rg588911

I just started considering a repaint for my 88 coupe black. I heard from a few sources that it could run 5-6k with stripping and repainting. Doeas anyone have experiance with this and if so how much should it cost. also, what about just smoothing and sanding the existing paint and then applying fresh paint on top? Any help would be much appreciated.

ventoGT

I think it depends where you go. I got my 91 M5 repainted [stripped to bare metal because the paint was so bad] in Atlanta from a reputable shop for $4,800. This includes a defect warranty as long as I own the car, so if the paint starts flaking, etc then the shop will pay parts and labor to rectify it. It depends on how bad your finish is right now on your car if you want to repaint, but make sure you see some of their work and visit their shop and look at the types of cars sitting around before you hand your baby over to them.

Peter Zimmermann

Where in the country are you?

Pete

rg588911

NY / Northern
NJ

glenncof

I have been restoring the finish on my '85 Cab. platimum gold with 173K miles. If you do a search on my name you'll find my first pass in Jan 2005.

Before I started I took it to several shops in N. Cal. It was going to be $1500 just for all the lower panels. The best shop said $7-8K to do the whole thing. Reason; the car should be disassembled to do it right. They said just let next owner do it.

You can see in my restoration post what they are talking about. Recently I repainted the rear deck lid and am planning my attack on repainting the hood.

I suggest talking to lots of shops and looking at an example of their 911 work. You have the advantage of non-metalic so I could easily be done in stages. I can help with suggestions if you consider doing some of it yourself.

bbh03

If you are looking to save money, consider dissassembling it yourself. Not very difficult at all, just a little time consuming. Just remove all glass, doors, hood and trunk (and their selas) and all exterior trim and lighting (tape up exposed wiring). The body shop can mask everything exposed. You'd have to trailer it there, of course.

2002M3Drew

Try D.J.'s in Morristown. He restores and repairs track damage on just about half of the NNJR PCA! He's very good, and reasonable.

rg588911

thanks guys. This is helpful. I am really on a budget because I am doing so much mechanical work. I am just very displeased with the current paint as the last owner had it done poorly. I am hoping to get a decent job for around $2k.

fixnprsh

$2K will be a stretch, remember, buy the best and cry once, even if you respray the original black, even if you just shoot the outside and not the jambs with the lids and fenders in place.

The glass and seals will HAVE to come out, if not, I wouldn't bother as the results will be horrible, no good shop would even offer to paint it with the windows in.

But like stated above, you can take the lights, handles, mirrors and stuff off yourself

fixnprsh

Forgot:
If you have a lot of time, you can turn it over to one of those schools that teaches autobody and paint, the come out looking great as the instructors won't let anything but usually leave, and you have to pay for materials, labor is free, but it does take some time to do.

rbuswell

My car is a completely rust free and unmolested 1982 911 SC painted in Zinc Metallic (original color confirmed by COA). I bought the car to work on as a hobby as much as drive it and I’m also on a limited budget. I’m doing some renovation work (engine out cleaning, replacing rubber and seals, going through the gearbox, etc.) so it isn’t running right now.

There are a few cosmetic issues that need attention, the biggest one is the paint. The PO had the front third of the car repainted by a hack body shop in the Sioux Falls, SD area.

I’ve read several excellent threads on both Rennlist and Pelican and I didn’t seem to get my questions answered specifically as to a partial repaint. Most threads seem to focus on "Should I or shouldn't I?" In my case, I don't see how I can avoid a repaint. The color doesn’t match, there’s some dirt in the paint, there's orange-peal in spots and the clear coat is splitting away at some edges. It appears that the rest of the car has original paint. The PO also had a standard decklid, which came with the car, repainted at the same time; also poorly. The car came from the factory with a tea-table spoiler, which I’ve got but I don’t run since I like the standard look better.

It is not a show car and I intend to drive it often and braless most the time (Please no jokes about man *****) so I don’t expect to keep the inevitable rock chips from happening. It has plenty of those now even after the lousy repaint. I may consider the 3M clear bra, however. The paint itself looks like it’s smooth and is bonding well so I don’t see that a bare metal re-do is necessary. My biggest beef is with the poor color match and finish work. Since I’m on a limited budget and don’t mind doing work like the prep myself, I’m wondering if anyone has experience with this sort of project. As I see it, these are my options:

1. Try removing the repaint and see how bad it is underneath. Is that even doable?
2. Prepping the paint for a re-spray where the hack shop did their damage (a doable DIY?) then get a good shop to spray the bad third (hopefully with Glasurit paint).
3. Or should I plan to prepare the whole car for a re-spray?
4. Or should I build up my budget and have a good shop do the whole thing?

Your input is valuable to me.

MUSSBERGER

The right materials alone will eat up close to a grand these days.

Diamond Blue

Who was it in Sioux Falls area that painted the car? Did they strip the paint or just paint over the original paint? A soda blaster could possibly take the bad layers off for another repaint and then you can remove the parts to do the job right. I would talk to some of the good body shops in the area and see what they suggest.

Ed Hughes

$2K will not get you much in the way of quality, save the $2K and add it to another $3-5K in the future, and get a good paintjob then. $5-6K will get you a DECENT job in most parts of the country-but not show quality.

rbuswell

I'm hope that's not true if I only re-do the section that was poorly done. It's certainly true if I do the whole car.

It was Ahlers Pro Body Shop on E. 8th St. The invoice says repair body work, strip, sand, blend paint and clear coat for a total of ten hours. It's clear that if that was done, it was done very badly. Ten hours isn't much so corners were cut, I'm sure. Its also clear that there are paint layers underneath so I don't see how there was any stripping done. That's why I think it may be wise to try to get it down to what's underneath. I'll look into the soda blasting idea.

I'm leaning that way, too, unless I can do the front and have a good long-lasting result. My perception is that the grunt work of sanding and prep is the most time consuming part of the job and that the real artistry comes with the spraying of the paint and the wetsanding and finish work. But you pay the same per hour for the grunt work as the spraying and finishing. If I can learn the ropes on body part removal and prep and get a really good shop to respray the front third and the decklid with quality paint and acheive a really good match, I may not have to wait that long to build the war chest needed. The other benefit is that I at least keep some of the original paint on the car (the back two thirds).

Thanks all for your comments. Keep 'em coming.