Sunroof repaint project. Help please

mthomas58 · 02:44 PM

Going to attempt to repaint my sunroof soon. Granite Green Metallic. PO parked car in driveway where it baked daily. Is that what cased the clear coat to flake? Anyway, I have never painted before. I've got a decent quality HVLP gun and have located a good local source for the paint & clear coat. What I need is some advise on the steps to follow. I intend to remove the s-roof and set up a make shift vented/filtered paint booth in the garage. Can an experienced DIY painter outline the prep and repainting steps/ potential pitfalls for me? (do I need to sand down to bare metal?) Much appreciated.

Formerly Steve Wilkinson · 11-01-2006, 07:35 AM

Well, I painted my entire car and it looks great, and I'd never painted a car before. I understand HVLP guns are more difficult to use than the old-fashioned ones. I have a friend who paints airplanes and is, as an amateur, good at it. He tried an HVLP gun once and threw it away.

I would say yes, go down to bare metal since it's such a small piece, and then use the proper primer and sealer. but don't sand down to bare; you'll remove the galvanizing. Use "Aircraft Stripper," but be absolutely positive you've washed all of it out of every nook and cranny before you start to paint, or it'll come back and haunt you.

Frankly, I wouldn't bother setting up a complex booth, I'd simply paint it outdoors on a windless day. Worst that'll happen is a bug or two will land in the paint. Sand 'em off and do it again. If the paint is thick enough, you can just sand them off and no sign of their presence will remain.

Your biggest problem will be matching the color with waht looks like a semi-metallic paint. That's what takes the expert. For one thing, you'll be putting new paint on a car that has faded to some extent.

the · 11-01-2006, 08:10 AM

I'd agree with the above, except I wouldn't take it down to bare metal. I'd just wet sand it initially with an aggressive paper, 200 grit or so. In 10 minutes or less, you will be down to virgin factory primer, which is an excellent base to start from.

I agree you are going to have a heck of a time getting a decent match. From your pictures, your car looks to have a pretty severe fade. No way you can just order up the factory paint code and have it come close. At a minimum, you should get the paint custom blended to match the roof. Your local pro paint shop can do that for you. They'll probably charge you $75, though. But if you don't, the paint won't be close.

Even with that matching, though, I think it will be noticeable after you are done. A pro doing it right would, IMO, paint and "blend" the roof into the panel to minimize the visual difference. With almost all painting of metallics on older cars, blending is necessary to hide the color difference.

I don't know what kind of paint shops you have in your area, but I know in mine, I could find someone to paint the panel for cheap, if I took it off the car and handed it to them. By the time you add in your costs for ALL the materials, sandpapers, cleaners, primers, surfacers, sealers, etc., it probably will cost less to have a shop do it. Paint systems are not cheap, and you'll have to buy way too much for such a little job (you'll have a ton of leftovers, even if you buy the minimum quantity of primer, sealer, etc.)

I'd at least look into the costs of doing it yourself v. handing it in to a shop "ready to paint."

Formerly Steve Wilkinson · 11-01-2006, 08:18 AM

I think "the" is right, both about the sanding and the option of having a shop do it.

jorian · 11-01-2006, 09:06 AM

I brought my s/r to paint shop that matched the paint beutifully and charged me $100.

Formerly Steve Wilkinson · 11-01-2006, 09:19 AM

You couldn't buy the paint, primer and sealer for $100, to say nothing of various other supplies, if you did it yourself.

mthomas58 · 11-01-2006, 11:07 AM

I've had quotes from $290 (Dent Wizard) to $400 (Dealer Owned Collision Center). I have very little confidence in the low quote (color match and quality job) but feel that if I get the paint shop to get a decent color match I ought to be able to "git-r-done" myself for half of the low quote. I really don't care if it's not a perfect match and would expect there to be a diff in new vs 19 year paint anyway - particularly with metallic . Even if its a little off, it will look a thousand times better than it looks now!

I've got to take the thing apart anyway to replace the cables and figure while apart I'd try shooting it myself. If I screw up, I'll certainly have enough paint to do it till I get it right. If things go well, my mirrors, headlight trim rings and front valance need to be reshot.

I appreciate all the help and advise. Keep it coming - you guys are great!

