Car Painting Finally

[Jesse16]

So I'm just a few weeks away from taking the red car to the painter to become Mexico Blue finally. Deck lid is off to Sonjay to become a ducktail. My question regards removal of fenders or not. One painter told me "and of course remove the fenders" and I didn't think much about it. Looking at this photo I found on another thread (not my car but nearly identical including color) :

I can't see the advantage or need to remove. What surface is revealed that needs paint ? I'd like to hear what if anything I'm missing in my thoughts.
My goal in doing this is: I'll finally like the color, fresh paint to cover myriad stone nicks and dings and a poor paint repair on the hood that only I know is there.
I want to have the parts of the car I see painted minus inside the engine compartment and trunk. Inside the wheel wells could get a good cleaning and then either some rubberized black to freshen and hide a little dirty red.
Do plan to have the doors removed to get to the jams, I'm doing most of the disassembly prior to taking car to painter.
This car is a driver in very nice condition, no rust or dents. 240K miles, 80K of them mine in the past 5 years.
I do plan to remove bumpers, valances, rockers, inside door panels, sunroof maybe. Missing anything ?

[dicklague]

is red the original color? I would leave it orginal!....but you did not ask that.

Leave the fenders on buy remove the welting and replace with new

Doors and lids should be painted separately.

[CCM911]

Wheel wells should match the exterior, so unfortunately, those fenders will need to be removed. To really do it right, the engine should be out, the frunk emptied, and all wiring taped. I would additionally remove the door cards and most of the interior. Once it is painted, I would be offended if I saw any remaining red paint.

[Kemo]

subscribed for the Mexico Blue!!

[Jesse16]

Ouch, I can feel the burning. I'm not against removing the engine but it seems one thing leads to another in this process and once you leave the outer surfaces and head in, there is no place to go but complete dis-assembly. That's simply too much time and cost. I could do the front trunk but it seems with so many obstructions, it would look bad and I keep the carpets in place there anyway. Yes on the welting, already have that.
Do plan to remove door cards. I won't be offended, this isn't a preservation project, no shows ever. Car goes to the track and drives a lot (even got salty heading to VIR last weekend).
Really no-one looks at this car but me. I could always take it back to the painter 4 to 6 years from now when the next engine rebuild comes due and it comes out.

[turbobrat930]

Ok... do NOT take this personal. Take it ALL apart, or dont paint the car at all! Trust me on this one! Its like taking your car to MAACO. You need to have fenders off, doors off, windows out, etc, etc
Trust me, you will not be happy once its done, and the value of the car will suffer greatly!

[CCM911]

I'm sorry if I sounded snotty Jesse, but you really want to do this right. Any red left over will stand out like a sore thumb.

[Jesse16]

I hear all, will consider. No chance on the engine compartment at this time though. Maybe fenders but it seems without total dis-assemble of oil lines, coolers, tanks, AC, suspension on and on etc......... New tail is off and trunk lid to come off.

[wayner]

Take the glass out for two reasons.

1) a tape job leaving the rubber in place always looks like a hack job later on.

2) You'd hang yourself if that rust that is percolating away beneath the seals breaks out on your nice new looking car.

[Jesse16]

Plan is to remove glass. There is no rust anywhere or wasn't when I did the windshield rubber 4 years ago. Its always been indoors and in GA or FL. The paint guys and a mechanic I trust describe the multiple methods to lift the rubber gasket and paint beyond the junction. Another "how far to take it" decision. The gaskets/rubber is different depending on the window for ability to lift. Putting really old car parts back together is not an issue to be taken lightly. Even new bits present challenges.

[CCM911]

If you remove the glass, fenders and door panels, you'll be almost there. I can tell you are dying for a color change, so just carry on and have fun. Isn't that what this is all about. And you will thank yourself for removing the windows.

[nene]

I did not buy a Porsche once because the car was Black. And when I saw (in the scratch marks) that the car was once Red, I passed on it. Crappy paint job turned me off!

[Jesse16]

Definitely don't want a poor paint job, but compared to factory, it will be incomplete and it won't be another guards red car when its done ! I wouldn't paint over a common factory color with another common factory color, that's just lazy. Still not convinced that painting the insides of the front fenders is worth the extreme effort. (That little area inside the door jam on top appears to have been shot after car assembly as the screws/washers are all uniformly red.) Seems no different than the bottom of the car, always dirty and taking a severe beating from rocks and debris. Nothing there ever gets washed. If the "you'll see it" comment is for what you see behind the tire, all I see in there is black. Bottom of the car only seen after you roll it over.
I am removing and disassembling the flag mirrors (they are beat up) and windshield spray nozzles.

[Bob Kontak]

Originally Posted by Jesse16

Still not convinced that painting the insides of the front fenders is worth the extreme effort.

Take off the fenders.

The arrows point to a common rust area even on "mint" cars.

You wanna roll the dice?

[JV911SYDNEY]

Originally Posted by Bob Kontak

Take off the fenders.

The arrows point to a common rust area even on "mint" cars.

You wanna roll the dice?

Beat me to it. It's amazing how much rust-inducing crud builds up in there (and horizontally towards the bumper and vertically to the sills)

This particular car was described as, "pretty good" and looked mint from the outside

[SoCalSK8r]

Originally Posted by Jesse16

Definitely don't want a poor paint job, but compared to factory, it will be incomplete and it won't be another guards red car when its done ! .

I hear what your saying but doing in the manner you describe is a poor paint job. That's how most will look at it. If that doesn't bother you, then I wouldn't worry about pulling the fenders, because it won't matter unless you go whole hog.



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[SoCalSK8r]

The assumption is if the paint job is half assed, what else was too.


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[Tippy]

Engine only takes a couple of hours to get out.

[bpu699]

If you paint the car blue, but leave the other areas red, it will look awful. You really can't have a blue car, yet red trunk, motor area, under car, potentially wheel areas, parts of the door jamb, etc. there are lots of areas you may have not even thought about.

You may want to stick with red, as staying the same color is much more forgiving.

The above color contrast will kill the value of your car. You might get away with it if the car were black. But partly painting a red car, blue, will really put off future buyers.

[clinerg]

Can we vote? Sorry OP. I would not buy a car if the engine compartment was a different color.