H2

I've heard of 928 paint job costs all over the board $3,000 to $10,000)...the expensive side being the most common. However, a lot of the cost must be related to taking off the trim and putting it back on. If one takes off and replaces the trim him/herself...and the body work really is minimal (dents, cancer, etc.) what are you all paying? What trim has to be purchased rather than using the old?

Then, there's the paint job reported in another forum:

Quote: "I had it repainted at Earl Scheib, and you basically get a choice of 3 colors for the "Introductory Package": Kinda-sorta Black, Peed Yellow, Baby Butt Powder Blue. It is a good deal. $39.95 - no up's, no extras, no masking tape. The requirement that I don't drive in the rain or wash the car has me a bit perplexed"

I'm not interested in the Scheib job.

Harvey

BC

I do have experience in this, but I am no expert. Removal and reassembly of trim and body parts is the time intensive part. PREP will be mentioned as most important. Prep takes time, but does not take the talent that laying down a great color and clear layer takes. Thats possibly not explained properly, but with a good compressor and some good sanding tools, and alot of patience, you can get very close to professional with way less money.

bronto

There's "prep" and then there's prep.

After shooting my own paint job and doing all aspects of it from start to finish, I'll break it down for you:

* Trim removal, part of prep. This is time consuming and low skill. For me, it was high satisfaction too. I can take everything off, examine it, catalog what might need replacing, and if I break/tear anything I know it's my own fault it's got to be replaced. No one to get mad at.

* body surface prep. You couldn't pay me enough to do this again. Hard work, body filling requires a bit of skill & practice, quality of the job crucial to the final outcome of the project.

* Painting. Fun, high satisfaction, requires skill. Resist the temptation to do it yourself and let someone who knows what they're doing do it.

Bottom line, unless you really enjoy body work, do the trim prep and let someone else do the other stuff.

JHowell37

Ask yourself these questions: Does my car REALLY need to be repainted? Can you do a light cut and rub on the existing finish and get more use out of it? Will it look almost as good as new paint for a fraction of the cost? The reason I'm asking is because nothing will ever match the quality and durability of the OEM finish. If you go with OEM Glasurit paint, you're looking at a material cost of around $1500.

A lot of paintwork is prep. Unfortunately, you drive a Porsche and most places are going to try to screw you just for that.

BC

I am going to do all of this over again like I did on the 78 - you know, the one I worked so damn hard on and the final stage was done just poorly enough to look great but not stick on the primer correctly.

Are you really sure on your OEM durability statement, because that is really not what I wanted to hear.

Would you match the paint as well as you could when you need to respray say a bumper, a roof, and a hatch and a rear bumper, or would you take all those and simply say "What the hell," and start over?

0utlier

I just had my car completely repaired/repainted. Initially it was going in just for some touch-ups of some light hail damage, a little rust on the left rear quarter panel, and a slight crease in the door courtesy of a friends Ford Excursion.

Once in the shop they decided to do the whole car and fix every minor scratch and bump which entailed a complete repaint. I don't want to tell you how much I paid as everyone would hate me. It wasn't much, as paint jobs go. The owner of the shop is a friend so he just basically made me pay for parts only. It did take a full 4 weeks from the time I dropped it off to pick up. Below are a couple of pics before complete disassembly and reassembly.

My recommendation is become friends with the guy who owns the best body shop in town. It will save you thousands and he's probably a pretty cool guy to boot.

JHowell37

The main difference between the factory finish and one that is done at the body shop is that the factory finish is baked on at a very high temp. This has the effect of painting and powdercoating. Eventually if I had that many things to repaint, I'd probably redo the whole car. The main reason why repaints don't hold up is that they show one or two flaws and the owner loses interest and neglects the vehicle which serves to exacerbate the condition.

We've discussed painting in great detail via PMs the past few months and I think I've told you that I'm not overly enthusiastic about 2K primer-surfacers. They're not usually a part of factory finishes and I think they play a big role in paint chipping on refinishes. Unfortunately, most old cars need this step to smooth out the body prior to repaint. There's a product out now that's becoming very popular with body shops and DIYer's called Slick Sand. It's made by evercoat. It's sprayable polyester filler. I'm thinking I should be able to use that in the place of 2k surfacer with better results due to polyester's adhesion properties.

