Code Blue

Gentlemen, First posting on here, but I have a 1982 911SC Targa that is sorely in need of a repaint job. It is currently Bleumetallic and I would like to keep it that color. I know this is a potentially expensive undertaking but would like to get it right. What should I be thinking about?

dwight45

My car just returned home after 10 mos. with a windows out/ bare metal respray.You must realize that along with paint you will need new seals too. I was lucky that there was no rust and it cost 26K and change for the paint/bodywork not counting seals. I have not added up that tab yet or even mentioned dash removal and recovering. It just goes on...

berk

26 large is pretty good money. Yet again, stripped to the metal. Lots of work.

race911

Ouch. My cousin just redid my '74 into an RSR (from mere widebody), and he delivered the guy a roller. Came to $8K, including a lot of labor to really fit the craptastic GT Racing pieces beyond the time he had available to keep working it.

DoninDen

What have you found out so far? I almost passed out when I saw $26k and my gag reflex jumped at even $8k.

What does it cost to do a good repaint on a driver you want to be proud to drive? What do you look for in the shop?

Ninetynine996

There are only a handful of shops that will do a great job on our cars. My choice is John Paterek. He and his brother are hands down the best shop on the East coast. You will be very happy with their work. Our cars are increasing in value. Invest in really great paint work.
http://paterekbrothersinc.com/

Speedster911

Any recommendations for a great paint shop in Northern CA?

Prefer the east bay but flexible . Looking for a windows out repaint to factory color. I was planning on doing the disassembly, majority of sanding etc.

race911

Again, budget. I can turn you on (via my cousin) to the guy who did the '74 and the 910 Bergspyder. Probably stop by his shop to see them, too.

Antny930

The price of "paint work" varies greatly depending on how many manhours the shop has to put in. Do they have to strip all of the trim and glass, or are you doing it? Do they need to strip the old paint off down to the metal, or are you doing it? Does the car need any metal work? If yes, that's more manhours. If not, that's less manhours. Is this a color change wherein they'd need to prep and paint the door jambs, under hood, engine bay? Is the engine out? Are they re-assembling the trim and glass or will you do it? Do you want a paint job worthy of the marque? This takes tons of prep to get the panels "flat"....in over-simplified terms, here's the basic process after all bodywork is done and old paint stripped off: lay on primer, then guide coat it, then block sand til flat. Re-prime and repeat the process multiple times until it's all dead flat. Then lay on the color and perhaps clear coats (assuming you opt for a 2-stage paint), color sand til flattened out, more clear, more color snading til dead flat, then buff it out to a deep shine. Every one of these steps takes many manhours to do it right. How much does the shop charge per manhour? $100? Do the math. Then add in the cost of the materials, and remember that good quality paint is not cheap, figure around $2000 to $3000 for your average car. So anywhere from $10,000 (for a car needing very minimal prep and no color change), on up is probably a realistic expectation.

GothingNC

Great thread on Pelican about a 1982 Targa repaint project

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsc...paint-job.html

I would budget at least $5-6K for an daily driver paint job.

Local Porsche restoration shop by me charges at least $35K for a glass out repaint, problem is there is about a 12 to 18 month wait.

JCP911S

Objectives... what is this car to you?

First, a color change is more expensive and less desirable... as the original color code is on the car... I'd recommend always keeping the original color. Is this the original paint or a bad re-paint?

Paint is CHEAP. Body-work and prep is expensive... Hours x Rate, and the shop-rate goes up at the reputation of the shop goes up.

If the car is a dead-straight, no collision car with no rust, it is a plus, but to do it right, plan to replace all the seals, as they are probably bad anyway....

Etc, etc, etc. "While you are in there..." some shops are genuinely interested in doing the "best job" and some in "doing you"...

It would not surprise me if you get a $6-7K quote (not unreasonable), you could get sucked into $20K by "mightaswellas"

Another take....

"patina" cars are the rage right now.... if they are basically solid, and original, but cosmetically shabby, they're ok. If the body is basically solid, I'd consider spending my money on making it mechanically sound, and reliable, and letting the cosmetics take care of themselves.

I think your quotes of $6-26K tells you everything you know about what you are getting yourself into.

Jmorski

I've got a 76 911s project going right now and have decided to strip all the way down to bare metal, have all dents carefully massaged out, laser straight panel fit, Glasurit paint and and and.... I originally got quotes around 10-12k ish if I brought the car in mostly disassembled and not stripped to bare metal. In my case it needed to be stripped because it had paint adhesion issues as many cars built during the early stages of galvanizing had similar peeling issues. It's easy to get into the $20k range when you factor in trim pieces needed, seals/weatherstripping... An 82 is fully galvanized and Porsche had the paint/primer/galvanize process sorted by then so I'm guessing a strip to bare metal wouldn't be warranted. I'm guessing a $10k budget will get you pretty far and you can save some $$ by doing the disassembly/assembly yourself. One tip - get a list of all the parts you need, buy them all at once and try to negotiate a volume discount with whoever you buy your parts from, maybe you can save another 5-10%. Either way have fun with it and good luck!

dwight45

I also had the trim pieces and window frames powder-coated. That helped jack the price up a bit.

jamesjedi

Do all the prep work your self. Perhaps paint the engine bay, trunk yourself. Porsche did not paint the engine bay very well at the factory, not sure about the quality of the trunk area.

Sand and primer yourself. I have been told by a professional painter that the quality of the spray gun for primer does not necessitate buying an expansive gun. Find a paint shop that will just do the spray. Buy a paint system (same primer, same top coat etc.)

This eliminates all the shop hours. I found a shop that will charge me just for the painting/spraying. They will charge me an hourly rate.