My '91+ - paint recommendations

[91dcl]

I have a '91+, MTX, 126K, green, horizontal delamination - clear coat going going gone, paint badly faded - I have owned since 14 miles on odometer.

Just got emissions done and it is the same as when I had it done in '93. Mechanically nearly perfect, Michelins, clutch last year, blast to drive, 30 MPG (well, not the way I drive it), interior looks almost new (driver's bolster; nits ...) ...

I am going to keep it.

I am looking at repainting it and have a couple of questions:
1. is there anyone out there who would be willing to do it?
2. if not (I am not looking for an OEM look - just decent) what would you recommend? (It's okay to say Maaco.) And should it be stripped to bare metal?
Thanks much,
David
[email protected]
MOJO SHO (VA)

 

[kevinspann]

Don't strip it to bare metal, unless the color coat is coming off as well.

I'm sure there is someone out there willing to do it, it just depends on how much you want to pay. You may want to ask around and see if you can find someone who knows someone that does paint work on the side. I assume there is no rust repair? Mainly just a respray?

 

[Sho Amo]

AmDukes knows a guy that will do it for around 1k. From what I have seen he does good work.

 

[RonPorter]

A good body man will not recommend taking it down to bare metal.

And remember, most of the cost of a good paint job is in the labor.

Anyway, back in '96, I had a fair amount of bodywork done on my black '89 for rust repair, a deer hit (not too bad on the LF corner), plus blacking out some of the chrome stuff.

Anyway, apart from all that, I had them do a Spies Hecker (it was an Audi+Porsche body shop) base+clearcoat job. Remember this was in black, and I wanted it done RIGHT. IMO nothing worse than a poor black paint job.

Apart from the other body work, the paint job alone was $3K. But, it was perfect. This included the plastic parts (bumpers, spats).

Depends what the car means to you. I'm sure you can find some to do it for $1K, but what kind of job do you want? I was in the PCA at the time with my 911, and I asked around to find out a good shop that folks recommended.

 

[Kens1992mtxSHO]

There's a fantastic body shop in Sterling that does amaaaaazing work, but they are pricey.

...or you could sell it to me since I'm now going through SHO withdrawals

 

[93rev2sev]

Just budget at least $2000 and start getting quotes from body shops. Maaco can spray a car just fine, but they don't do anything to straighten dings and dents and they don't spend enough time on masking. If you were to pay Maaco to do this, you'll be back up to that $2000+ range...

Skip maaco, find a bunch of independant shops and ask them all the same question.

"Good afternoon. I was wondering: Do you prefer to work for insurance companies or customers?"

If they don't answer you outright that they prefer working for customers, turn around and walk out.


Good luck. Let us know what you find.

 

[AMDUKES]

hey man got your email ill talk to my buddy he painted my car and i was happy with it. Andrew and scott and everyone else in cap sho has seen it.

Ken how can you go through sho withdrawl you havnt driven a sho since we moved your mattress LOL

 

[91dcl]

Thanks to all. And sorry, not selling but I feel your pain: Can't live w/out a SHO.

Amdukes, please let me know what your buddy says. As I said, I am not looking for great or even really good. It looks like crap now so I just want it to look nice - not embarrassing - and not be a spray-on-fall-off deal. The clear coat is off on lots of the body and has speckled margin around car about 1/2 way down. Not sure if clear coat has to come off or what should be done to it.

BTW there is not much body work, maybe even none. Only rust is driver's door lower jam and trunk underlid, both of which are nicely controlled by plasticoat or some such stuff.
Thanks again, all.

 

[RonPorter]

Thanks to all. And sorry, not selling but I feel your pain: Can't live w/out a SHO.

Amdukes, please let me know what your buddy says. As I said, I am not looking for great or even really good. It looks like crap now so I just want it to look nice - not embarrassing - and not be a spray-on-fall-off deal. The clear coat is off on lots of the body and has speckled margin around car about 1/2 way down. Not sure if clear coat has to come off or what should be done to it.

BTW there is not much body work, maybe even none. Only rust is driver's door lower jam and trunk underlid, both of which are nicely controlled by plasticoat or some such stuff.
Thanks again, all.

I don't know about you, but if $1,000 gives me a so-so job that is one step above a rattle can, and $2,000 gives me factory-quality (which is good, but not top quality), it sounds like a well-spent extra $1,000 to me.

Plus it's worth about every penny for resale.

 

[BlackonBlack89]

The paint-job on my car was worth every penny. By far my favorite "mod". If you are serious about painting ur car and want a nice looking paint job...... dont cheap out. It will **** u off in the end and just wanna get it fixed! Wait and save for another month or so, its so worth it in the end!

 

[91dcl]

I appreciate the input, really. I will not sell the car - if I get rid of it I will just give it to a good home: NO - NOT YET.

But yeah, I gotta think about the $1K delta.
Thanks.