Reasonable paint Job?

[uncwSoccer]

I purchased my car in january from the first owner, the paint has never been repainted and is starting to fade along seams and in small patches. I want to break out of the red 944 mold with a repaint in a new color, maybe a dark blue.

I plan on removing all the lights, bumpers, nose panel, trim, hatch glass, door panels, mirrors, handles etc that I can so the paint will be complete except inside under carpeting and under certain exterior trim. I'll have the front and rear bumpers, mirrors, handles, sunroof, turbo rear valence, and 968 hatch spoiler for the painter to do off the car.

What can I get for how much? Will paint shops be willing to paint parts off the car? I know there are a lot of different paints out there, someone who knows more help me out.
Thanks for the time.

-Dan
1986 944 Red 115,000
2nd Owner

[MikeCT]

What about the engine bay?

[uncwSoccer]

Don't plan to paint inside the compartment except along the outer sides where they can be masked off.

[awilson40]

Trust me....It will never look right doing a color change that drastic. Perhaps red to maroon, but every car I have seen painted a different color looks like crap. You always end up with areas where the old color shows. Unless to strip it down, remove the engine and do a full repaint that way.

[VT944]

Dan,

Just a few things to consider:

If you are sure you're going to keep the car for a while, it's not the end of the world to change the color. It will look good from the outside, but as awilson40 said, it will never look "right" unless you get under the hood and remove a hell of a lot of components. It's a lot of work, but it's the only way to do it "right". If you don't do under the hood, you may have a more difficult time selling it down the road...

Are you removing the doors too? It's more masking for the body shop to do the car and jams with the doors on, but it's completely possible.

I do quite a bit of paint work at my shop, and most shops (especially smaller independents) should be willing to do the parts seperatley.

I do jobs from $800 all the way to about $2500. The $800 is for the guy who wants to do his own prep work, and bring the car in for a spray. Or just wants a REALLY quick spray, with lower cost/quality paint. I can do these in a few days, so it's not too bad and I'm the only guy in town that will do it. They take back billing, and I'm actually getting away from it...

For $1,000 to $1500 I offer good jobs with major paint defects (stone chips etc...) removed, and a decent grade paint.

For $1800 - $2500 I repair all defects (on a car that's not trashed) spray with good/high quality paint and buff when done.

Of course there are tons of variables, and color changes (jams, etc...) add more to the cost of a job. Bottom line is that each shop charges different amounts, there are no real "flat rates" for paint jobs like there are for mechanical work. Check out the shops work, waht kinds of cars are in the yard, reputation, etc... and this will give you an example of what you will pay/type of work you'll get. I have done a lot of paint work, but its not the main service my shop offers. That's why I can offer services all across the board. I don't half to worry as much about reputation as actual "body shops" do. My prices are fairly low, for the work I do, but I have customers who half to wait months at a time to get in. And I keep my overhead very low. It all depends...

As for paints:

Low budget: Nason paint - quality and spray characteristics are unconsistent from job to job, but it is a durable, lasting paint. Harder to get a real good job with this stuff than the higher end stuff.

Low/Mid Range: DuPont - parent company of Nason, it's supposedly better, but I also hear it's the same stuff, different lable. never actually sprayed it but if it's anything like Nason...

High end: PPG - Offer several different grades/types, but all are great products. I personally can not get used to the consistancy of this stuff. Seems very "funny" compared to Nason. It's consistant, I just personally have a tough time with it some times... Most shops it seems uses PPG.

Spies/Hecker - I personally think this is the best out there. It's the best flowing and best lookign paint I've ever sprayed. It's also hella expensive, but it's well worth it to do the job right.

Standox - This is good paint, form Europe I believe. It sprays like mud, but it's predictable, tough and high gloss. May be a German paint? I used it on a car built in England, and they swore no one but Standox could duplicate their color. The paint was brought in from England, so I don't even know if this stuff is available in the states.

Those are all the paints I have personally used. the paint used can really effect the cost of the job. A gallon of Nason black runs about $60. (paint only, and that's a shops cost) where as the same color in PPG runs about $170/gallon. Reducers/hardners are proportionately as expensive as well.

If you have any other questions, E-mail me at eckertrally@hotmail.com