im haing a friend paint the car at his shop, how do i take off the emblems and lights and what about the nose badge i want it to look great but i figure the less time he has to prep it the more time he has to do clear coats and stuff like that. oh yeah the guy b4 that painted the bumper got paint on the nose badge and turn signal is there any way i can get that off, is there any way to replace the black piece in the bumper mine is cracked.

 

I'm going to assume that you have a 4th gen Camaro. If not, it applys to the 3rd gen as well. The emblems are easy, get a putty knife about 3" wide and put a layer of black tape around it, (You want the black tape on it so it doesn't gouge the body panel.) Then get a an 1 1/2 or so gasket scraper to use to pry the emblems off (they are double sided taped on.) Wedge the taped putty knife right up to the emblem and use the gasket scraper on top of it to gently pry it up , also use a hair dryer on the emblem as you go, it will help loosen the tape, and if you are careful you can re-use the them. If you try to just pry them off, I can guarantee you that they will break (believe me, I tried, but I didn't care because I replaced mine with vintage 1969 Z/28 emblems) The nose badge could get kind of tricky because it is recessed and you can't use the putty knife system, use the hair dryer and some common sense there. The tail lights are easy, open the trunk and pull the carpet away from the tail panel, and undo the three thumb screws per light and they should pop right out. If you have a 82-97, I would not even worry about the headlights as they can be taped over and are out of the way. I don't know how the headlights are on a 98-02, but I imagine they come out the same as the rear tail lamps. The turn signals on the fourth gen are a bit of a pain in the a@#, you will have to get under the car and undo most of the bolts holding the cover panel on, you don't have to take it off, just pull it down enough to reach your arm up in there to feel for the turn signals. There are three 10mm nuts holding each signal in place, two of them are easy to reach (the ones on the ends) however the center one requires some dexterity because it is in the center, but on top of the signal. The lights come out by removing the push pins on either side of them and unpluging them, you can either tape over the brackets or pull them out if want, it's a pain, but undo the three push pins in the bottom center of the nose, pull that down and locate the fog light brackets and remove the two 10 or 12MM bolts and they drop out of the way (Example of 93-97 for the 98-02 your on your own!) To get the over spay off of you parts can be done one of two ways, I'm going to assume again that you don't have a bench grinder/buffer. gently wipe the nose badge with some laquer thinner (do not submerge it!!) After the over spray is gone the finish might be kind of dull, just use some quality rubbing compound like 3M Finness it 2 to bring back the shine, repeat the same process for the turn signals. The second way kind of sucks because it involves using heavier compounds to buff off the overspray (very time consuming) The black piece under the the bumper I assume you are reffering to is the air deflector. (DO NOT REMOVE THIS, WITHOUT REPLACING WITH ANOTHER!!!) That piece is what cools your car while in motion, so don't attempt to drive the car without it. There are about 10-15 10mm bolts that hold it in place and it drops out of the way. You can get a good quality used one on e-bay or from Strikers Auto parts in Tennessee, Strikers can be found on ebay as well, just look for any one of their adds under 93-02 Camaro parts. Hope this helps.

 

wow thank you so much for responding u answered everything i needed to know thnx alot, its a 95 Z/28 by the way and once again thnx alot it really helps.

 

Just a note about painting....

Preping the car for paint is the most important step when painting a car. Make sure not to skip anything to get it done faster.

 

Also one other thing hazardousdrew, make sure that your friend uses the same materials when doing the car, i.e. paint primer, primer surfacer and most important "sealer." It is very important that you seal the car before you lay down the new finish, or you could end up with getting checking or cracking prematurely. Good luck with the job. By the way are you going with the stock color or a new one?

 

im tryin to find a new color something with a new look but still silver so i dont have to repaint the engine bay and stuff. so if u know of a good color or someone you think i should call and see if they can get me a paint then let me know.

 

My favorite silver has been Mercedes Brilliant silver found on the S 500, that with a touch of blue pearl makes for a kick ass combo. Go to a paint jobber and look at a House of Kolor color chart, I guarantee you will find what you are looking for.