Peter,
I was quoted $1300 -1500 for some bodywork and a paint over paint on my
chalky and badly repainted once was signal red TR-4A.
Sides are not so bad. I thought about stripping the hood and trunk lid
myself and just having them painted. Note: A plain old vinegar bath took
*all* the paint off my TR-3 air filters. Leads to thoughts of damming up
some vinegar on top of the hood and leaving it for a couple of days. Not
such a crackpot idea.
Cheapest solution is to forget the paint and attack it with rubbing
compound, Meguiars no swirl polish and wax. Worked wonders on my car.
John Cowan
At 12:11 PM 10/2/97 PDT, you wrote:
>Peter Zaborski wrote:
> > I would really appreciate any tips on painting from those who
> > have been there.
>
>Peter,
> I, like you, are looking around for a "non-concourse" paint
>job to restore my red '74 TR6 to its original Carmine. I've pounded
>the pavement getting quotes (from 4 shops here in San Diego), etc,
>so here are my (brief) findings to date:
>
>1) A good quality "back to the metal" but not frame-off paint
> job will set you back $2-$3K. This assumes that only a minimal
> amount of bodywork needs to be done (ie straightening, filling,
> etc). Bodywork can escalate these prices considerably, perhaps
> even doubling the price.
>
>2) Preparation is everything! Painting is simple and cheap!
> A concourse paint job involves many layers of paint with sanding
> between coats. This is expensive! For a driver, stick with
> a simple single coat over a very-well prepared surface, it will
> probably outlast our old cars with correct care.
>
>3) If you strip parts off the car yourself, then have it painted
> and bolt the stuff back on, that is a big saving. The price of the
> above job will possibly drop to $1500 (again, assuming minimal body
> work). How many parts to remove? Keep going until you are sick
> of it!
>
>4) Stripping the paint to bare metal is done with
> aircraft-industry-quality chemical paint stripper. The cost of
> the stripper is about $100, and a paint shop will spend 10 hours.
> If you do this yourself, there is a saving of perhaps another $600.
> One plan is to have a "stripping party" ;) Invite your mates
> around for beer and pizza, paint the stripper on, let it do its
> stuff then scrape it off. Once its stripped, then you will see
> how much bodywork it needs. Do it in a well-ventilated place too!
> I've been told sanding is a no-go except for a inexpensive
> paint-over-paint jobs; any problems with the underneath paint will
> eventually come through the new paint. There is also a trick here
> to mask off some areas prior to stripping, usually the gutters
> around the hood and bonnet.
>
>5) At this stage, we are looking at a hi-quality paint job for
> less than $1K. This is usually a "2-pack" job, with a coat
> of clear over the paint. Then you have to CAREFULLY retrim the
> car! Depending upon your endurance and threshold of pain,
> this may be your last $1000 paint job. To me, it is worth trying
> at least once.
>
>6) And a final warning; many folk are afraid to drive their newly
> recoated cars, and spend more time in the garage than they did
> before. This is poor showing, so you have to resist your
> nervousness and drive it more!
>
>I look forward to hearing of the REAL experiences of others on the
>list.
>
> Shane Ingate "wannabee painted" in San Diego
>
>
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