Mrmerlin

Its cool your having your car refinished you should be proud if it as the paint will breath new life into your ride.

That said, if your having them do all the paint removal
I would suggest to let them know it will prevent having to redo the front and rear bumper covers
if they are walnut media blasted to bare surface then the coatings reapplied.

NOTE if they do not do this and only try to sand out the cracks in the coatings your cracks will reappear once the car sees the sunlight, and you will be pissed that they now have to try to repaint the covers and the same thing will happen unless these instructions are followed,
BTDT on 2 GTSs in black

SharkSkin

Travis, I meant a long hike for lunch. To get top-quality work the drive from Berkeley to SJ is nothing.

3000teeth

Yeah, Dan. He's going to do the disassembly, sanding, blasting, etc. then have me down to look at it while it's apart. He'll also give me a parts list for reassembly then.

I agree on the hatch lock seal - I'll get one from Nicole, since she had a bunch of them at SITP.

I'm not sure if it's done with walnut media, but that's interesting and I'll ask him. Thx.

Yeah, it would have to be on a weekend when I'm down to see the disassembly. I'll let you know when that will be in advance and if you're available, perhaps we can meet up.

Also, anyone else who's interested in seeing the work in-progress is cordially invited to come by when I go to check out the different phases. They're a very busy shop, so I wouldn't recommend just dropping-in, unless you want to get a quote, but you're welcome to join me when I go. I'll post what days and times I'll be down there in this thread.

Mrmerlin

walnut media will not damage the PU covers unless the wand is held in place and allowed to heat the surface

herman maire

Thought I would give my opinion on this..... I have painted my 993 bumpers , 928 bumpers ect.... and I never had them strip the bumper. I just sanded them smooth, used a high build primer with flex bumper additive , once that is dry ( you can let the 2k primer cure for a few days even) . Get out the 3M guide coat ( its black powder that gets rubbed on) , using the 3m guide coat and some 500G sand paper you sand until you have a nice smooth finish.... with the guide coat, you will see every imperfection on your bumper.

My bumpers turn out perfect.... like new and I never had cracks appear. The factory paints and primer are good stuff, no point in removing everything.

Mrmerlin

I have had to remove the rear bumpers on 2 different Black GTS s 2 times each because, the painter just had to touch up a few spots, well after this and sitting in the sun for a few days the spots were now potholes in the surfaces.
Some of the new surfacers may be really good,
BUT when there are cracks in the surface coatings, there is really only one way to guarantee that they wont resurface, strip and start fresh, YMMV

Nicole

Travis: I have side marker seals that are a lot less expensive (about one third per pair) than the factory ones. Mine are light grey, and you can find them here:

http://marketplaceadvisor.channeladv...00&i=252064291

3000teeth

Thanks guys. The bumper I'm worried about is the front. It's got a number of scuffs and cracking paint. The back one was hit, is bent and will be replaced with the red one (on the ground in the pics) after it is sanded and painted. It's in near pristine condition. If I'm not happy with the strip job on the front, I'll likely be in the market for a new one.

Nicole, do you have black side marker seals?

3000teeth

So I got the call yesterday that the car is apart and mostly stripped now, but unfortunately I can't make it down there until next Saturday. So, I'll be heading down to check her out then. If anyone's interested, let me know and we'll meet-up. I'm thinking I'd like to get down there around 11:00.

Dave, you up for lunch that day? Anyone else?

3000teeth

So, I ended-up going down to San Jose today to see the progress and get the parts list (I'll post the full list this weekend when I get all the rest of the part numbers in order). The painter hasn't done the final sand, and the car is looking pretty rough, but it's definitely on it's way. They're going to sandblast all the trim pieces this week (something I'll need to pay a little extra for --or buy new ones, which is obviously cost prohibitive). I'm still praying I made the right choice.

Here are the pics: http://www.flickr.com/photos/trav_yo...7626932542408/

Nicole

Are they going to remove doors, and from them the locks and handles? If not, how will they prevent overspray in the panel gaps?

Can I come, too?

Well, it would have to be on a Saturday...

Actually, those were not seals - they were inserts that go into the hatch lock receiver - the female part of the hatch lock that's mounted at the back of the trunk.

RPetty

I like popcorn!!

3000teeth

Yeah, I figured that out within 300 milliseconds of posting it.

I like the idea of removing more stuff, but I don't want to spend the money. I'd rather have the hood realigned because I think I warped it when I put in after-market hood shocks.

3000teeth

I'm going down next Saturday to deliver the back bumper shocks (after I buy them and have them shipped). He wants them before painting to make sure the bumper aligns.

Great if you can make it. Bring your shark!

Nicole

Well... We are planning to do a fun drive on that day, and will meet in San Jose anyway. We should all meet at his shop instead - LOL!