Car painted non-original color - go back or go away?

[seanscandalous]

My 78SC got a ****ty maaco midnight blue paint job at some point in its past.
I'm 90% sure that the original color was black (the engine bay/frunk are all black but I don't have a certificate of authenticity to confirm).
I've been working on the car for some time now and it's about ready for paint.

I went to a place in Los Angeles and got a quote for $4500 for paint, including new seals all around and glass out, but this paint job is not a bare metal job. Just sanding down and spraying over the clear/smoothing the existing paint. The paint job is in pretty good shape aside from a few chips. No peeling or anything, so the body shop didn't see a need to go down to bare metal.




Few questions here:

1. I can certainly work a sander, would it be better for me in my spare time to go down to bare metal on the entire exterior to help prep? I'm just not sure if this would be helpful or the opposite. It's already got one paint job over the original one and I just don't want to have a million layers of paint on there long term. I was quoted north of 10k () for a bare metal job if they had to strip all the paint down.

2. How important is an original paint job? I was planning on going back to the original black as I think it would look great and would help resale value in the future, but would it not even make a difference since the paint job isn't original? I also think slate gray is really beautiful, kinda torn between the two.

3. Is it worth it is it to get the actual Porsche paint, real color code and everything? Or should any good quality black paint do? From what I've heard there's not a big difference in them except the price tag.

4. The paint company was telling me how hard black paint would be to take care of. The car will stay in a garage, but they were telling me that parking under trees or even rubbing your finger across the dust would create little scratches in the paint and stressed that black is the hardest color to take of by far. Is this true? Is black really that much of a pain in the ass?

5. Any recommendations for a paint/body place in either So. Cal or Bay Area that does great work and doesn't charge an arm and a leg? Hoping to keep it under $5000 at the absolute most.


Here's a low quality clip of my car in its (very) rough form.

https://streamable.com/b5f7z



THANKS ALL!!!!

[sc_rufctr]

... if it was mine?

I'd go back to the original Porsche color from the factory. I'd also restore the interior etc. to "like it just left Stuttgart" including the original radio.
Contact Porsche with the VIN/Chassis number. They'll let you know what color it was & what options were fitted from the factory.
I wouldn't bother with dealer fitted options like air conditioning unless they're period correct.

They're only going one way in value.

Does you car have a plate like this? (From a "SCHWARZ" 78SC)

[Dan Morton]

Getting a COA and going back to the original color and paint type will bring the most value.

Painting it any color you desire but one that is accurate to your year is the next valuable option

Painting it any color you like that is not a Porsche color is the least desirable.

$4,500 is not a lot for a good paint job. The work is in the prep and good quality paint. Go this route if you just want a nice 10 footer.

$10,000 is closer to a color-change, higher quality paint job. Do this if you plan to keep the car for awhile and go with a Pcar color.

I bought a '68 with the $4,500 paint already done. It was not great and I ended up doing a complete color change to a Gulf blue and it ran about $11,000 for a glass out, all new seals with trunk and engine compartment painted black. Not a bare metal job either but sanded down quite a bit. The previous paint was bare metal.

Just my 2 cents.

[seanscandalous]

Originally Posted by Dan Morton

Getting a COA and going back to the original color and paint type will bring the most value.

Painting it any color you desire but one that is accurate to your year is the next valuable option

Painting it any color you like that is not a Porsche color is the least desirable.

$4,500 is not a lot for a good paint job. The work is in the prep and good quality paint. Go this route if you just want a nice 10 footer.

$10,000 is closer to a color-change, higher quality paint job. Do this if you plan to keep the car for awhile and go with a Pcar color.

I bought a '68 with the $4,500 paint already done. It was not great and I ended up doing a complete color change to a Gulf blue and it ran about $11,000 for a glass out, all new seals with trunk and engine compartment painted black. Not a bare metal job either but sanded down quite a bit. The previous paint was bare metal.

Just my 2 cents.

Do you think it would still be a big deal if mine is pretty modified?
When I got the car it was pretty gutted and had an awful 964 conversion kit on it.
I've since replaced the bumpers to the 74 Iroc ones (fiberglass), have a Stratton duck tail on it, ditched the flag mirrors for smaller vitolini ones, have recaro srd racing seats, knockoff euromeister fuchs, rsr pull strap style door panels, new carpet kit, a short shifter, momo steering wheel... point being it's far from stock, so does the color make a big difference at this point?

I was totally set on black but the paint guy kinda scared me with how difficult he said it was to take care of and how incredibly easily it scratched.

