Infiniti Forum= ONE BIG HAPPY FAMILY

[bantoine2]

Just wanted to take the time and thank the online mechanics, moderators, and Mayhem J30 for all of your technical advice for us amateurs. All of you are very knowledgeable and have been more than helpful which is appreciated and I consider all of you family...well almost

Also....can anyone recommend a good place to get a new paint job on my j30 and what am i looking at for the cost? I am thinking of repainting the J blk again but then again I always liked that BMW blue.

[DAEDALUS]

Where are you located? A factory-quality paint job will cost anywhere from $4-6000. Anyone that says they can do it for a few hundred bucks will prove it to you (and everyone else).

[Chally]

Bantoine2, thanks for the plug. We all hope to keep it that way.

[Mayhem_J30]

bantoine,I had mine repainted black mostly because i'm too darn picky. It's been about 13 months since it was done. The guy did an excellent job using Dupont paint and clearcoat. Even dirty it looks cleaner then it did before, probably because of the better clear coat. I got a deal with paying $3000 for it...cash of course so that helped. Also he was a friend of one of my dad's old corvette car show buddies. Poor guy, my car was the last car he painted before he unexpectantly died of a heart attack...Anyway, here's the drawbacks so far of a nonfactory painted car: CHIPS!! My front end is riddled with little chips. These chips go all the way down to the body So the paint is more fragile after being repainted. I tryed a car bra but that only put odd marks on the bumper...good side is that I'm pretty sure I can buff those out. So pick your lesser evil. If you get it painted make sure the rails underneath the doors are in good shape. I had a little rust right behind the driver front wheel under there from my sister going over a curb or something and damaging it a little. I had that fixed at painted...urgggh I hate rust! Don't spend the extra $$ on the door jambs either if you're painting the same color, it'll only double the price and you'll never notice. My paint in the door jambs still looks new from 10 years ago.

[AZhitman]

Unless your factory paint is abused and just plain shot, a repaint will be unsatisfactory (even up into the $3,000 range). Changing colors will be even more disappointing. Some things just can't be masked well enough (rubber around windows, door handles, lock cylinders) and will chip eventually.

Can you rehab the paint you have? Some shops can do incredible "miracle work" on really bad paint. I spent a WHOLE WEEKEND doing a 4-stage process on my Q when I bought it... Clay bar, paint cleaning compound, polishing compound, carnauba wax... Didn't look like it needed it but what a difference!

[DAEDALUS]

A clay bar is on my list of things to get next. Can 1 bar do the whole car? Does it do much by itself, or are you required to do other things?

[BadQ45t]

Ya, one Mother's clay bar will do the whole thing so problem. If you really want to get a killer job done, get a professional detailer. I've got one in San Diego that I go to twice a year (yup, all the way from the Bay Area down to SD). He an work miracles, my old 85 Maxima was repainted cheaply and he has saved me many times from having it repainted.

You can get very good aftermarket paint jobs but you will pay. I had my 84' 300ZX re-painted in 1991 after I was rear-ended. Nissan wasn't too good at two-stage paint in those days and I lived in Phoenix for 3 years and it killed the stock paint job. I STOLE that paint job from a great shop there in Phoenix, only gave him 700 bucks more than the $2,500 repair bill for the rear end work. To this day, the car looks MUCH better than new. I would estimate a job like he did (you CANNOT tell that it was repainted) would run 6grand today the way it was masked, finished etc.

I agree, avoid repainting at all costs. See if you can revive before you repaint.

[AZhitman]

My Q ate up 2 claybars, but I was paranoid about any contamination and it started looking REALLY dirty after the hood/top/trunk, so I discarded and used another. Amazing how much crud is sheared off the paint surface even after a good washing...

Now her paint is so smooth, a dry terry cloth bath towel dropped on the hood slides off!

[bantoine2]

I live in LA

[PalmerWMD]

bantoine:

thank you for the kind words!:)

We all, members, moderators, online mechnaics etc, work together to make this a great site.

Fred...:thumbup

[DAEDALUS]

I live in LA

Can I assume Los Angeles? (Not Louisiana). I think you once mentioned you were in California. If you decide to paint the J, here are a few potential leads:http://www.nissaninfiniticlub....=5847