ZR-1 Door Mystery

[Absentninetimes]

I have a 91 ZR-1 with just under 9000 miles. The car has had at least one respray in its stock yellow color. I have noticed both doors and door hinges have some peeled yellow paint exposing red paint underneath.

I have had two mechanics look at the car (including Marc Haibeck) who state the car has no signs of frame damage or previous accident. No accidents reported on Carfax. Would seem unlikely to me that the car was in an accident and only had damage to the doors. I do think the car may be been stored outside for a period of time in Florida, though this is only a guess.

Does anyone have an idea why you would need to replace both doors and door hinges?

[Kevin]

not all damage shows up on carfax. could have been damage early in the cars life that wasn't reported. not saying that's what happened but it could be

[Absentninetimes]

I agree, but it seems odd that it's only the doors that were damaged but everything else appears to be original to the car. You would think the hood would have been replaced too.

[G8nightman]

Dealers sometimes would change things so the dumbest reasons many things could have happened


Sent from my iPhone using ZR-1 Net Registry (http://r.tapatalk.com/byo?rid=90383)

[phrogs]

Do you have a window sticker that says this came from the factory in yellow.
You said its been resprayed

[Mikey]

Doors are appendages on cars that are often opened outward and that?s the extremity furthest out into harms way. I can think of several instances I have witnessed in the past where the doors were hit because they were open at inopportune times.

[jcruz]

Just throwing out ideas...could the red you're seeing be a primer of some kind and not paint?

[LGAFF]

Does it have the factory stickers on the doors? I would take it to a body shop vs a mechanic.... two different types of expertise. check the bottoms of the doors for paint runs, drips...

[WARP TEN]

Do you have a window sticker that says this came from the factory in yellow.
You said its been resprayed

Like Phrogs, I am curious if Yellow is the color shown on the window sticker which, if you don't have one, is available from the National Corvette Museum. . --Bob

[Z51JEFF]

I would pull the door panels to confirm the red paint and start digging for answers.

[Absentninetimes]

Do you have a window sticker that says this came from the factory in yellow.
You said its been resprayed

I don't. I have the RPO code that I found and confirmation from Marc Haibeck. That's it.

[Absentninetimes]

Just throwing out ideas...could the red you're seeing be a primer of some kind and not paint?

Not experienced enough to know but I would doubt it.

[Absentninetimes]

Does it have the factory stickers on the doors? I would take it to a body shop vs a mechanic.... two different types of expertise. check the bottoms of the doors for paint runs, drips...

It does, but the car is up at Marc's so I can't look at them at he moment. And by "mechanic" I suppose I was really referring to my buddy who restores cars (body and mechanics) and Marc. I would think they would know but taking it to a body shop may be a really go idea.

[Absentninetimes]

Like Phrogs, I am curious if Yellow is the color shown on the window sticker which, if you don't have one, is available from the National Corvette Museum. . --Bob

Thanks for the idea. I will look into that and get the window sticker.

[phrogs]

So your codes on your RPO code sticker say its yellow 91 was WA8769 then it was yellow and you said Mark confirmed that.

If you drivers door still has the factory stickers Id say the red is from the factory and they resprayed these cars do get damage so??

I can't see using red primer under yellow.

If the vin stickers are not on the doors then Id say they have been swapped.

Some of our cars suffered paint failure back in the 90s so anything is possible but with paint flaking and showing red sounds like a not so good prep job before paint.

My two cents

[Z51JEFF]

I'm almost positive the cars used black primer.

[Absentninetimes]

So your codes on your RPO code sticker say its yellow 91 was WA8769 then it was yellow and you said Mark confirmed that.

If you drivers door still has the factory stickers Id say the red is from the factory and they resprayed these cars do get damage so??

I can't see using red primer under yellow.

If the vin stickers are not on the doors then Id say they have been swapped.

Some of our cars suffered paint failure back in the 90s so anything is possible but with paint flaking and showing red sounds like a not so good prep job before paint.

My two cents

I tend to agree. I think this was a half-*** paint job. I plan to get it re-done correctly, this time in competition yellow, at Tim Thorpe's in O'fallon, IL. Luckily the rest of the car, especially the mechanics, are in great shape.

For the life of me I can't remember if the factory door stickers are still there but for some reason I feel like they were. I'll find out in about 6 weeks. Either way, I appreciate your expertise.

[Absentninetimes]

Mystery Solved

Just got a call from Marc. He took a good look at the car and found that it had some body damage on the driver's side "dog leg" (which I will need to look up because I'm not sure what that is) and on the right side behind the driver door. According to him, both areas were repaired extremely well so it was not easy to identify. This likely explains why both doors were changed. Luckily, he confirmed again that this was only body damage and the frame is untouched.

He also confirmed that the driver door has the tags on it showing that it is from a 1990 ZR-1. The last few digits of the VIN were removed. Driver door tags were obviously spared when it was resprayed.

Additionally, he noted it's the original engine, but a replacement transmission that was likely replaced under warranty (idk how he knows that but I trust him).

I appreciate everyone's input on this. I'll post some pics when Marc is done waving his magic wand.

Josh

[WARP TEN]

Mystery Solved

Just got a call from Marc. He took a good look at the car and found that it had some body damage on the driver's side "dog leg" (which I will need to look up because I'm not sure what that is) and on the right side behind the driver door. According to him, both areas were repaired extremely well so it was not easy to identify. This likely explains why both doors were changed. Luckily, he confirmed again that this was only body damage and the frame is untouched.

He also confirmed that the driver door has the tags on it showing that it is from a 1990 ZR-1. The last few digits of the VIN were removed. Driver door tags were obviously spared when it was resprayed.

Additionally, he noted it's the original engine, but a replacement transmission that was likely replaced under warranty (idk how he knows that but I trust him).

I appreciate everyone's input on this. I'll post some pics when Marc is done waving his magic wand.

Josh

Marc certainly is the most experienced C4 ZR-1 guy on the planet, perhaps along with Graham. --Bob