[seanscandalous]

Originally Posted by sc_rufctr

... if it was mine?

I'd go back to the original Porsche color from the factory. I'd also restore the interior etc. to "like it just left Stuttgart" including the original radio.
Contact Porsche with the VIN/Chassis number. They'll let you know what color it was & what options were fitted from the factory.
I wouldn't bother with dealer fitted options like air conditioning unless they're period correct.

They're only going one way in value.

Does you car have a plate like this? (From a "SCHWARZ" 78SC)

Yes mine does have this plate!

[sc_rufctr]

So it's an OEM SCHWARZ Car... Excellent!

[bigal911]

Enjoy the don't care feeling of the old or poor paint and save up further to get it done right.. bare metal respray in the OEM colour.

Yes, "colour" not "color" :-P

[s5uewf]

I'll offer a counter view that may not get a lot of agreement. I think in 10 years or so these cars will be dropping in value as electric and Artificial Intelligence assisted cars become the norm. It will become difficult to register, insure and drive these older cars on the road as statistics will be used to prove AI based cars are safer and our cars become very costly to put on the road.

It will not be too far in the future.

So, if you plan to keep your car for a while, paint it whatever color you want to and enjoy it. If you plan to sell it then do whatever you can cost justify to increase the sales price, and then sell it while you can get a return on the investment.

[dicklague]

Originally Posted by s5uewf

I'll offer a counter view that may not get a lot of agreement. I think in 10 years or so these cars will be dropping in value as electric and Artificial Intelligence assisted cars become the norm. It will become difficult to register, insure and drive these older cars on the road as statistics will be used to prove AI based cars are safer and our cars become very costly to put on the road.

It will not be too far in the future.

So, if you plan to keep your car for a while, paint it whatever color you want to and enjoy it. If you plan to sell it then do whatever you can cost justify to increase the sales price, and then sell it while you can get a return on the investment.

I TOTALLY disagree with you. Electric and AI cars are not real cars, but appliances dictated by a nanny state attitude that is now how people feel about cars.

When we have more and more of this CRAP on our roads the value of REAL cars will go up. Cars that are light, simple, well engineered and built and FUN to DRIVE.......yes DRIVE..... cars are supposed to be driven and supposed to be fun to drive!!! Is that a revelation???

Early 911s and P cars in general are real cars......

I am betting that people will rebel against these crappy non-cars and just not buy them.

Outside of CA, electric car sales stink.

[Bob Kontak]

Originally Posted by seanscandalous

3. Is it worth it is it to get the actual Porsche paint, real color code and everything? Or should any good quality black paint do? From what I've heard there's not a big difference in them except the price tag.

As of two months ago a quart of 22 Line Glasurit was in the $200 range. A quart of BASF LIMCO (I use on beaters) is just over $100 for red. Silver in the LIMCO is no more than $70. After the hardeners and matching primers I would say low-mid $2000's for Glasurit and $1,000 for LIMCO.

I don't paint enough to say if there is no difference. The Glasurit jobber has told me there is little difference between the Glasurit and BASF single stage paint. LIMCO is a base coat and not single stage. The BASF single stage is between the LIMCO and 22 Line in price.

Glasurit 22 Line can be a PITA to source.

[brasch]

My POV like many of my friends is to make the car your own, if original is what you love then do it, if outlaw makes you happy then do it, if customs your thing do it. Cars are meant to be driven and loved by their owners...

worrying about the next owner is like putting plastic covers on your sofa so the next owner can enjoy the new looking sofa?!? Just my POV

[Tremelune]

1. I can certainly work a sander, would it be better for me in my spare time to go down to bare metal on the entire exterior to help prep?

That's what I'd do. Well, I'd at least go down to the factory paint. It would really suck to paint over crappy paint and have the crappy paint lift under the good paint.

2. How important is an original paint job?

It's a numbers game. The original color will always be the most valuable...unless the new color looks great and the car is "driver" quality. Black is a very common color on these cars. Unique colors carry a premium with these cars, but not so much unoriginal unique colors. To me, most of your "original paint" value went out the window with the first paint job. They're only original once, and yours ain't. How much of the door jams and engine bay are still black? That matters to some.

3. Is it worth it is it to get the actual Porsche paint, real color code and everything?.

Same answer as above, really...It's numbers on a page. Some people care. If my car were going in for paint, I'd paint it a color none of these cars has ever been.

4. Is black really that much of a pain in the ass?

Shiny black paint shows dirt and blemishes more easily. That's it, really. I would argue that, in a lot of cases, dirty black looks way better than shiny-perfect other colors, sooo...These impact-bumper cars, in particular, look good dirty, and look good in just about every color I've seen on 'em.

