Advice on painting a 240?

[Denny]

(Sorry if this is a duplicate posting -- I attempted it but it looked like I was automatically logged off before the message was posted.)

I'm new to the Z car club. I've had my '72 240Z since about 1985, but I haven't done anything but occasionally drive it. A couple years ago, I had it serviced at the Wizard of Z's in Riverside, CA. The guy did wonderful work -- it's now running better than ever. I called the Wizard's last week and found the phone was disconnected. I would like to have my car painted, as the orange paint is faded and in pretty bad shape. I recalled Jim (the wizard) telling me one time that he recommended Bionic Paints (San Bernardino, CA) to paint my car. When I called there, they told me they no longer painted individual vehicles, that they only did collision repair work. They also mentioned that they thought the wizard had retired.

Aside from the above, I haven't done anything else with my Z. I went to a place that has a good reputation for painting to see about painting my car. They said they would need to do a lot of work and it would cost close to $5K to do the job. The guy there told me that if I didn't need a terrific paint job, I could try 1-Day paint. I went there -- their cheapo paint job is $199 and their best one is $1,195. I asked for a quote on their best paint job and also an estimate on taking out the little dents, and painting the interior as well. The guy gave me a quote of $1,945, but said he would do it for $1,700. I haven't gotten the car painted yet, but I have some paperwork that guarantees this price at 1-Day.

I would like to have a fine paint job, but I'm not sure if I want to go the the effort of doing some of the fine work that I've been reading on this web site that some of you have done to your cars. I also don't think I could afford the cost that some of you have put into your vehicles. Any advice?

Thanks!

Denny

[Victor Laury]

Denny,

If your'e going to want to drive a complete Z to a reputable body shop to respray factory orange, They're going to want 5 ~ 7 grand. You can better this condition by stripping her down your self before dropping her off - bumpers emblems, trim, antenna, lights, headlight buckets, rear panel, grill and glass. The body shop's price is not unfounded. Good paint, and the rest of the materials to do all the steps for a proper paint job will cost the shop close to $1,000 to start with. Skilled bodymen and sprayers cost $40 ~ $50 an hour depending on their wages and Bennys. Rent on the shop property, liences and , in California, Enviromental permits eat away at the profit margin. There's little left for the shop owner after all of that.

Lower your costs by doing the labor. The very best deal is finding a pro sprayer that works on the side and have him/her tell you how to prep the car and what materials to buy. But, he's going to spray it (Don't tell the Air Board) in his back yard and may get some dust in the job.

[ZwolleY]

I am in the same position as Denny. The next big step I am concidering is painting. However it will not be simple. I notice some rust stain comming through the faded and many times polished paint and there is rust in the valances and elsewhere. Does this tell me that the paint must be stripped in order to get all of the rust? It would seem that there are other spots of rust that may be unseen. I would hate to spend the $ only to have rust show up again.

[Ed]

Don't waste your money on a cheap job. After 3-5 years all those rust spots will show up again and the paint will start to fade again. Do as much of the prep work as you dare this will reduce the amount of time the shop has to prep the car. Then spend the extra $$$ and get it done right!

[carguyinok]

Spend the money. You will never be happy with what you will get with the $199 price. But if you are doing the same color that is on the car the price should be lower then a color change. Yes the should shoot the jams with the respray but if it is the same color they can just fade it in. This takes much less time and paint.

With the trim you can save some big money with a good shop if you pull the basic things. Glass, You can pull the side glass and trim yourself easy. I would find someone who works with glass for pulling the front and rear unless you feel lucky. Pull the lights front side and rear. With this done have it towed in for prep and paint. I would ask the body shop to pull the emblems and any other striping on the body and put it back. You may pay more put its worth the money. They can be a real headache and unless they come off the paint will not get a good seal there.

The prep work. You can do some your self if you want. I have found most would rather see the car the way it sit's without the glass and lights. It can be hard to find a shop that will paint over your prep work and stand behinde the paintjob.

I have done this with my 74 corvette in the past (on the west coast) and the shop gave my car $1500 worth of work/paint for $800.

This is just what I did for my driver/toy not show car paint just looking damn good at a fair price. All said and done I had about $1800. total in the redo for the body and glass. If you are wanting tint on your glass this is the time with it out. Here again less money if they dont need to deal with the whole car.

Hope it helps. Have fun

me&myvette.bmp

[carguyinok]

This is in better light. my 35mm takes much better photos. but the scaner is junk. :stupid: That was at lake mead in vegas. 2001

[Denny]

Thanks for all your advice. I had already planned on removing the emblems, bumpers, door panels, and etc. before bringing it in. I wasn't so sure about the windows, but after hearing advice here, I think this would be a good idea, too. I don't know for sure, but I got the impression from the guy at 1-Day that he was not intending on stripping the old paint. I asked for the best paint job, but I'm not sure how much prep work they would do.

Anyone have any suggestions on a capable paint person for this job in the Riverside/San Bernardino area?

Denny

[carguyinok]

I have talked with MANY painters nad would say that 90% of them have said the same thing. The STOCK paint is the best primer there is for street cars. The stock paint is stuck on the metal better then any primer could hope for without lots of money. They will (at a good shop) sand the stock paint down just enough for the wax and road junk are gone then sand out or fill chips and dents resand light wipe down with prep then shoot.

This works for cars with stock paint in good \ fair paint with light fade or little damage. Not for the bad heat damage sun cracked paint.

This is just what I have found out with doing many repaint for resale jobs for dealers over the years. The dealers I have worked for dont take paint jobs light. If you can look at the car and tell its been painted then its a bad \ rush job.

In looking for a good shop. Take your time and ask around. Once you find one you like ask to look at there work. When you ask to see there work I would ask them to see a job in the same price range you are looking in. This way they dont show you some insurance job there getting big money for.

Hope it helps and good luck.

[EScanlon]

OK Guy said it, and probably shorter than I would have.

Think of a paint job as sun-tanning. where you don't remove the clothing (emblems, etc) you don't get tanned. Where you apply poor sun-tanning lotion (preparation) you get poor results. And if you don't do it at the right time (humidity, temp, wind) you might not get what you want at all.

2¢

[ZwolleY]

This exchange illustrates the real value of this site. Lots of good advice. Thanks.

[metalmate]

I paint and recondition cars for a living. I realize that the cost of a quality paint job is beyond the reach of most people's disposable income. But, ya get what ya pay for!

If you use the factory basecoat as a starting point, make sure that it is the "ORIGINAL" paint layer. Most factory paint jobs are 4 to 6 mil in thickness. Adding a layer of sealer and/or primer, the color basecoat and then clear coat will probably bring the total thickness up to 10 mils or more, especially if a primer surfacer is used over any bodywork.

If the paint thickness gets over say 14 mils or more you start running the risk of the new paint chipping rather easily, adding some hardner to the basecoat color can help but, make sure the paint system that's being used allows this.

The actual time that it takes to "spray" a vehicle is only about 1/10 of the total time it takes for a good painter to do a high quality job. It's the prep work at each stage of the process that is labor/time intensive. Read that as, "expensive."

[metalmate]

To check the paint thickness, use a magnetic thickness gauge, available at most autobody supply stores or the bodyshop will have one.