0utlier

Wow! $16K US for a paint job? After spending that I couldn't drive the car, and that would take all the fun out of having a 928. The first rock ding and I'd be crying. I can't imagine anyone paying more than a few thousand for a paint job on a driver 928. A show car 928, sure, but a driver? There are tons of paint guys that do work on the side for far less than what would be charged at their day job.

Ron_H

I have an estimate to completely strip and repaint my "86.5, including all trim removed, all glass out, sunroof and bumper covers off, and then re-install everything. It would remain in the shop for two months while the paint cures between coats and after final spraying. All new rubber all around. The price is $10,000, and includes only minor body work. No dents and mostly a few chips and scratches. Oh yeah, and re-align my hatch, after Sharkskin and I mucked that up one day when we had nothing better to do. Ha! My car was the guinea pig. Anyway, if I drove the car out of the body shop after painting and a Peterbuilt tractor drove over it and flattened it, I would be so upside down it would make me bleed. I opted for another method........keep driving it with the paint hazing and like it. I think I'll put some more money into real estate and not worry about the car so much. And save my coins and lunch money for the new 928 in a few years.

danglerb

In 5 to 10 years no show room condition low mileage cars will be available at any price, and people with the big bucks will be paying for frame up restorations or close to it. Whats that going to run, maybe $50k or $75k, won't make a lot of people blink an eye, cheaper than just about anything new that isn't ho hum.

I can't think of much worse than paying like $2500 and getting back a car with half a dozen spots you notice that suck. Once the paint is on many of the worst things are going to be paint where you don't want it, and then its too late.

slate blue

By Outlier
You are right, I wouldn't spend that much money on a daily driver, just not worth all the hard work that goes into making a car near new again. My cars are weekend cars that can win shows.

By Danglerb
You are spot on, my resto took a full year, that was full time work, so you are going to run bills like you said, only thing is that the parts will be harder to get in 5 to 10 years time. You will need more new parts and that is going to mean more money. How many cars out of todays population will be around then? I think if we have a 50% decline in population that will help values, it may also keep enough critical mass in the market for parts to still be available.

Cheers Greg

danglerb

I don't think more than a handful of 928's were totaled prior to the late 80's, and what totals a car is either massive damage or market value slips below repair costs. Cars getting totaled works its way from oldest to newest cars as the market value falls under about $10k. 25,000 cars sold in the US, 16,000 still registered, so thats 9,000 roughly over the last 17 years, about 500 per year. My guess is fewer cars and older models in the 90's, so the average rate is likely more than 500 cars a year in the US. OTOH we are now down to 16k from 25k cars, and many are now not daily drivers, so the pool of "at risk" cars may be MUCH smaller.

A safe prediction is that in the next 10 years 5000 cars will be lost, more from older years, and that would still leave 11,000 cars in a increasingly enthusiast ownership that are going to have much less risk of having the car totaled.

My 10 cent prediction is that the availability of parts from wrecked cars may suddenly drop some time in the next 10 years, but I am not sure how that may effect parts cost since most used prices aren't based off availability of parts but the cost of new parts. Porsche or the OEM's could actually see a rise in the purchase of new parts vs old. This is also about the time a serious restoration part industry might pop up.

85fortheDrive

On that note, I should clarify that I enjoy driving this car too much to get it into show car quality. We're the second generation of family to own this car and I'd like to get it back CLOSER to its original condition. But I'd be kidding myself if I said the car would get to show quality. Unless they're willing to keep the ropes at least ten feet away...

The front hood and underside are pretty chipped in places, as is the undercarriage area along the sides. What with keeping the same color, I'm wondering if I can save some do' by foregoing the painting of the interior parts of the car.

So too, I appreciate the note of being flexible with a timeline (though not too flexible). It is not a daily driver, so I could wait for a bit while the work is done.

Thanks for all the suggestions thus far. I'm always heartened by how people here take good care of their 928s.

Peas,
Tim

Podguy

You can save a lot of money if you are willing to do some of the work. The 928 can and should be painted in pieces. Further for a good job much of the old paint should be stripped. If you do not strip the body you should defintely strip the bumpers. The thickness of the old paint will cause the new paint to crack if the bumpers get flexed. There is a place in Scaramento CA that uses walnut shells to strip the old paint - they charge about $80 a bumper. There are probably places near you that do the same work. I use SEM plastic primer on the bumpers and then put flex agent in both the base coat and the clear coat.