5. Hoping to keep it under $5000 at the absolute most.

From what I've read around this forum of lunatics, that is alarmingly inexpensive. I would expect a car properly painted with quality materials and top-notch workmanship to run $15k. This might be disingenuous, but I would expect this $5k original-color paint job to have a more negative impact on resale than a $15k color change.

All that said...Your car is a modified, not-particularly-collectable example whose value is more likely to be impacted by what you spend on paint than how you spend it. Paint it whatever color you want and drive it.

All that said, the black trim is one of the best features of these cars, and they get drowned out by black paint...

[Tremelune]

Originally Posted by dicklague

When we have more and more of this CRAP on our roads the value of REAL cars will go up.

Maybe. I expect so for the next decade, but...the greatest gains from driverless cars will be realized when human drivers are not permitted to share the roads with them, and that will drive prohibition forward in many major cities. Whether you could still drive your classic at all would depend on how close it lived to a dense city, and how quickly that city changes.

In 10-20 years, when humans aren't allowed to drive between Santa Monica and DTLA, and there's no way to show up at the club in your classic, will people keep them around just to drive Angeles Crest? I would, but I doubt many born in the 21st century would, and thus the buyer pool shrinks precipitously. Most people will just push a button on their phone and have a car show up.

[dicklague]

Originally Posted by Tremelune

Maybe. I expect so for the next decade, but...the greatest gains from driverless cars will be realized when human drivers are not permitted to share the roads with them, and that will drive prohibition forward in many major cities. Whether you could still drive your classic at all would depend on how close it lived to a dense city, and how quickly that city changes.

In 10-20 years, when humans aren't allowed to drive between Santa Monica and DTLA, and there's no way to show up at the club in your classic, will people keep them around just to drive Angeles Crest? I would, but I doubt many born in the 21st century would, and thus the buyer pool shrinks precipitously. Most people will just push a button on their phone and have a car show up.

VERY depressing picture you have painted........don't individuals have a vote in this? We are the country the government is not the country.....last I looked they work for us!!!

[Fixer]

I know a little about painting these cars.

You do not need to go to bare metal unless you have visible rust.


Just take off the lousy repaint and get into the original a bit trying very hard Not to blow through to bare metal. Nothing is better than good factory primer.

Unless you plan to take every square inch of paint off to bare metal, don't blow through.

Hit it with 220 then 320 to prep for primer/sealer.

And Tremulune,

Lay off the whiskey

[Tremelune]

Originally Posted by dicklague

VERY depressing picture you have painted........don't individuals have a vote in this? We are the country the government is not the country.....last I looked they work for us!!!

I don't want to go too far off on this tangent, but I don't think it's depressing at all. Driverless cars will be as big a boon to society as the Internet, and if a small percentage of people suffer marginally by not being able to drive around major cities, that's well worth the cost.

[dicklague]

Originally Posted by tremelune

i don't want to go too far off on this tangent, but i don't think it's depressing at all. Driverless cars will be as big a boon to society as the internet, and if a small percentage of people suffer marginally by not being able to drive around major cities, that's well worth the cost.

wow!! Just take a bus.......self driving cars are VERY depressing

[Matt Monson]

Originally Posted by Tremelune

I don't want to go too far off on this tangent, but I don't think it's depressing at all. Driverless cars will be as big a boon to society as the Internet, and if a small percentage of people suffer marginally by not being able to drive around major cities, that's well worth the cost.

Agreed. I would have no issue whatsoever if major cosmopolitan areas were gas free.

[seanscandalous]

Originally Posted by Matt Monson

Agreed. I would have no issue whatsoever if major cosmopolitan areas were gas free.

Kinda going off track here, just trying to figure out paint options for my car hahaha. Thanks for all the replies everyone.
The discussion for a dystopian future is fun too but lets try to stay on track.

[Coastr]

As for black being hard to look after, if you're already at midnight blue, you're not far off. You need to take care of your new black paint carefully and lean towards touch less cleaning like pressure washers and leaf blowers. Nice fleecy lined indoor car cover and your black beast will shine like a mirror.

Reading between the lines I would say take it back to the factory black, do some prep work at home like rempvong trim , sanding back and clean clean clean. Also helps to go over every square one of car and identify problems like stone chips , hazy paint or minor dents and mark them with tape. It's easy to miss something small in a repaint and then it stands out. The only difference in a big dollar paint and a quick repaint is the prep time. Spend your available time accordingly.