Paint Question

[davery]

My 85 has some sun damage on the paint. While it is not flaking off, that I can see, it appears the clear coat is gone in some areas. I am wanting to get the car painted and about half the people I talk with say that the paint needs to be stripped. There are a few dents from hail and one rust spot about the size of a dollar bill. I had one quote of $6700 to strip and paint. I had one guy tell me he would just spray over the old paint and would charge me $2500. I have never had a car painted before, can anyone give me any advice?

[4uall]

I have never had a car painted however, I am currently looking. The common consensus is you get what you pay for. Ask to see work, speak to those who have had it done (who what when where etc). A good price reducer is stripping the car down yourself. Best of luck and keep us posted (pics are always welcome)

[davery]

I have never had a car painted however, I am currently looking. The common consensus is you get what you pay for. Ask to see work, speak to those who have had it done (who what when where etc). A good price reducer is stripping the car down yourself. Best of luck and keep us posted (pics are always welcome)

I have been thinking about doing the stripping myself, but have never done it. If I stripped it myself, it would be a process over a couple of months. I assume I would need to primer the bare metal as I go? My guess I would fix the hail damage with filler? Thanks for all the input.

[4uall]

sorry, I meant strip the parts of the car prior to getting her painted (ie headlights, turn signals etc)

[AndyS]

I do paint work on classic cars for a living for the past 24 years. Most Fiats that I have done come in around $4000 for "normal" bodywork and prep. usually that entails some stripping to bare metal on the hood and any other areas that have paint or old bodywork failures. Most cars I do come to me with most of the parts removed by the owners. helps save on labor costs, as then i can start right on the body instead of spending a lot of time unbolting and putting back on parts.

Paint cost for good materials are high these days--$600 to 700 a job is not uncommon.

the average car enthusiast is not going to be able to a great job on the body and paint on a classic car without training, experience, and the right tools and environment. plus the new paints are dangerous to work with without using a fresh air a breathing apparatus.

Bad clear is not that big of a deal to remove--its almost falling off by itself. i usually sand it off with a DA sander and 120 grit discs, (you will go through to the primer and bare metal in spots) then prime the areas with a high build primer after any body work that is needed is done. A final wet sand with 400 and then 600 and its ready for paint.

[Landhawk]

I've never painted a car, but there is a lot of good information out there. Check out this great series of videos on youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYkkyTTB ... el&list=UL

It's an 11 part series directed at novice painters (in a home garage). To me it seems like the majority of the process is prep work. The actual painting seems relatively easy. Probably would need to invest in a decent paint gun or two, but you'd have it afterwards for other projects.

Once I get some of the body work completed on my project, I'm going to attempt the paint using the methods those videos. I anticipate the body work will be much more difficult than painting. I don't think I'll end up with a perfect "show car" quality result, but that's not what I'm looking for.

[azruss]

stripping a car to bare metal can be a big expense and waste of time if not necessary. The original metal, treated and painted by the factory will surpass anything you can do in protecting that metal. The consideration is the condition of that paint today. many cars are painted over and over with cheap paint jobs. some have rubbed thru the paint to the primer or metal, and then the ever present rust. As stated earlier, where the metal is bare, rusted, or the paint is in very poor condition, you need to go down to the metal and build up with a good primer. If the paint is in good condition, it will provide a very good base for a new paint job. I would recommend a full primer coat under any circumstances. Only an expert can tell you whether your color coat is in good enough shape to remove and replace the clear coat. Most shops wont give you a straight answer because of warranty issues going over paint that old.

[fiat124fl]

If you've never painted a car, do you want to try on something less important first? I've more than 25 yrs of experience of auto painting, I still won't say painting is easy in any way. Besides the right primer, right paint, right gun...etc, you will have to be always prepared for something unexpected, and how to fix the problems.

[davery]

I was never thinking of actually painting the car. I was just thinking of stripping the car and taking the paint off. Maybe doing some easy body work where the hail damage is. Then sending the car out to do the remianing body work and painted.

So if I have some paint that has been damaged by the sun, I only need to strip it? I had one guy tell me the entire passenger side has been repainted and that he thought the paint should be removed. When I looked at it there is some orange peal on that side.

[dmwhiteoak]

I was told by a friend of mine who has been painting and body work and owns a successful shop that the type of paint that was used from the factory on my car will blister when painted over. He said I would have to strip the old off. I don't remember what he said the paint was but that wasn't what I wanted to hear.A coworker that paints cars on off days said we could strip it to primer with a blade in no time at all. Any thoughts on this or opinions ?

[azruss]

I've been painting over my 80 without any lifting issues. I painted my 70 twice with no issues there either. the factory paints will stay put. It s the subsequent recoats you need to worry about.

[davery]

I got another qoute today. Now my qoutes are $2500, $6,700 and $10,000. It seems that everyone, except the lowest qoute, want to strip all the paint. I am beginning to think I should strip the paint myself next winter. Then just send it out to do the body work and paint.

[azruss]

word of warning. If my 80 is an example of the later spiders, the body is not very straight and it looks like fiat used a high build primer/sealer to get if flat. If you strip the car to metal, you may have to prime and sand the car flat again.....$$$$

[fiat124fl]

Striping the paint down to bare metal is not all necessary all the time, it highly depends on the original paint type and original condition. If as you said, the original paint is in OK condition, and as far as you know there's no lacquer primer, old body work, or multiple paint jobs or rust underneath it, I don't see the reason to strip it to bare metal.

Remember when you hand your car to a shop, they will always try to provide the best result within the price range, with the shortest time, and with the least labor involved.

Saying all that, I just want to let you know, stripping the paint down to bare metal is not always the case. I have almost 30 yrs of automotive painting and body work experiences, owned a large shop, and now doing some painting on the side. Here is a Spider I did for a friend for including fix a tons of small dents. The base paint is very good, other than faded. The original body work is horribly done by a shop but No need to strip it down, but do need DA, blocking...etc.

Shops will always charge more of course, as long as it's reasonable because they do have a lot of expenses.
Please send me some pics and i can get a better idea of the condition of your car.