Original pic was pre-purchase 4-mos ago. Here's what it looks like now after using the Porter-Cable random orbital, 3M Swirl Remover and Zaino. Me likey!

jorian · 11-01-2006, 11:11 AM

If you want to save some $ do the prep work yourself and then take it to the paint shop. Still should only cost you around $100. I'm not sure how you would buy paint to match a faded colour anyway. The shop I went to used a apint analyser to produce the right hue.

mthomas58 · 12-20-2006, 08:22 PM

OK, I went back by my collision center again today (Jim Ellis in Atlanta). I've used them before and they do top notch work with 100% satisfaction guaranty/ 1 year warranty on paint work. They quoted me $400 to paint the following parts: sunroof and both flag mirrors. Quote assumes I remove the sunroof and mirrors and they do all the prep work, color match and metallic/clearcoat repainting. I suggested I could do the prep work and he quickly said that they should do it ( warranty issue probably)

Figure I'd spend $200 or so on min quantity materials with alot left over and I've never shot auto paint B4.

Sound like a good deal? 4x Jorian's estimate but I can't imagine I can get this done for $100.

jorian · 12-20-2006, 10:21 PM

Wow. 400? I honestly got my roof resprayed with a spot-on colour for $100. My car does not have a metallic paint job.

901/05 · 901/05's Garage

...after six hours of mixing glasurit paint we shot the roof with four coats in four hours.

The most difficult part was the replacement of the rear seal. Thanks to Beck's in Phoenix, we got passed that.

The removal of the sun roof is quite easy. The paint work and proper re install is the hard part. All new seals are recommended.

Oh, cost was $70 for a quart of viper green paint. Another $30 for blue glasurit to make the the viper a conda green. $34 for the rear seal and $200 for removal and re install. The color match....I performed...and is priceless. Shawn.

Hey Ray Crawford, get out of my picture. Oh wait, that is me behind Ray with a cold one.

stormmaster · stormmaster's Garage

There are a LOT of shops in Atlanta that I would use before Jim Ellis....and most of them would be cheaper....all shops should give you a warranty....as far as the price quoted....it seems a little excessive if you are the one having to remove the parts for them....I would check around some. Send me a PM with your location and I might be able to help you with some other options.

mthomas58 · 12-21-2006, 08:07 AM

I've talked to the folks at Autocolor in Roswell who would by my DIY supplier for paint and clear coat. They said they can match my paint with the computer and that the painting should be easy for a first timer. I may swing by and talk to them in person so they can see the car before I make a decision on DYI or use a shop. Guess I should get some addl quotes. Any shop recommendations in the Buckhead to Roswell area?

Thanks!

Rot 911 · 12-21-2006, 09:04 AM

Here are the two threads I posted when I painted a ducktail I bought. Might be of some help.

Painting the Ducktail: Part 1

Painting the Ducktail: Part 2

jorian · 12-21-2006, 09:42 AM

+1 on the new seals. I tried to reuse the old ones and couldn't stop the wind noise.

calling911 · 12-21-2006, 10:28 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by 901/05
...after six hours of mixing glasurit paint we shot the roof with four coats in four hours.

The most difficult part was the replacement of the rear seal. Thanks to Beck's in Phoenix, we got passed that.

The removal of the sun roof is quite easy. The paint work and proper re install is the hard part. All new seals are recommended.

Oh, cost was $70 for a quart of viper green paint. Another $30 for blue glasurit to make the the viper a conda green. $34 for the rear seal and $200 for removal and re install. The color match....I performed...and is priceless. Shawn.

Hey Ray Crawford, get out of my picture. Oh wait, that is me behind Ray with a cold one.

I can't friggin believe you did the color match yourself.. absolutely mind boggling.. congrats.. and I bow to your greatness and patience.

901/05 · 901/05's Garage

thanks, but please recall that it took six hours to perform that bit and I now have the paint right. I never wish to do that again. Or require use of the paint again./

Shawn.

911rudy · 01-18-2007, 08:23 PM

Stay away from Jim Ellis if you want to have any money left. Forget removing the two mirrors. That is a hard job. There are a lot of little things to know and if you don't you can break things inside of the mirrors. Ask me how I know! You will need a pin socket tool that will fit the mirror sockets pins and that is after you have figured out how to turn the little wheel inside the mirror that unlocks the glass. Its easy after you see the thing on your work bench all apart but it is hard to visualise it.

boostfix · 01-19-2007, 07:23 AM

Check out fhernand's great posts:

Paint Stripping 101

Metal Conditioning And Epoxy Priming 101

Bondo Work And Primer Application 101

mthomas58 · 06-04-2008, 02:29 PM

Just found a local guy that does paint touch up work for dealers. $100 to paint the sunroof in place. It really needs a new seal so I'll probably just pull it myself, save him the time and trouble of masking off area and covering the car and then do the new seal and re-instal myself. Will pull the front valance as well and have it resprayed at the same time as it looks like hell.