'91 cosmetic refresh/restore

[onethumb]

I thought I'd share my journey here with my '91.

I bought it 4 years ago from a forum member. It already had numerous upgrades (Haibeck 500, blueprinted trans from Bill Boudreau, harness bar, etc), and had been *very* well cared for by it's previous owner.

So I did what any rational person would do---I drove it :)

My intent was never to make it a project, as it was a very good car as-is. But I can't leave well enough alone....

The paint, although cared for well, had been polished down to the very bottom of the clear coat, and the car had a number of rock chips and such from being driven on the AZ highways.

So I tried one last polish, but I was pulling color off with it, so I knew it either had to be left alone or I'd have to paint it.

And over the last 4 years, I've totally become attached to the car. I can't imagine ever selling it now.

So I painted it. And if you're going to paint, you might as well really go at it. No half-assed jobs. Be bold. Have fun.

So here we are: my ZR-1 with it's new color: Tangelo Tri-Coat Pearl by House of Kolor. Base color is white, with 9 layers of color applied on top. Hard paint to work with, as it goes on thin, but the effect is outstanding. Lots of flop in the sunlight--it really brings out the awesome lines of the car, particularly the rear.

More to come--I have wheels on order and the interior will be it's own project too. That gap between the dash and the passenger side fairing just bugs the hell out of me, and some of the materials could use an update too.

[secondchance]

Fantastic! I am truly happy for you. I went through a similar saga between 2009 to 2016 with a lot of help from the WAZOO gang.
When bored, run a search under ?threads started by? secondchance. It might make an interesting read by timeline.
Enjoy your car! You might consider Xpel at least on front bumper, below the belt line where the front fender, doors, dog legs and rear fenders start to tuck under. Just my two cents. :cheers:

[HAWAIIZR-1]

Thanks for sharing your project. Nice!! 🤙🏼


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[PhillipsLT5]

Thanks for the kind words, glad to see you are enjoying and caretaking, I do miss #1258, I do agree with Xpel at this point
https://www.xpel.com/clearbra-installers/united-states/arizona/scottsdale

[onethumb]

Yes, that's what I'm hearing from everyone. Seems like the smart thing to do next while I wait for wheels.

[GOLDCYLON]

Also concur just redid the nose on my CTS-V and have an appointment for stage one kit on 15 Oct. what wheels did you choose ?

Bill did my transmission on my 91 as well and it's been bullet proof. One of the reasons bought my first ZR-2 and I drove her home from Houston in 2006 after my first tour in Iraq.

:cheers:

[Matt B]

Wow, that color is stunning!!! Great taste and it really pleases the car. Looking forward to to further pictures.

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[JThomas]

The car is looking great! :thumbsup:

[AirbusDriver]

Very good looking car!

[ghlkal]

That orange paint is fantastic :thumbsup:


I just saw the ZR-2 Big Doggie at Effingham and I was struck at how nice orange looked on a C4.



Did you do the paint yourself??

[onethumb]

Thanks for the compliments everyone. It is always a pucker moment when you go for a full color change, as it is expensive to do it right, and you really have to trust your instincts as to how the color will compliment the lines. My 2 year old saw it for the first time, and just pointed at it saying "ORANGE!" over and over, so I think I got it right. Photos don't do it justice, really. It's visually stunning to look at.

For wheels, I'm going with the Work Meister S1, in a 19. I'm a little leery again as that is a big wheel for the car, but I think the chunky nature of the spokes will visually offset the size. You could get an 18 that works, but your tire choices are limited in that size, and my primary goal is to make sure I can get good rubber on the tires for years to come. I tend to drive like someone is chasing me, and my cars all see track days when possible. Modern rubber will really round out the performance of the Haibeck mods. Hopefully the brakes will hold up, but I have a feeling I'm going to be swapping those too.

I didn't paint the car myself, but I was highly involved. In the late 90s, I managed concept car builds at GM. Wayne Cherry was the head of design back then, and Ed Wellburn was the lead in my studio. So needless to say, my eye for detail is...exacting. To be fair, this isn't a concept car level paint job. It would have cost upwards of $50k to get it to that point. But it's damn good. It's all about spending effort where it will make the most impact, like the hood and the top half of the doors. Lighter colors are more forgiving too.

My goal was really to re-imagine the car from the view of a modern designer. Keep the simple beautiful lines, but update with subtle modern touches. More to come!