I Wanna Tijuana Paint Job...Ideas?

[Speedo959]

Hello all,
I seem to remember a few of you guys getting a paint job in T.J. Any recommendations? How has your paint job been holding up so far? I already have a quote of $400 with body work on my 91 Jetta, but I am willing to spend a little more for quality.
Anyways if you can help thanks.

[skline]

See this thread. Los Panchos! The info

[red-beard]

I've had 2 cars done by Los Panchos.

1982 911 SC. I provided the paint because I wanted a very durable paint for the front of the 911. I also had the interior assembled by them and some "extras", like having all the glass pulled out and re-installed and a floorboard in the front trunkmade.

They did some very minor body work (little dents on the rear engine lid).

Job was an 8 of out 10 and was $1200.

2nd car: My 2001 Jeep Cherokee.

I went in for a carpet replacement. A softsided soda cooler cracked and leaked into the carpet. This lead to a mildew smell in the car.

$200 to have the interior removed, new carpet installed through out, and the interior re-assembled.

The car, even though it was a 2001, had suffered quite a bit. A small dent in the passenger side door. A large scrape in the roof (48 ft fiberglass ladder). Small scrapes and scratches and chips all around the car. They fixed every every thing and then clearcoated the whole car: $500. Car looks (and smells) new.

As soon as my 914/6 is ready, it will go to Los Panchos as well

James

[TEKWS01]

Red beard, do they speak english?

[lmcchesney]

James, do you recomend bringing your own paint? Is there a problem at the border exporting the paint?
What time span is typical?
Can this be a trip to Mexico for vacation and have the car painted while you go elsewhere?
Are you still happy with the long term results?
Will they provide estimates?
Thanks,
L. McChesney

[tat2dphreak]

you think over on this side of mexico they can do the same?

[red-beard]

911 took a week. Jeep 3 days.
Their paint was fine. I wanted something special for the 911. Jeep was black.

they do speak english.

when they fix rust, they weld in new metal !

R-12 service is available down the street.

the shop is less than 1/2 mile inside mexico.

vacation. you could catch a cheap flight to Cabo from the TJ airport.

Texas - Absolutely. Juarez, Laraedo, etc. I would guess it is even cheaper.

I'm very happy with the work.

Several people @ work have used them as well as John Rogers on this board.

[TEKWS01]

Thanks a million.

[Speedo959]

Redbeard that sounds good. I just wanted some assurance from somebody that has done it and came back to find a car to pick up.
Where exactly is Los Panchos? I plan on dropping it off tomorrow morning.
Thanks again for all your guys help, I knew I could count on my "Teener Brothers" as my buddy puts it.
Never mind on the directions I followed the link and you even provided a map!! I feel the Love.

[red-beard]

basically, cross the boarder. Move into left hand lanes. follow the inner curve towards Avenue Revolution. The road turns into 3A and the first cross street is Ocampo.

[Speedo959]

Great! I'll post some before and after pics. Not a teener, but eventually if all works out well the teener is next. Gotta get on the road I have at least six hours of driving ahead of me........LATER

[eric_ciampa]

I am currious. what price range are we talking about with these guys? For a basic prep and paint job on our 914. Are we talking about 100-300$. 300-600. 600-1000$??

[John Rogers]

When they painted my race car it cost about $600 and that included several dents removed, new door panels, new carpet, new dash cover, one seat recovered. I supplieed the paint, about $300 or so. In the future I will use the Mexican paint since it seems to be better now, at least for the race car.
If you want to get it done, they like a couple hundred down to get started, want you to go into detail about what you want done and leave the car for a while. I generally take mine on Monday and pick it up Friday or Saturday.

[lmcchesney]

Thanks Red-Beard.
So this could be a vacation for the family. Porsche and van to mexico. Leave 914 for the painting. Go fishing for 5-7 days. Pick up the porsche on the way back. At a cost of $600, how can you go wrong.
With the new border security, going the wrong way of course, did you have any problems taking the paint( ?toxic substance) into Mexico?
If you are going for a standard color, say dark gray, better to use their paint source? Do they apply a clear coat?
Thanks,
L. McChesney

[tat2dphreak]

what kind of prep work should you do? just drive it down there? bring it on a trailer? remove interior and glass/lenses? what level of work should you do first? do they just do the "gun" or will they do it all?

[John Rogers]

I'd say let them do it all. Unless you have a real urge to get paint dust and stuff all over everything. They have removed those little dimples you get on race car fenders from slicks throwing stones, large dents, glass replacement, dash recovering, door panel replacement, roof liner replacement. I think they can get all the seals you would need and any glass you might need. If you trailer the car over, they might stop you at the Mexican immigration and you'd have to contact the body shop to come get you? I always drove over and you go through the "Nothing to Declare" lanes. They can clear coat if the paint needs it such as Dupont 2-stage or you can take it with you.

[red-beard]

They will do all the work. Labor is the key. The cost is much less down there. You want to let them do anything labor intensive. For the Suicide Blond, I plan to let them use their own paint. But they are also going to a bunch of "extra" work. Install a chassis stiffening system. Re-weld the front trunk floor pan. Weld in some new metal in places it needs it. Strip off as much paint as they can before repainting. Weld in a regular seat bracket so I can put in a movable seat in the passenger side. And I'd like to get as much of the Vinyl replaced with leather as I can. I want to keep a stock look, but I want everything setup to really last.

[tat2dphreak]

I did the math... id doesn't pay for me... I'm too far from the border... I could get a 3k-4k paint job here for the money/time to get it down there

[Speedo959]

I dropped the car off yesterday. I ended up using a shop a family member had experience with. We agreed on taking out all the dents dings and him filling in the stock antenna hole. He is also going to smooth out the bumpers and paint them as well. After he is done he is going to color sand and buff. I also had the junk yard Recaros recovered as well.
We'll see if I made a good decision on going with this other shop. I went ahead and said lets do it after seeing some of his work on a eclipse he was finishing up. With all this extra time I am going to SeaWorld and maybe swing by the stadium and hopefully find an AutoX going on.
Later....Albertos is calling me in for a burrito!

[Ethan]

For those of you that transported the paint across did they hassel you? Also, what paperwork is required for the car? Registration or ???

Thanks
Ethan