Color Change

I'm hoping to get my car painted soon (currently Grand Prix White) and have been seriously considering a color change. I know the absolute correct way to do this is to completely strip the car of any interior and the motor (and as much mechanical components as possible). But do to cost and space limitations, I have been wondering about options that don't require all of the above work. Have any of you had experiences with this. FWIW, the color I'm thinking about is black so, there would be quite a bit of contrast between new and old paint.

Thanks,
Mark
'74 911S Coupe

Mark, My brother and I own and operate a bodyshop/speedshop. According to my brother ( the bodyshop half) the minimum parts removal for people on a budgetshould be as follows;
-door panels
-all body glass
-all trim and lids
-removal of trunk lid and engine lid
-sunroof and seal
-gas cap
-lights
For people not on a tight budget he goes ahead and removes all removable bodyparts (doors, fenders etc.), engine, wiring in engine bay, trunk lining, fusebox,
suspension, anyway you get the idea!
Mike

Good post,
Anyone who has changed a color on a car will tell you, save yourself the anguish and expense. If you must have another color change cars . It will be cheaper in the long run both in terms of monitary expense and your piece of mind .

Good post,
Anyone who has changed a color on a car will tell you, save yourself the anguish and expense. If you must have another color change cars . It will be cheaper in the long run both in terms of monitary expense and your piece of mind .

I don't want to sound like a smart a$$ but it would be easier to adjust your valves with only a hammer. Color change right is a very very long and costly job. I don't think it is possible to do easy or cheap. Every crack and hole should be sanded,sealed,primed,blocked sanded etc etc etc. Black is the show everything color. If you spray black the prep MUST be perfect.Check out Jack Olsen's project just to get an idea of what needs to be done. Sorry about the wise crack but If you start this job you will find out too late what the cost and quailty of the look will be.P.S. Jack's car WAS black to start with. Best of luck!

BTW 88'911

Thanks for the quick replies guys,

Mike, I kinda figured as much on the parts removal, my space limitations I was referring to was me being an apartment dweller. If I lived in a place with a garage, I would gut it and take the shell down. I would be rather nervous having the inside of my car completely accessible in my parking space. I'm finding that if I want to take it to a place to have it all done for me, I'm looking at 6-7000 or more... ouch.

Willie... I've grown very attached to this car. It's been well abused by someone in the past and absolutely despise the fact that someone let a Porsche (especially a 911)go this far to hell. Call me sucka, but I could never let it go in it's current state even though I already have way more into it than it's worth.

BTW 88'911, I understand 100% what you are saying. I know a guy that does extremely nice work and would trust him to do a fantastic job on all the bodywork. My only concern was what would have to be done on my part for a color change.

As it stands, I may very well stick with the current color. All the jams and areas not seeing daily sunlight still look really good.

Thanks again for all of your input,
Mark
'74 911S Coupe

Mark

Just my opinion. Have the paint job done if it is in need ofit BUT leave it the Grand Prix white!!! It is a nice colour.

Also my 77 911 has been repainted by the PO, It was originally an orange colour and is now a dark green. It looks very nice, but he didn't have the job done properly (probably on a budget also) so there are spots where it is not done, engine compartment, under targa bar etc.

I know this sounds picky but I would leave it as the original colour, or mybe sell it and find on in the colour you really like, if white isn't it.

Hope I didn't offend but please leave it white, or do the full job.

Shawn

PS I know what its like to have a 911 on a budget, so just good luck.

Hi, all.

I'm the guy with the website with the painting pictures. I'd like to note that -- even though mine was a same-color, bare-metal repaint -- I still wouldn't consider it a really first-class job.

The paint looks nice, sure (and I love the car and the way it looks, honestly). But the glass was not removed for the repaint, which means the point where the seals meets the steel is not as neat and clean as I'd like it to be. Since it's black on black, it's not really noticeable. But if you're looking at it closely, and you're the owner, and you realize that to start over from scratch is going to put you back another $7,000 or $8,000, then you get that nagging feeling that you should have had it done better.

FWIW, I'd recommend staying with your existing color. New paint looks great for a while, but the headaches of the shortcuts taken sit with you for even longer.

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Jack Olsen
1973 911 T sunroof coupe
http://members.rennlist.com/jackolsen/Jalopy.html

Why wait for the website? Here's a picture. Just click on it for a full-sized version:




[This message has been edited by JackOlsen (edited 06-13-2000).]

I know what you are going through. I have two such problems. One is a 79 SC with a very dark brown original paint. The color does nothing for me, so black pearl its gonna be. So much agony in chosing an attractive color that won't be too far off. Anybody have any thing to say about that very dark chocolate brown from 79? The other problem is an 86 930 that I bought in pieces. It was changed from guards red to the new dark metalic red. It is still apart and I've thought about going back to original. They changed everything and lost the bumpers and the sunroof and other parts in process. The value of the car may not be there as this one will probably have to stay in the middle east as the US epa is not very understanding. Keep your car white and do it right. I have a black car here in the desert and within hours after a wash you can see the dust film, it looks positively filthy after two days in the carport!

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davis911s, This car NEEDS new paint. it looks as if it was driven closely behind someone in a race in a rock quary (sp?). Thanks for the input, couldn't possibly be offended. If I didn't want opinions, I wouldn't have posted.

