Topic: Am I crazy to paint my car????
in Forum: C3 Body
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Just some quick notes. My car is getting closer to the paint phase by late next summer. It has been stripped down to the bare glass. Apparently body shops must think that I am going to pay for their next European vacation for 10 people for a month. Quotes ranged from 5000.00 to 12000.00 dollars. HOLY COW DUNG Batman!!!
No assembly required, no repairs needed, and not looking for a Ferrari/exotic car paint job.
I have painted machinery a few decades ago and I know things have changed. I would like to use a 3 stage turbine system to do it. It will be in a prepped garage, good materials, and a properly prepped car. I think I can do it for about 1400.00 to 1800.00. This would be for a base coat/ clear coat urethane metallic paint.
There are quite a few YT videos and several online tutorials. I would practice quite a bit before shooting it.
So... am I crazy and delusional????
50-50 it will turn out????
Dang dude you have one big set of cajones to even try it.
Tell me corvette Brethren.
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Duncanville, TX - USA
Joined: 11/8/2003
Posts: 20214
Vette(s): #1-1974 L-48 4spd Cp Med Red Metallic/Black deluxe int w/AC/tilt/tele./p/w-p/b/
Am-Fm/map light National/Regional/Chapter NCRS "Top Flight"
#2-1985 Bright Red/Carmine Cp.L-98/auto
Member: NCRS, NCRS Texas, Corvette Legends of Texas
Dennis, in a properly equipped garage/shop, with a little practice, you should be able to lay down a decent paint job yourself. I certainly wouldn't expect a $5000 result, but it should be presentable.
Painting a Corvette is a lot different from painting a "normal" car. The prep work is far more involved. I've told the story of the paint job on my '74 many times. I paid a professional shop $3000 way back in '97 to do it. And...they re-did it 5 friggin times before I finally gave up and said 'nuff am 'nuff. Of course, I wanted a show finish, but they failed to deliver to my satisfaction. Had I gone ahead and let my friend's paint shop do it for $5000, I know for a fact it would have been perfect....I've seen plenty of his work.
Joel Adams
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Overland Park, KS - USA
Joined: 7/9/2003
Posts: 914
Vette(s): 1973 Orange Metallic Coupe (orig owner), L82, 4 spd (WR), PS, (A/C & PW (I installed from wrecked 73)), leather, AM/FM Stereo, ran with '65 FI unit earlier & will again some day.
2023 Accelerate Yellow HTC Stingray
With proper prep, you can do it. Might involve more sanding & buffing than if a pro did it. Be sure to use the proper respirator mask. That isocyanate is bad stuff for your lungs.
1973 L-82 4 spd
As a fellow owner of a 1980 vette, I'd say the are we crazy question is much broader. I live just 30 minutes from Carlisle, PA and year after year I see nice 1980's with new paint and interiors, sparkling like jewels, selling for 10k to 15k. Two years ago there was a beautiful frame off '80 L82 restoration priced at 17k and people were calling it ... crazy. That's just $2,400 more than I paid for my '80 L82 new from dealer 37 years ago. I think back then the Dow was about $1,000. I should have invested the 14k there and I'd have a about $300k now. That's a brand spankin new vette and $200+k still in the bank.
The logical move would be to part out what we own then go buy someone else's restoration. But we do it anyway. It's just a labor of love. As Spock once said, "it is not logical, but it is often true". That's my philosophical 2 cents worth.
As it once looked and hopefully will again
Is the car garaged most of the time?
If so consider a WRAP. The guy in AZ that sponsors our monthly Cars N Coffee will wrap a car for $1299. Do it in chrome to be different!
If so consider a WRAP. The guy in AZ that sponsors our monthly Cars N Coffee will wrap a car for $1299. Do it in chrome to be different!
Only 34 years together
I have thought about a wrap but I would still need to prep and primer the car. Kind of a toss up at that point between wrap and paint. Still thinking.......
I'm in the process of prepping my 75 so I can paint it this winter. I've painted quite a few cars and fiberglass boats, but this is the first Corvette I've attempted.
I think the important thing, besides a good prep job, is to use the correct reducer for the weather (slow, medium, fast, etc.). Get this wrong and you end up with runs on one end of the spectrum to eggshell or dry, dusty finish on the other end.
Since I don't have a paint booth with heated air being blown in, I'll have to wait for a day that is at least 70 degrees (I live in south western Virginia so we do get days like this even in the winter). I'll get the garage warm over the night before, getting the body at least up to 80 degrees. I have a large exhaust fan to suck out the over-spray mist, which means I'll be pulling in likely cooler air from the outside. This will be pulled in through fine screens so hopefully that will keep most of the dust out.
My car was painted about ten years ago, and while the job is pretty good, there is a lot of dust in the finish. I think the painter was pretty good, but did not have a suitable place to paint it, and never attempted to buff out the finish (the finish is quite soft, so maybe that is why it was not done).
Maybe I'm crazy for trying this, but I think we're all a bit crazy for buying 40 year old fiberglass cars hoping to keep them going for another 40 years or so.
Good luck!
Lots of good info there for you to absorb.
Plan on some runs on the vertical surfaces. That happens even when the pros paint.
I know I would never attempt to paint a car. Some things are better left to the pros. The guys with lots of experience.
Accept the fact that you won't get your money out of it if you ever need/want to sell it. Just enjoy it for your own satisfaction.
Keep us posted.
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Overland Park, KS - USA
Joined: 7/9/2003
Posts: 914
Vette(s): 1973 Orange Metallic Coupe (orig owner), L82, 4 spd (WR), PS, (A/C & PW (I installed from wrecked 73)), leather, AM/FM Stereo, ran with '65 FI unit earlier & will again some day.
2023 Accelerate Yellow HTC Stingray
A couple of things you'll want to do if you paint it yourself is to get the car about a foot off the ground and lots of lite over and around the car. Four foot fluorescents stood on end around the car work well for the perimeter lighting.
1973 L-82 4 spd
in Forum: C3 Body
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