The Paint Project has Begun...1-19-06

[TraceZ]

Exactly how hard is it to remove/install the doors? I am tempted to do it myself.

I started by removing the guts from them so they were just empty shells. The only thing I left in the door was tthe regulator and I wraped that in newspaper. I removed the interior door handle by drilling its rivets out. Then you just remove it from the car. A few bolts on each hinge... leave one bolt on top for last and have a buddy help you make sure it doesnt get damaged during removal.

I noticed it looks like some spoiler pieces are still on. Are those coming off? You said you will remove the bumper after you fix the dent, so I assume you will remove the spoiler ends at that time as well.

The front feders are easy to remove as well. The adjustment in the fenders is minimal. They are pretty easy to reinstall. The doors are the hard ones to adjust, but even that is not impossible for the amature. My door lines up perfect and I did it myself.

Once you get it painted, replace the top and get some new carpet in it she will be really strait! I cant wait to see it! And by the way... I like those stock rims on that car. They look sharp.

[Mark B]

Thanks for all of the compliments everyone. I decided to take the doors & fenders off myself (thanks TraceZ.) But I think I will leave taking the spoiler extensions off for the pros. They are held down with adhesive & I cant get new replacements if I break them. If they break, we will have to hope we can find used ones & hope they dont cost more than I paid for the car.
It sucks that parts are so hard to find for this car.

Updated the site again.

[Mark B]

WOW. I just picked the car up from the body shop. Now keep in mind this is probably the best shop in the area. And therefore the most expensive. But I was WAY off on what I wanted to spend. They gave me a quote of $5,400! I wanted to pay $1,500 but I was prepared to hear $2,000. Thats almost 4x what I wanted to pay. Looks like I am going to have to go in a different direction. I hate to even say the word, but Maaco. I know there reputation is about as bad as you can get, but from what I know, the reason they have a bad rep is that they dont do prep work. Well, I have already done the prep work. If I go to them and get one of the most expensive jobs, I think I should be OK. Do you guys aggree? There is no way I am forking out $5400, that is more than the car is worth.
I called a Maaco that some of my friends have suggested. I spoke to someone who seemed to know what they were talking about. From our 10 minute conversation, it sounds like the way to proceede is to:
-remove the rest of the body parts
-sand & prime till im satisified
-bring them the car dissassembled
-they will paint the jambs
-take the car back
-put body panels back on the car
-take to shop again for final paint
-take car back again
-put entire car back together

Doing this, I am confident I can get into my budget. Once I am ready to bring it to them, I will talk out the details with them. Such as, how many stages, how many coats of clear etc.

I didnt want to go the Maaco route, but I dont seem to have much of a choice. Even if I bring the car to another reputable body shop, I cant see the price being cut by more than 40%. That will still be 3k.

[FroSSty]

WOW Thats way overpriced. Heck, like TraceZ said, it may be a good idea to try it yourself!

[MN6WS6]

Actually, that's NOT overpriced. You would be shocked at the quotes I got as well (when posing as John Q. Customer), which is why I'm doing my car myself. A lot of it has to do with paint. I talked with a friend of mine, who works for THE best body shop in Pensacola, FL, and the paint he uses is stupid high. Just clear is $800 a GALLON!!! So when you figure in paint, reducer, clear, all the supplies needed, you're talking about probably 1500-2g's in just supplies to do the car with the best stuff out there. For a reference, the car he's doing now has 3g's in just supplies. And that's not with any stupid stripes, flames, ghost graphics, etc., that's just a SINGLE COLOR!

But, I'm with you guys. No way am I gonna pay that. I know that I'll jamb the car myself, and reassemble it myself, but I don't think that I could ever spray my car to my satisfaction with my limited skills. Being that I work for a dealership, I can probably wheel and deal and get one of our assigned body shops (the two best in all of Mobile County) to do my car for supplies plus a few bills. Of course, for a "sand and spray", that should cover it, because they won't have to do any dissassembly and very little taping. But for John Q. Customer walking in off the street, 2 or 3g's nowadays only gets you a "regular" paint job.

[TraceZ]

A few of you guys are wrong about how hard this is, sorry to say. I just went through it and shooting paint and achieving professional results at home is very possible for the amature.

You really need to try it before you decide against it.

Here are the keys:

1) set up an area to play with the gun. Test it. Play with the settings to achieve the best fan. Experiment with how fast you move the gun to get the proper amount of paint on the surface. Use thinner in the gun to do the testing, not water. Water will cause you problems because it does not go along well with paint. After you have the controls figured out, do some additional test spraying first, each time you shoot. Make sure you purchase a decent gun. I got a gravity feed gun a Harbor Freight. It had a purple body and shoots from 15 - 50 PSI. Look at the direction on the paint cans to see what pressures to shoot at. Most are between 30 and 40 PSI, so avoid buying a 50 -80 PSI gun.

2) Always use 50% overlaps

3) it is better to lay down several medium coats than to use heavy coats and risk runs. If the suraface is badly orange peeled it will wetsand out perfectly.

4) use the DuPont nason series of paints. It was very forgiving for us. If you read back through my thread on my repaint project you will see I even have the can codes listed. The price was reasonable. It is also the only paint I have ever used.

5) wetsand between each different primer. Delelop a good wetsand technique. Use a sponge, flexable sanding block and a body squeegie (little rubber square made by 3M just for this) Depending on how bad the surface is, you may need to wetsand between layers of high build. Stay away from edges while wetsanding.

6) dont be in a hurry. There is a reason paint shops charge a lot for a good job. It takes time.