JackOlsen, having seen your pictures actually brought my question about. I noticed that your car hadn't been stripped of everything and so, was wondering what mine might involve. Hearing from people who have had it done is a little different than taking it around from shop to shop and listening to people tell me how much they are going to gouge (sp?) me for sucj a ludicrous request.

diverdan, when this car is done (20 years ), it's not going to be very original. I am planning on getting a body kit soon. I know there are a lot of people here that frown upon this, but the exact car of my dreams never actually rolled out of a production facility. Porsche however, has the closest match. Plus I think I've hung around way too many "Hot Rod" guys and think they have somewhat rubbed off on me.

Thanks again for all the input.
Mark
'74 911S

I changed the color on my car. I have a standing challenge to anyone who can figure out what color it was. Please do yourself a favor and be as thorough as you can given the circumstances. I went off the deep end with mine - full stripdown and chemical dip. The result was worth the effort, but only because the car was ideal for the body mods that I had in mind (and extremely ugly). If your car is a keeper you'll thank yourself many fold for going the extra mile. A bad repaint puts a cloud over everything else you will do to the car.


[This message has been edited by RarlyL8 (edited 06-13-2000).]

RarlyL8 -

Wow. Beautiful car. Excellent choices.

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Jack Olsen
1973 911 T sunroof coupe
http://members.rennlist.com/jackolsen/Jalopy.html

My opinion is this:
SCs are great, fun cars, but they are not the Mona Lisa.
I say if you want to change the color, go for it. You should do like Rarlyl8 did, and make the car into what YOU want it to be.
I think the most important thing having a decent job done, color change or not. (of course, it is more work to do a color change, only you know if its worth it to you).

RarlyL8, Your body kit looks alot like the on I want except yours is widebody. NR calls the one I'm looking at Mega Narrow. BTW, your car looks pretty F'ing cool.

Mark
'74 911S Coupe

RarlyL8,
Still dig the Wing!

My simple advice is set aside some $$$$,
You will get what you pay for. Get some references on the shop.
I went from black to Dark cherry met. The job is fair. The guy went out of business and I got it back in a box.

Two Last things, first tell who ever is doing the prep that it will be black all the way up to the point that you suddenly change your mind on the color (the body work will be done better because BLACK SHOWS ALL and they will need to do a better job) Second, do your own thing and don't take it too seriously that will suck all the fun out of it.

Good Luck!

s

Cool car rarelyl8! Gruvsyco do your own thing. Sounds like your not just repainting a car, you're creating your dream! That dream won't be right unless you have the color you want. Besides, your going to drive it right? Its not going to be just another trailer queen. That guy that had it before you may have trashed the paint, but he probably had a grin on his face while he was doing it. With all that damage your looking at a stip anyhow and who needs thick paint?

Thanks everyone, I only wanted to show my version of what is possible. Hacking up a perfect SC to make your dream come true shouldn't rattle too many cages. These cars are very plentiful and some could use a little "visual enhancement".

I am delighted by the conversation. I have a dark met. green SC and plan to change it to the dark blue of the 89 930 I have been dreaming of since college. I would have thought I'd be shot for painting anything but Guards Red!

I am doing the complete strip down version because I have the space and the time. I also learned my lesson the hard way. It is embarassing to have a flawless black sports car then have someone ask you to pop the hood and it is baby blue. Either way, see what you can do yourself. My uncle is painting my 911 so I will be doing all the stripping and disassembly myself with his guidance. However, when I had my Z car done I was able to work off some of the expense at the shop. There is always grunt work to be done and I got to watch the progress on my car.

Another thing to consider. In Colorado we have to replace the windshields about every three years. Plan for this because even if they mask your current trim perfectly, I would bet money that the white will show through the first time the windshield is changed.

My $.02

Well I've never gone through a color change, but I am right at the tail end of a full restoration. With my 30 year old project it was clear that to do the job correctly meant stripping it down pretty thoroughly, i.e. all trim and rubber off, interior out, glass out, lids/doors/bumpers/fenders off, etc. Then two months of chemical strip, rust repair (California style, i.e. little tiny patch pieces welded-in here and there), sealing, blocking, priming etc.

The paint went on about 10 days ago, and as now the color sanding and buffing should be done. Here's how she looked as of last Friday, all dull and dirty from the color sanding that was in process at the time:

I'm going to visit the shop tomorrow a.m. to drop off all the new rubber and window trim stuff. A new windshield is going in shortly. With luck she'll be back home in a week or so! Then more fun begins -- interior, wheels & suspension, and lots of detail work.

I didn't drop the engine (yet) as it is just rebuilt and has barely been run at all so didn't want to mess with that. But I think with that exception (i.e. engine compartment) a good color change could be done with about the same level of prep I did on this car before taking it to the shop. You'd probably also have to pull a bit more stuff out of the front trunk, which I didn't do as I kept my original color (Blau Met 8410H Glasurit).

Fresh pics will be up tomorrow evening at http://www.nosubstitute.org/911e

Good luck,
Chris C.
70 911E Targa


[This message has been edited by campbellcj (edited 06-16-2000).]

Chris, you're lucky you didn't have to pull everything out of the trunk. I think the worst part of it all was replacing the ductwork and cables from the heating/vent system. I had to get help and another car as reference 'cause I couldn't remember (after 2 years) how it was before! My advice - take lots of pictures when disassembling, you never know how long it may be before you put it all back together.