964 Color Change Shop Advice and Recommendations/Tips

[wprater]

I've been slowly restoring my 1990 964 into a daily/road rally car. Most of the chassis and drivetrain bits have been updated for sports-purpose driving. This car has 280K miles on it with all the faded paint and chips to prove it. It's driven very hard in the So. Cal mountains and 5-10 day rallies. Im going for a new color and interior in the most Porshce way I can imagine.

Now on to my questions and areas for advice.

I will complete a disassembly and re-assembly (advice on this is appreciated) so I can find more areas for improvement without replacing everything, bar none. My hope is that this will also get me in and out of a paint shop much quicker.

For me a disassembly is:
- engine and associated components
- leave wiring harness
- glass and seals
- dashboard, carpet, seats (wont paint interior floor)
- gas tank and hoses, hvac suitcase
- oil tank and lines
- door pins to be popped off at shop to make transport easier
- fenders to be popped off at shop to minimize damage (but recommendations welcomed)

As dirty as the bottom is and will likely get, Im compelled to paint body color, which means
- front suspension, steering
- rear suspension
- brake lines, vacuum lines, etc

I decided to go with a single-stage paint (Glasurit) since I want the patina to form again and be as close to the factory look as I can.

My car has minor dents and some cowl rust. I need the cowl rust and dents repaired.

Im looking for smaller shops to help with the prep and paint work. Seems like the paint and prep is about 300 hours from what I've read and been quoted. I have not had any "non-Porsche" shops quote me yet.

I want the paint to look good and be factory correct (body color areas, black areas, etc.). The car will be driven in all conditions, rain, sun, and snow, and it will not have any ppf protection.

What's the best approach to cleaning the underside to prepare for paint? Can we leave the undercoating, or does it need to be removed?

As I am doing the disassembly and re-assembly, how important is a specialist shop? And I'm open to recommendations or small shops that want to take on this project with me.

I'd like to hear any tips from others who've embarked on a similar journey and are open to anyone who'd like to prep and paint. I know the general costs of this and want to move fast to get into a shop to get painted.

Here is a photo of how she sits today.

[3rd_gear_Ted]

First you have to find a shop that will paint a complete P-car.
Lots of them say; NO way, you guys are too picky.

I found a guy who custom paints low riders cars, those guys in that world have more than enough skills. My Porsche was just as low as their rides, instant respect.

1. Advise hiring a glass guy to do removal and re-install.
2. How's your trim anodize, a new paint job makes worn trim stick out.
3. Consider also one of the many LED rear & front light retrofit kits.

[David]

Here's my painting thread: https://forums.pelicanparts.com/911-930-turbo-super-charging-forum/1143748-another-930-painting-thread.html

[wprater]

I've also found a guy who does low-riders. I have not inquired further about this or to see if he has a single-stage setup.

I've R&R windshields a few times on longhoods. Never side or rear windows.
Sticing with my H4 retorifit. However, I did discover that the rear side lights had melted a bit. I suspect the wrong wattage bulbs were in there. I need to inspect that.

[David]

Removing glass is super easy, putting it back in not so much. It took me less than an hour to remove all my glass and over 6 hours for a pro to reinstall it.

[wprater]

Annodized areas are ok, but aged. Good point, I'll look into restoring those.

[ericwitte]

Why not PPF? If you go to all of the trouble to restore, it’s a no brainer. I drive my cars hard as well. It’s nice to see them hold
up despite the abuse.
Do the nose, stone guard areas and rear bumper and you should be good. Paint has to cure for 30+ days first.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[wprater]

All the ppf Ive had done or seen never seem to hold up to driving and tends to get dirty and peel up. For these reasons Im leaning against it.

[silverlock]

I PPF’d my SC as soon as I got it two years ago. *22k miles later* — some fun backroads rally & dirt road mileage included — and it’s held up great. Modern PPF (like XPel) is incredibly durable. It should not peel up or get dirty if installed correctly.

Front bumper, hood, front fenders, valence. Already had stone guards. My windshield, on the other hand, is not looking so good!

[PeteKz]

My experience with PPF is excellent too. There is also a version for windshields which I have on my Ford GT. It has saved me a new windshield several times.

[jac1976]

I know you state you want it done to factory spec, but you might consider something like LizardSkin for sound insulation and/or heat protection.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Originally Posted by wprater

Annodized areas are ok, but aged. Good point, I'll look into restoring those.

All of your black door frames, quarter window trim, etc. is painted black, not anodized. The shop that paints your car can shoot all of your door frames, etc. too.

I do them in Cerakote Cobra Black but probably best to have the paint shop do them at the same time, wipers, door handles too.

[wprater]

Good to know on the painting. I can have them spray them for OEM look.. I'll check on the Cerakote process as well. (still looking for shop.)

[wprater]

May go with the guy who's doing lots of 60s hot rod, low-riders, etc. he said he can do it. I can guide him. Just needs me to roll him the shell on a jig.

Any ideas of where to rent or borrow one in the LA area? Or which forum area I can post to ask in?

[ericwitte]

Originally Posted by silverlock

I PPF’d my SC as soon as I got it two years ago. *22k miles later* — some fun backroads rally & dirt road mileage included — and it’s held up great. Modern PPF (like XPel) is incredibly durable. It should not peel up or get dirty if installed correctly.

Front bumper, hood, front fenders, valence. Already had stone guards. My windshield, on the other hand, is not looking so good!

Agree. They used to install with the edges exposed. The quality installers don’t use a kit but instead custom fit, wrapping around the edges. You can’t tell. I drive my 993 with a group of modern Porsches with sticky tires and it has saved my front end.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[wprater]

Car is nearly disassembled now, and I've been shopping around trying to find a good painter. Quotes have been higher than I anticipated.

I want the color change to be as OEM as possible, but I am open to ideas on saving time/money for the repaint. One area I'd like ideas on would be the underbody. I've seen photos, and generally, it seems to be tanish undercoating with light paint/overspray. Since my car is red and the color will be much lighter, I need to deal with this.

What is the best way to clean and repaint the underside? Dry ice? Sand blast? Agitating wire rods? Or should we degrease/clean and do a light undercoat spray in a tan/grey color?

[Hi_Fi_Guy]

Some people teach themselves to paint. Much respect for that. I imagine you’d want to practice on someone’s old daily driver first!

[wprater]

At this point, I'm tempted, trust me. But this car is likely not the one to start on. (:

[wprater]

What are your thoughts on the wiring harness "while I'm in there"? I got the engine/rear harness out now, and there are a lot of wires I'll never use. Most seem in good shape, but I damaged the distributor hall sensor wiring, which needs repairing.

I was going to keep the Motronic, but I keep tempting myself to go with a standalone ECU. Which means I'd made a new ECU to engine harness and maybe create a simpler one for rear lights etc? Advice?

[wprater]

So now I've nearly stripped the whole car. All the little bits are out, harnesses moved into the cabin, suspension off, sunroof out, etc.

I'm working on a couple of quotes for paint and prep, and I started to think I should just strip the complete chassis. Would this be a benefit for prep work? Allow me to blast or dip the car vs having it sanded down by hand?

I was initially going to leave most of the interior color to save time and money. Will cleaning it all out make it easier to paint overall?