87 Paint life? How long?

['82turboGN]

If taken care of, kept indoors, and well maintained, how long can the original paint last on a 1987 Buick GN? My dad has one that he bought new and has never seen precipitation of any kind. Car only has 41k miles but now the bumper fillers are turning cloudy and he cant get them to stop...? Any ideas? Thanks guys

 

[Grumpy]

very common problem.. Don't think its the mileage but the age that kills em. TTA rear spoilers are the same thing !!

 

[Harleyreb1]

Mine only has 10k on it and the paint is factory perfect but the bumper fillers had to be replaced. Age got mine.

 

[TR Custom Parts]

My bumper fillers were clouding up the past year. They were still real flexible and my painter said if they are still flexible he could reshoot them so that is what we did. Both fronts and rears were done and 6 months later they still look like new. My car just turned 33,000 and is always garaged.

 

[Black3]

My bumper fillers were clouding up the past year. They were still real flexible and my painter said if they are still flexible he could reshoot them so that is what we did. Both fronts and rears were done and 6 months later they still look like new. My car just turned 33,000 and is always garaged.

x2. My fillers w/45k would cloud up in about a day. I took them off and had them soda blasted and painted this past winter. So far they still look perfect.

 

[ffej]

the factory laquer will survive a long time if not exposed to the elements too much.the sun and heat is laquers worst enemy not water. as far as the bumper fillers my 86 has 23,000 miles about 2-3 years ago the rears started clouding up i would buff them till shiney a few days later cloudy again .this year i had the car outside washing it and my hand went thru the fillers in two spots.my car has always been garaged and the factory paint still lokks new.

 

[TurboRegal84]

When the bumper fillers start to cloud up it is a warning sign that the material they are made of is starting to break down. I had an 800 mile car that was never in the elements and had the same issues. I would keep your eyes open for a NOS set.

 

[TR Custom Parts]

Is it possible for them to cloud up without the material actually going bad? Like I said before, mine were still flexible like new. Rears were clouding up more than the fronts.

 

[MSDGN]

Same thing on my 41K GN...original paint...front fillers started clouding up...I would polish them with wax and they would be fine for a few weeks or so...I finally decided to take them off...good thing I did...they fell apart in my hands as I was removing them...have nice new OEM ones on there now...no more clouding...as far as how long the original paint on the car will hold out...I bought mine new in 87...left it outside uncovered for the first 2 years...was my daily driver...since then it's been covered in a garage...I have some minor checking on the hood and that's it...rest of the paint looks the same as it did when I bought it new...some though weren't as lucky with these paint jobs...some had to be repainted within the first 2 years as the paint started to check/crack pretty bad...very inconsistent paint jobs on these cars from the factory...but that makes them unique...

 

[Phoneguy]

I would keep your eyes open for a NOS set.

AND your wallet!!!!!! OUCH !!!!!!!
Mine are clouding as well, just over 43,xxx on the car.

Bryan

 

[davidf]

It's a shame GM took such little pride in paint work in that era.

 

[1quick6]

the factory laquer will survive a long time if not exposed to the elements too much.the sun and heat is laquers worst enemy not water. as far as the bumper fillers my 86 has 23,000 miles about 2-3 years ago the rears started clouding up i would buff them till shiney a few days later cloudy again .this year i had the car outside washing it and my hand went thru the fillers in two spots.my car has always been garaged and the factory paint still lokks new.

That reminds me of college. Back in the day, a friend of ours had a Mazda RX7 painted in black lacquer. He moved to Arizona and his car turned into a primered looking black chalk within a couple of years. We called his car the Stealth Bomber.