paint prep question: what would you do in my case?

[MarvynDT]

Okay, so the paint job that I received was done poorly and I'm going to have it re-painted by a more reputable body shop. To cut costs down, I'm planning on doing the prep work myself.

I cannot trust the current paint on the car now because its chipping/peeling and I'm considering stripping the paint. There are a few options I am thinking about and hopefully you can add something that I haven't thought about.

1. Have the car media blasted. The thing that concerns me is that I've never done bodywork before and I would have to rework all the panels again to smoothen them out. The car had its 12 years worth of parking lot abuse, so there is a fair amount of work that needs to be done. I've been skimming through a few books and reading whatever I can online, but its just a bit scary going into something w/o any experience or guidance. I have the patience to do it right, I just don't have the tools. I'm weighing the cost of having to purchase the tools (compressor, d/a sander, spray gun, etc, plus the cost of blasting) versus having the body shop do the body work. I'm leaning towards DIY since I'll have the tools when I'm finished and the satisfaction of a job well done.

2. Sand off the existing base coat. If I did this, I would expose the filler used by the previous paint job. Would it be wise to apply filler/putty on top of this to further smoothen out the panels w/o knowing what the underlying filler is?

3. Sand to the metal. This would probably be the most tedious step and would probably be easier to have the car media blasted. But if I were to sand to the metal, the only thing that concerns me if warping the metal. Again, I would have to re-do any previous bodywork and wouldn't have to worry about the previous fillers, etc.

4. Have the bodyshop do the bodywork. This is probably the easiest step, but at this point, I cannot trust any body shop. I can't trust that anymore. I am now a firm believer in: If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself.

Any thoughts?

BTW, does anybody know of a good body shop in the NJ/NY/PA area that I can check out?

[4felix20]

well, if you want to sand to metal..no problem. just make sure you buy a couple cans of primer to seal off the metal from the weather until you get paint.

i'd say, if you want to sand to metal, just go buy an orbital sander and get a bunch of coarse grit paper. (shiny sanded metal is SEXY!)

also, i'd go have a talk with the last shop that did the shoddy job.

i really want a nice new paint job too with that 'wet' look. it's hard to find a good shop though. i think i'm just gonna let the shop do all the work...not sure yet.

[MarvynDT]

The body shop who did the shoddy work refuses to do anything about it. They keep on telling me that this is the results of not removing things of the car. I ask them why they didn't remove it, and they produce more excuses. Unfortunately, I lost the written estimate to prove that they should have R&I'ed everything. There's also problems in areas that are nowhere near window trim, lights, etc and they have no excuse for that.

[Wuss]

ive had plenty of experience with body shops, and not one fulfilled their promises.

I agree that you can't trust body shops, period. But try and ask around and see if you can get one with multiple positive feedback. At least you know that you have a CHANCE of having a good experience with them.

[implict]

Well lucky for you i work in a body shop :rolleyes

1st off.. If the body shop your going to go to has a good painter he wont do the job if you have done all the preping to it... especially when you have no knowledge of body work. Because thats where the problems come in, as in fish eyes, swirls and minor mistakes....

Now if you really wanna do a decent paint job and you do the body work.... i would go with a single stage with no clear coat... Get him to add a couple of extra coats and tell him to buff the hell outta the car after.... ( still will be smooth and look just as good as any other paint job.... just less $$$)

Now if you have alot of dents, and you know nothing about body work... i would take it to the shop ( depending on how bad the dents are.... like if the dent is on the fender and its pretty damn bad.... take a lil trip to the junk yard and get another finder.. )

To help you out on the other questions i would need to know what color your car is and are you gonna change the color ( or already did ) and are you going to do the jams.

Lemme know

-Jeff.

[toki]

I need advice also: The rubber bumber on my s13 has places where the paint is flaking and his spider cracks or whatever they are called from a previous owner tapping something, and maaco (just getting a hold me over job) wants another $70 to prep that...would sanding it by hand or otherwise mess up the compound it's made of?

[MarvynDT]

implcit - The current color on the car is Honda S2k Silverstone Metallic. Before that, it was the factory white. The engine bay and interior (minus doorjams) are still white.

At this point, I'm considering removing all the interior and motor to get the whole car painted to the Silverstone Metallic if I have to do it again.

The dings/dents remaining on the car are not major. You can't really see them staring directly at the car, but if you look at the reflection, you can see a slight waviness and a few dings.

In your opinion, to what point would you sand the car down to? I'm concerned about the previous body shops body work. I always hear opinions about the limits about how thick the filler should be. Another bodyshop working on the car wouldn't know how much filler is actually there unless they brought it down to the metal/factory primer. I don't know if I'm explaining this clearly, but can you see where I'm coming from?

