while i try to figure out the HEI thing....

the previous owner of my 69 bird painted over the batwing and the rubber behind the headlights...
(i don't know why he did it either)

what would be the best and most efficient way to remove the paint without harming the rubber while it's still attached to the car?

henry

You could tape off the batwing and headlight surrounds, then tape off the edges of the hood and fenders leaving only the rubber exposed. Then sand blast the rubber very carefully.

Thats a coomon mistake when repainting these cars, mine was done the same way.....
Its probably best to sandblast them while off the car , I know its a pain to take them off , but maybe more pain if you blast off some paint...
mine were sandblasted in a small cabinet...turned out just fine...

could also tape carefully like Drew mentioned above and use paint stripper....theres a very good one "DeKote" by Eastwood , I used for my header bars abv windshield...costs abt $12.00 for a bottle and I used maybe 1/2" of a 10" bottle, just tape carefully to not get any leakage....brush on , let sit ,takes 30-40 minutes then scrape off , rinse off...

POR 15 sells a great non-toxic paint stripper that works great on rubber - but never use on plastic. You just spray it on and the paint will flake up and you can easily scape it off. Just be sure not to get it on the plastic.

Tom

Sure....I'll be the geek that asks the stupid question.....

What the heck are batwings??

Are they the two rubber seals along both sides of the front bumper?

You guys piss me off, you know. :p

Hey Nash, at least your not the one who pisses them off

I think it's the rubber peices behing the plastic peices on the 9's front end.

Take 'em off. If you tape an area to protect paint, then sandblast, you're flirting with disaster. I think that you have to pull the headlight buckets--the thing that the headlights attach to--and the bumper.

It's not that hard. Go see how much paint in a can costs, and you'll see what a bargin it is to remove them. You can also sand/scrape by hand.

guerrero: I used to live in Mesquite 1983--1992 just outside LBJ and the 20-80 split. I also worked at Sewell Village Cadillac/Lexus for a few years. (Worked there twice. Got pissed off, stormed out the door, but about a year later, they came crying and sniffeling, begging me to come back to work.)

By the way, my 69 came from Seagoville.

ok guys...what i tried tonight was paint stripper with a small brush...

seems to work...lot more time consuming than i anticipated...but it's working...

amervo....small world

i live in fort worth and work in dallas.
my 69 came from van winkle pontiac in dallas...my bird still has the dealer logo (metal) on the back end...

henry

The "batwing" is the plastic filler piece just behind the front bumper on '69's. There is a rubber piece attached to the "batwing" that mates to each headlight cover gasket (rubber). These rubber pieces were never intended to be painted and many times they end up being painted because a painter was too lazy to mask them off or remove the plastic headlamp covers.

Hope you are not "p***ed" at us anymore.

Tom

Henry , to eliminate the time consuming thing when using the stripper....

when I did my w/s header bars , I hade everything taped , masked...brushed on the stripper, set an egg timer for 30 min`s , went in to watch "speed channel", timer goes off , you spend 3-5 minutes cleaning up, brush on another coat for the stuff that didnt come off first go-around , set timer for next 30 mins, go back for more "speed channel"....not that time consuming....

and "Nash" , a little more technical description of "batwing" = "Bumper to hood filler panel", and as described by Ames...this is the 1.5" wide panel that goes between the hood and top edge of the front bumper (69 only)
also its sometimes called: the "V" filler

almost repeating Toms explanation

Understand now, thanks! I've seen it mentioned before and never asked. I love my 68 front chrome, but must admit the 69 nose is unique and stylish.

My 69 Firebird Project

It would probably take you less time to just take off the bumper and headlight surounds. Mine was like that too when I bought it. I put in new rubber inserts on both sides and also took off the batwing so I could remove the rubber piece. Soaked it in break fluid and all the paint came off. Then used some of that Balck Magic tire stuff on all the rubber. Realy makes it look a deep wet black. Good luck.

Thats a pretty nasty suprise to find hiding behind your fender. It may not be as bad to fix as you think. Clean the seam sealer and paint off all around the edges of the bent piece and drill out the spot welds and the bent piece will come off pretty easy. Perhaps one of the guys that sells parts here can remove the piece you need from one of their parts cars the same way and then it is just a matter of spot welding the replacement piece back on. It will give you piece of mind that you did the repair and won't come back to haunt you down the road. It's a shame that who ever did the original repair didn't fix it properly the first time around. You may have to do the same with the cocktail shakers. You would be suprised at how you can manipulate bent metal with a little bit of heat, a hammer, pliers, a pry bar and a whole lot of patience.

Gerry