood.

Krylon Semi Flat 1613 Semi gloss Black. This is the industrial grade and do not use the retail grade. The retail grade via K-mart is not the same formula as the industrial grade. I think you can get it at Graingers??
I am stacked for a while. I bought 36 cans to last me for a while.

I did the unspeakable thing to my brand new 96 GS convertible when I bought it brand new. I used foam spray engine cleaner and some foam splashed on the underside hood leaving marks. I cried for a while.

Then going through all my spray cans the Krylon looked pretty good. I then lightly tested in in an area of the underside hood and it came out perfect.
Spray about a foot and 1/2 away. Not so darn close. Make sure you use masking tape the green one that auto body shops use and enough paper to cover the over spray. Otherwise you will be crying as you have black overspray on your fenders and engine.

So the moral of the story is don't use engine degreaser. Use simple green.

Hope this helps.
Grant

[Darrell S.]

Re: 1996 Under Hood Paint Finish

I would not repaint under the hood. Find and repair the oil leak first. Then clean the underside of the hood with Dawn and dress it out with Stoners trim shine. Spary it on and wipe it off. It worked very well for me

[Joe C.]

Re: 1996 Under Hood Paint Finish

Thanks to everyone who replied. Unfortunately, when I cleaned the underhood with a mild soap and water solution, I found that the ac compressor oil had done some damage to the paint. The leak is from the front seal so now I going to have to replace the compressor and then "touch-up" the damaged painted surface.

[Pete B.]

Re: 1996 Under Hood Paint Finish

Another suggestion is to let it go through one judging first and see how it does.
Many times I have seen cars presented for judging where an owner has started the touch up process, forgetting that we are not a show and shine group. The touchup looks terrible, the owners spent a bunch of time only to take a worse point hit.
I am speaking not only from my judging experiance but in my early days of NCRS I did the same thing!
The other thing that I would recommend is to observe judge, that way you can see what really is important and what's not. It will give you an idea about the point system too!
Best of luck!!!

[Terry M.]

Re: 1996 Under Hood Paint Finish

Joe,
Only replace the compressor as a last resort. There are labels on the compressor that are NOT replaceable. I believe the front seal can be replaced even with the compressor in the car, but it will require some specialized tools and may be better done at an AC shop. Others will chime in on the details, but R&R is not a good thing for most parts of your (and my) Corvette if you intend to go down the judging trail.