7) lay several coats each time you spray. Begin with 2 coats of etch primer, 4 coats of build primer, maybe more build primer, 2 coats of sealer. Wait 10 - 15 minutes between coats to allow the material to flash. Alow it to dry overnight after each spraying session. Only spray one type of material in a session and clean your gun well.

8) Spend $20 on a good 3M respirator mask. Believe me when I say this job is impossible without it.

9) spray the floor down with water before you shoot paint. It helps keep dust down.

10) Use a boat load of clearcoat. It results in a deep finish and is easy to wetsand out orange peel and dust marks.

11) do not skimp on supplies. Expect to spend a grand on it. You'll be buying paints, thinners, activators, 200 grit paper, 600 grit paper, 1500 grit paper, sanding blocks, respirators, a squeegie, bondo, a cheese grater, bondo spatulas, a buffer, buffing compounds, buffer bonnets, etc, etc...

12) the paint job will be as good as your supples, your patience and your technique you develop. I'm sure you can do it!!

If I had access to the facility I see in your pictures I would not hesitate for even one secon about painting that entire car myself. It is really simple with the right materials and a couple simple techniques. Give it a try and be amazed!

[Kevin - Blown 95 TA]

To add to what Tracy said, you should get someof the disposable paint suits. Much of the dust that lands in your paint comes right off your clothes. Stick to solid colors - you will be allright with white and it's easy top touch up. Use a light guide coat when block sanding after priming - usually black over grey works well. Don't sand with your hands & fingers, always use a piece of rubber, a block, or a piece of rubber tubing for curves. Don't block sand a big surface straight across or up/down - sand it diagonally. Just some extra stuff I picked up from my friends in the business, and they charge every bit of several thou to do a car and at least a couple thou to do a bike. Bikes are a real racket - those paint jobs ARE way overpriced.

[Mark B]

Unfortuantely, I dont have the facility that it shows in the pic. That is actually the shop at my job. My boss doesnt mind me taking the car apart there, but I dont think he will like me painting or sanding there. The dust will go everywhere. Before I can go too much further, I need to work out some location issues.

[FroSSty]

Actually, that's NOT overpriced.

Im sorry but 5k is way overpriced when basically all they will be doing is spraying the car! I would think 3k (in any area) would be the max for as little work as they will be doing. Not only that but white is the cheapest color made so I don't believe supplies would be that much. 800 Bucks for a gallon of clear seems a little exaggerated, or maybe a little overkill.

A few of you guys are wrong about how hard this is, sorry to say. I just went through it and shooting paint and achieving professional results at home is very possible for the amature.

Spraying an overall paint job and spraying just a quarter are two completely different ball games. I am not saying it can't be done, but I wouldn't go as far as saying it is easy.

[Mark B]

Threw some more pics & stuff up on the website. Mostly sanding happening right now so there isnt too much to look at.

[TraceZ]

Threw some more pics & stuff up on the website. Mostly sanding happening right now so there isnt too much to look at.

Very Nice! That car is going to look showroom fresh in every little nook and cranny when you are done!

[Mark B]

I had another shop look at the car today. The shop definitly wasnt as nice as the $5400 place, but the gave me a quote of 3k and they finish the job from where I am at right now. That includes all of the remaining sanding, dent fixing, painting the car & jambs with a 3-stage system. Not to mention they will reassemble & touch up the engine bay. They want a month to do it.

Its actually pretty tempting. I could tow the car there tomorrow and forget about it. The shop is not too far from where I am at, its a bunch of russian guys.

What makes me weary is:
-They didnt itemize the job
-There lack of a paint booth (Big one)
-They want to put the car back together, but they didnt take it apart. How are they going to know what screw goes where?

I will probably pass, but I am still tempted.

[TraceZ]

I had another shop look at the car today. The shop definitly wasnt as nice as the $5400 place, but the gave me a quote of 3k and they finish the job from where I am at right now. That includes all of the remaining sanding, dent fixing, painting the car & jambs with a 3-stage system. Not to mention they will reassemble & touch up the engine bay. They want a month to do it.

Its actually pretty tempting. I could tow the car there tomorrow and forget about it. The shop is not too far from where I am at, its a bunch of russian guys.

What makes me weary is:
-They didnt itemize the job
-There lack of a paint booth (Big one)
-They want to put the car back together, but they didnt take it apart. How are they going to know what screw goes where?

I will probably pass, but I am still tempted.

There is no way they could possibly get it put back together correctly. It would be all wrong when you got it back from them.

[Kevin - Blown 95 TA]

I had another shop look at the car today. The shop definitly wasnt as nice as the $5400 place, but the gave me a quote of 3k and they finish the job from where I am at right now. That includes all of the remaining sanding, dent fixing, painting the car & jambs with a 3-stage system. Not to mention they will reassemble & touch up the engine bay. They want a month to do it.

Its actually pretty tempting. I could tow the car there tomorrow and forget about it. The shop is not too far from where I am at, its a bunch of russian guys.

What makes me weary is:
-They didnt itemize the job
-There lack of a paint booth (Big one)
-They want to put the car back together, but they didnt take it apart. How are they going to know what screw goes where?

I will probably pass, but I am still tempted.

I think you answered your own question right there.

[Mark B]

Yeah, I knew I wasnt going to use them before he was even finished pitching his proposal to me. I am just going to do it the way I had already planned. Ill finish prep, take it to get the jambs painted, Ill put the panels back on, then take it back to the shop to get the exterior sprayed.

It would be nice to be done though. Just have it towed somewhere and have someone else do it. But I would rather do it myself, make sure its right, and save a bunch of $$$.

P.S. Ill be updating the site again tonight. Last night I got the trunk & tonneau cover off, sanded the trunk jambs(MAJOR PAIN IN THE A$$), and primed the hood jambs.