Factory paint, wet sanded & buffed?

[70 copo]

Originally Posted by southernfriedcj

I appreciate all the replies. That explains why I have never run across any assembly line wet sand/buff pictures.



Basically I have always been curious.

What caused the thread was I have purchased a '69 Firebird and when I get around to the restomod I want to paint it Verdoro Green. I would like it to look like a 1969 paint job.
I see a lot of restored cars that just don't seem to look like they did back in the day and I was wondering if it may be the paint finish(and radial tires) that throw off the look.

Gotcha! Assuming your Firebird is a Norwood Build then as an example the order was expressed as:

-Second undercoat and Prime
-Bake
-Wet sanding/Buff
-First finish coat
-Bake
-Second Finish Coat
-Bake
-Polish

(Echoes of Norwood page 96 (GM/FB paint process order flow chart)

BUT: the process changed again slightly with the phase in of ELPO and the use of the 50,000 gallon electrostatic prime system

In the Pre Elpo era of sprayed undercoat and prime, Buffing was done primarily to remove dirt from the undercoat prior to the first paint coat.

After the phase in of ELPO primer the paint process featured the addition of buffing before the final reflow oven. After the reflow oven the unit went to the polish station as normal.


The car could also be sanded and buffed again in a final step at an area called Automotive General Repair (AGR).