I am not sure what Nicole is talking about with the rubber gaskets. The bumper bead is only a few dollars per foot. The main gasket to replace is the lower outside window gasket on the doors. These run about $100 each last time I bought some. Most of the other rubber is re-useable or can be found in wrecking yards for not much. You should remove the spoiler and rear quarter windows, but the black trim on the doors can be masked successfully.

If you paint the car the same color then the edges can be masked and then color sanded to hide the re-paint to the point it is almost impossible to tell. This leaves all of the door jambs and other areas untouched and all of the original tags in place

If there is clear coat pealing or oxidation - look closely - then the clear coat will have to come off. Sanding the clear coat will cause it to thin out. When the new paint is appiled the clear coat will start to lift over time creating bubbles under the paint. Eventually these bubbles will pop and the paint will begin to peel. The aluminum componets like the fenders and hood can be removed, blasted and painted separately. The doors do not get any direct sun exposure so if it is the original paint you can paint over them. Remove and strip the mirrors. The body if it needs to have the paint stripped should only be done with a chemical stripper so the galvanized coating is not damaged. If the galvanized coating is sanded through in places it can be restored with a good epoxy primer / sealer.

One thing that will happen when you paint the car is a lot of new dents will suddenly appear. Even the factory work is not perfect. If you change color and go to a darker color then this effect will be even more noticable. Those rough bodies at the factory got white or light paint jobs, while the better ones were painted darker colors. No two cars are equal even from the beginning.

There will be people tell you to do yor own prep and body work and then just have the car shot. Unless you are a professional body man and have years of experience do not even consider it. Better to find a top notch body man and have them take the dents out and prep the car for paint. This should not cost that much if you find people who are in the trade and need to make a few bucks after work. The big savings you will gain is disassembling the car yourself and reassembling it after it is painted. Body shops charge the same for body work as assembly and all you really need to purchase is the high end work.

In paint these days there are few options. Most paint has been regulated out of existence. I prefer Dupont products. PPG is probably as good, but I like how well the Chroma line flows. I have had some problems with the House of Color products. Paint products for the entire car will run about $400. You will want to insist on three coats of color and five coats of clear. A thick clear coat is a must to get the deep factory shine. In addition a thick clear coat will allow you to color sand and buff the car to get a shine deeper and better than the car came from the factory.

If you are into real punishment then I highly recommend color sanding the car. Wait for a couple of months and the get yourself some 1500 and 2500 grit wet or dry sand paper. Tap Plasitcs sells this as well as most body shop supply places. Start with a section of the car that is not immediately visible. With lots of water use the 1500 paper to level out the finish. Start in a foot by foot square until you get the hang of it. Keep sanding and using a light until the surface is perfectly flat. It will be obvious as soon as you start to sand just how bumpy the paint surface is. Once flat polish the surface with the 2500 grit - again with lots of water.

Once the surface is flat and smooth apply a buffer and bring the paint to a high shine. I use a PortaCable buffer with varying levels of polish. Groit's Garage sells a complete set up with pads, buffer, polish and wax. There are other places that will provide the same products. Be sure to get an obital buffer so you will not take the risk of burning the paint.

Labor rates vary from place to place but overall you should be able to get out of a job like this for about $3000 if you have no real body work to do. In the end you will have a near concourse car with a paint job better than came from the factory. It will last longer too. When you strip parts have ten coated immediately with black epoxy primer. This will allow you to see the imperfections. The body work can be done over the primer. For a great look consider removing the side moldings and tig welding the holes. The car has a much cleaner look without them.

Hope this helps

danglerb

I live in SoCal, 2 hours north of Mexico, any comment on what might be available south of the border in terms of paint etc. that isn't in the US?

Larry Velk

On our 928's the problem areas are the rear quarter glasses (I'd have a glass guy come over, even though I've done this type of glass before, it's always tense), the door belt line w/srtrips (these look like trouble - I'd have new ones on hand, and the body side mlds - not much trouble, but I bet you'll need to strip them after removal as the paint, even with flex agent, will alligator crack if you peel. I would lever them off to prevent this. I'd do one for $3 500 plus parts in a single stage ppg. Fenders off, front/rear caps off, price open on the door w/strips (but I don't really do this for money).