Patrick,
I hate to say this but it costs a fortune to have a car taken down to bare
metal and properly refinished. I can not believe the $$$ I have spent on the
TR3 (Course now a breat deal of it was replacing about 40-50% of the metal
in the tub).
If you have more time than $$$ and you are so inclined, you can save a lot
of money by stripping paint yourself. WWith the right tools you can bo it
as fast as the shop that gets $40-50/hr.
Another thing to take into account is that the sheetmetal presses weren't all
that good. The result is pannels that would be wavey to a close inspection.
This is especially true of dark paints. Normal practice for a shop doing
a bare metal out paint job on a classic is to apply a very thin layer of
bondo accross each whole pannel then sand it down to show as much metal
as possible and still have absolutely smooth pannels. Then a high quality
rust and solvent resistant primer/ sealer is added. This is sanded smooth and
putty is added over any minor imperfection that is found. Another coat is added
and it is sanded smooth (600 grit for the type of top coat I will be using).
Then one or two colour coats are applied. For durability, you should ask for
a clear top coat.
As a example: I just had a shop work on the front valence to my TR3.
It had never been hit, and I had stripped all the paint off brfore bringing
it to the shop. They had to replace a 10 X 13 CM (2X3 in) section of metal
that had rusted through. Then they smoothed the outer surface (undented,
curves as came from the factory), primed and sealed the valence. It took them
about 10 hours of work.
Good body prep takes time. If you are convinced your Jag is rust free, don't
take it down to bare metal. It is a lot less work = cheaper, to smooth out
your current paint, prime and paint over it. Anytime you expose metal you take
the chance of inducing rust.
You might try Custom Paint & Finish (408)727-1817. They are in Santa Clara,
near the San Jose airport. The person who took the shortcuts on my TR3
which caused me to take it back is no longer employed there.
I don't know about Jags, but while my Tr was there they had a BugEye, an AC,
a 356 Porche, a woodie, and a couple of olde Baracudas come through. They
are currently doing another TR3.
OOOPs looking back at the post the patch replaced on the front valence is
closer to 5 X 8 CM.
One thing you may be encountering in your bids is that no shop wants to go
broke on a job. They have no idea what is below the paint until they look.
Their estimates always assume there will be something extra. You can save
a lot of money if you do not mind wavey body panels.
One stratagy would be to ask them to work on a time & materials basis.
If you are right and there is little or no body work needed you could come
out well under an estimate. If you are wrong, it could cost you somewhat
more but ether way you would pay a constant price for what you need/get.
TeriAnn
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