[kingjag88]

i don't think i'd ever take anything to maaco. my older bro had a merkur that the previous owner got painted there and the paint looked like crap and they didnt even mask the black vent area between the hood and windshield and other stuff like that. but i guess for just a temp. fix it wouldnt be too bad there

Josh

[implict]

I need advice also: The rubber bumber on my s13 has places where the paint is flaking and his spider cracks or whatever they are called from a previous owner tapping something, and maaco (just getting a hold me over job) wants another $70 to prep that...would sanding it by hand or otherwise mess up the compound it's made of?

Well you can do it yourself... i would recommend taking off the bumper.. and sanding it down... sand the bumper till its completly rough... as in every spot... i would use some 80 grit on the spots that has spider cracks and the spots that are flaking. Then after the 80 grit go to 100 and if you can get a scuff pad after the 100 that would even make it better...

Now dont sand ever peice of paint off the bumper... just the spots that need it most... and just make sure that the rest of the paint is ruff/smooth.

Now if you want a REALL good job on the bumper.... Wet sand it after your done with it and MAKE SURE you tell the guys at macco to wash it down with some acetone ( prevents fisheyes )Also make sure they are wearing gloves..... after they wash it down with acetone... macco tends to get dirt cheap... and the poeple there can care less.....

-Jeff.

[implict]

implcit - The current color on the car is Honda S2k Silverstone Metallic. Before that, it was the factory white. The engine bay and interior (minus doorjams) are still white.

At this point, I'm considering removing all the interior and motor to get the whole car painted to the Silverstone Metallic if I have to do it again.

The dings/dents remaining on the car are not major. You can't really see them staring directly at the car, but if you look at the reflection, you can see a slight waviness and a few dings.

In your opinion, to what point would you sand the car down to? I'm concerned about the previous body shops body work. I always hear opinions about the limits about how thick the filler should be. Another bodyshop working on the car wouldn't know how much filler is actually there unless they brought it down to the metal/factory primer. I don't know if I'm explaining this clearly, but can you see where I'm coming from?

Well since you painted your car a diff color... i would take it to a REAL shop and get it done again... if the painter knows what hes doing... once he sees the jams and stuff not done... he will ask what was done to the car.. thats when you will show him everything that has been done to it ( as in dents being repaird/ not repaired to your satisfaction )

I would take your car to a collision center ( where i work at ). Get a estimate and tell the guy everything you want done.

-Jeff

[toki]

\ and just make sure that the rest of the paint is ruff/smooth.

So it either needs to be ruff like i just sanded it or smooth like a babies ***?

[implict]

not ruff, as in you see Huge scratches.... smooth like a babies ***!!!!!!!!!!!

[nissanrcer240]

implict, since you work at a bodyshop...im gettin my car painted black(right now its like a factory light metalic blue color), and i know a guy who paints cars in his garage for $500, but through my sister im only payin $300. i dont know if he does the jams and engine bay but incase he doesnt, how much would it be to get just the door jams and the engine bay painted, like if the rest of the car was already painted and thats all i would have left to paint is the jams and bay? do body shops do that, just paint the jams?

i dont have the money to go to a body shop and get it proffesionaly painted but if the guy just does the outside then i could live with the jams and engine bay unpainted, or at least just primered, until i can get them painted if thats possible.

[implict]

well 1st off.... ur paint job wont turn out the way u want it, since its in a gurage..... you will have **** all in your paint...

2nd off... Jams and engine bay is where the painter makes the real money... thats the expensive part.

[nolaws4evr]

imo I would wait untill you have to pull the engine out for something, be it swap or whatever and then tow it to have it painted. at least thats what my plan is, but luckily I know my painter and and very confident he will do an excellent job. If I were you Marvyn, I would do alot of checking around and find the most reputiable custom/collision shop and have a talk with them. there is alot more work involved in body work than you may realize.

[nissanrcer240]

well 1st off.... ur paint job wont turn out the way u want it, since its in a gurage..... you will have **** all in your paint...

2nd off... Jams and engine bay is where the painter makes the real money... thats the expensive part.

let me rephrase my first post...i dont think the guy literaly just paints it in the garage, i said that b/c he does it himself as like a private buisness and not with any company or anything.i dont know what he has, maybe he does just do it in his garage, i dont know really, but i've seen 2 cars that hes painted and i would be more than happy if my car came out the way they did.

do you know around how much it would be to get just the jams and bay painted, like a price?

[implict]

What year is ur 240? ( if its a 240 )

[Tweaky_Tom]

Wet sanding is yer friend. That produces a really smooth suface. Get some REALLY fine sand paper and a bowl of water and take yer time. There's my 2 cents. <<<Tom>>>