85fortheDrive

Harvey:

I had our 84 repainted and clearcoated for $2500 recently. We had no major dents, but there was a healthy constellation of chips and scratches.

Bumpers were removed, but the side mouldings were not.

I set up the job with the following in mind... I enjoy driving the car waaay too much to get a paint job that will make me worried about driving it. It is now better than a "10 footer" though surely not show quality.

I'm happy with the results.

Good luck!

BC

So if you can get the body straight without a 2K P-S, you would do a DTM epoxy primer, slick sand, and then a sealer and BC/CC?

And, thanks for all your help.

JHowell37

I'm thinking that may be the route to go. Just make certain you sand the DTM before applying the slick sand. You'll also need a gun with a large tip to apply the stuff (2.2 mm.) I'll send you a PM to avoid a further hijacking of this topic.

perrys4

Sweet! I am green with envy.

Podguy

Briendan,

After using the DTM it is the only surface primer I will ever use again. The 2K stuff is my opinion and experience is crap. Nothing I have ever used provides such an fine base to build a paint job off. There is no movement or things creeping up to the surface later. The DTM is stable, easy to shoot, dries like glass even over rough surfaces and is easy to sand out. It blocks out nicely and works very well over plastic filler. So far I have not had a single paint reaction. DTM dries to tack almost immediately so you can use it in dirty environments, but continues to flow while it kicks so there is no need to blow it on thin and dry to keep the dirty down.

Dan the Pod Guy

Podguy

One other issue I have discovered playing around with different patch up and repair situations on the 928. There is no way I would ever think of doing serious work on the paint without at least getting rid of the old clear coat. One is better stripping to bare metal (or plastic). It does not take long or cost much, but if that is not an option then get rid of the old clear coat.

Paints used in the 1980s were not of the same quality as today's paints. It is foolish to think a top shop cannot duplicate the paint quality and exceed the longivity of the Porsche original paint with today's products. Simple truth - the paints today are far superior that of the 1980s. The bigger problem is the clear coat used by Porsche. When the clear coat is exposed to the sun it begins to deteriorate and break down. Even if the clear coat is not peeling - very common - it will on very close examination be cracked or pourous.

When the clear is sanded the cracks and other deterioration remain with the paint. Sanding simply makes the clear coat thinner. The heat from sanding will cause the clear to delaminate from the base coat. New paint added to such a base is a disaster waiting to happen. Not only do you now have a thicker paint job on the car which is prone to chips, but you have buried in a ticking time bomb. As the sun goes to work on the new paint it will begin to delaminate the old clear coat. At first there will just be some very minor bubbles in the paint. Slowly the bubbles will grow and eventually combine causing more and more of the new paint job to lift.

In one extreme case a bird crapped on the paint and the acid eroded a small divot on the new paint. This eventually began to chip. Before the long the paint on the entire roof came off in large strips.

I am not suggesting the extreme case will occur, but I have seen too many cases where bubbling took place and caused chips in the new paint.

Dan the Pod Guy

Black Sea RD

Great thread! I have to get my wife's 1989 928S4 repainted soon due to the clear coat finally letting go and there are now areas on the roof and hood that look like crap. I am thinking of doing all the removal of the trim, bumpers, sunroof (I hate sunroofs) and mirrors.

Any tips for removing the door glass trim work, sunroof hatch, rear quarter windows (do they really have to come out?), side mirrors and roof antenae? Where do you get the thin rubber strips for the seams around the bumpers and any tips for replacing that stuff?

Thanks in advance,
Constantine

Edit Note: I just found Dan the Podguy's website http://www.kondratyev.com/porsche/t...y/body_work.htm
in another thread where a section explains in great detail repainting a 928. A must read for anyone comtemplating repainting their car.

weirdscience

IM no expert, but Ive done my fair share of paint and body work. I feel its best to strip to bare metal or bare plastic in the case of bumpers. Chemical strippers work but are messy and get into places you may not want. Sanding will work but you need to be carefull not to create too much heat or gouge the metal to deep especially on aluminum. Media blasting seams to be the best. I follow paint mfg's directions carefully from here on. I use Diamont, BASF, and Transtar products with great results.