collision repair and auto painting

[bmwstephen]

Oliver,

for your serious restore projects at your shop, as that of stripping the car down to the metal, what is your process?

do you use chemicals or old fashion sanding? also about how many layers of respray can a car have before the next one will require stripping it down to metal and restarting?

[oliver.r]

Oliver,

for your serious restore projects at your shop, as that of stripping the car down to the metal, what is your process?

do you use chemicals or old fashion sanding? also about how many layers of respray can a car have before the next one will require stripping it down to metal and restarting?

complete restorations always get completely stripped no exceptions.
if a customer dosnt want to strip it we wont do it, thats just the right way to do it.
remove/install all the trim and parts
strip it with a heavy duty vertical sander.
do all the body work
primer
block
primer
block
seal paint
color san and buff
assemble
detail

check out mine and marines 2060 2002 project, thats pretty much the process

[bmwstephen]

complete restorations always get completely stripped no exceptions.
if a customer dosnt want to strip it we wont do it, thats just the right way to do it.
remove/install all the trim and parts
strip it with a heavy duty vertical sander.
do all the body work
primer
block
primer
block
seal paint
color san and buff
assemble
detail

check out mine and marines 2060 2002 project, thats pretty much the process

but going back to my question about respray tolerance, at what point do you as a shop, if you do at all, would refuse to go forward with a project that has had previous respray jobs or exceeded a specific paint build-up thickness?

I'd imagine if you accept any job, without consideration for the template for which you are to work on, you would bound to run into headaches and warranty work

also, how long did it take to sand off the paint on the 2002? would you say it should take the same amount of labor on an e30.

[SteveJ]

This is answering some of my questions as well.
I've looked at my M3 project as: what items would be in the way and cause a body-man to have to tape over or go around. Every piece of trim and every little plastic trim clip/socket has been pulled.

The last trim item to remove is the glued in rear windsheild. I was debating this as I don't really have the skills to pull it, but everything else is out. Might as well.

[oliver.r]

but going back to my question about respray tolerance, at what point do you as a shop, if you do at all, would refuse to go forward with a project that has had previous respray jobs or exceeded a specific paint build-up thickness?

I'd imagine if you accept any job, without consideration for the template for which you are to work on, you would bound to run into headaches and warranty work

also, how long did it take to sand off the paint on the 2002? would you say it should take the same amount of labor on an e30.

you are right, thats exactly why we dont do restorations without stripping them, customers that we do restorations for have a very high quality standard so we have to do everything we can to ensure that our product is the best it can be.
if we do run into issues we would contact the customer with any concerns

[bmwstephen]

you are right, thats exactly why we dont do restorations without stripping them, customers that we do restorations for have a very high quality standard so we have to do everything we can to ensure that our product is the best it can be.
if we do run into issues we would contact the customer with any concerns

interesting... what is your process for determining whether a potential project would require a full restoration?

let's say if a customer, with the goal of having show car results without having to stripping it down to the metal, brought a car in with no knowledge of the paint history (but it has been clearly resprayed) and wanted to do a full respray with 3 base 3 clears. How would you as an estimator determine whether his car needs extra work such AS stripping it down to metal or to solid layer of paint without wasting too much time and money for both parties

[Kershaw]

there is tool that measures paint depth, actually.

[oliver.r]

interesting... what is your process for determining whether a potential project would require a full restoration?

let's say if a customer, with the goal of having show car results without having to stripping it down to the metal, brought a car in with no knowledge of the paint history (but it has been clearly resprayed) and wanted to do a full respray with 3 base 3 clears. How would you as an estimator determine whether his car needs extra work such AS stripping it down to metal or to solid layer of paint without wasting too much time and money for both parties

good question, there is a tool that does measure paint thickness but we dont use it, if it was obvious that it had a respray i would strip at least the frshest paint to discover any damage under it.
if they refuse to do any sort of stripping at all i would not touch the car, customer wont be happy and i wont be happy

[oliver.r]

This is answering some of my questions as well.
I've looked at my M3 project as: what items would be in the way and cause a body-man to have to tape over or go around. Every piece of trim and every little plastic trim clip/socket has been pulled.

The last trim item to remove is the glued in rear windsheild. I was debating this as I don't really have the skills to pull it, but everything else is out. Might as well.

take the back glass out if you are already that deep into it, it will be a much better finish, you will be much happier with the process.
i wish i could afford a e30 m3. thats my dream car

[bmwstephen]

good question, there is a tool that does measure paint thickness but we dont use it, if it was obvious that it had a respray i would strip at least the frshest paint to discover any damage under it.
if they refuse to do any sort of stripping at all i would not touch the car, customer wont be happy and i wont be happy

interesting again! but to be clear, is there a process to determine this at the quoting stage before the car is even touched? I'd imagine the customer might be po'ed if you begin the prepping stage only to find out it needs more labor and having to call the owner to tell them this.

also, how much labor hours would you charge to strip down an e30? maybe not to the metal but to a strong layer of existing paint maybe.

[oliver.r]

interesting again! but to be clear, is there a process to determine this at the quoting stage before the car is even touched? I'd imagine the customer might be po'ed if you begin the prepping stage only to find out it needs more labor and having to call the owner to tell them this.

also, how much labor hours would you charge to strip down an e30? maybe not to the metal but to a strong layer of existing paint maybe.

i caution people all the time wen they get into intense projects like that, a estimate is just that a ESTIMATE, there are telling signs that lead to a veicle being stripped but you can never be %100 until you start the surface repair.

to strip a e30 to the original primer probably a good 10 hours with all the parts already off, price will vary on hourly labor rate

[amcink]

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[bmwstephen]

i caution people all the time wen they get into intense projects like that, a estimate is just that a ESTIMATE, there are telling signs that lead to a veicle being stripped but you can never be %100 until you start the surface repair.

to strip a e30 to the original primer probably a good 10 hours with all the parts already off, price will vary on hourly labor rate

bingo! the answer i was looking, so if anyone quotes less for a solid paint job you are bound to run into issues in just a year

[oliver.r]

all questions by bmwstephen are relevant to my interest; subscribe

you dont have to wait for him to ask haha
ask whatever you want wenever you want

[bmwstephen]

you dont have to wait for him to ask haha
ask whatever you want wenever you want

my questions are developed by my bad painting experience all in an effort to ensure it won't happen again =p