Paint prep, trim removal?

[mjimport]

Hey all, I've been searching for some threads on guys painting their e30s DIY style.
I have a tight timeframe for doing minor body repair, paint, sand and final assembly all in one week.
Considering the timeframe, can any of you give me a quick list of the trim that needs to be, or should be removed prior to paint? I'm not doing a full concourse resto here, but my goal is to have a near showroom quality. Basically I don't want anyone to know I did this myself.

Specific questions:
Do I remove front and rear glass and trim? If so, can I reuse the seals if they aren't too nasty?
Should I remove the sunroof felt seal? If so, is that reusable?
How hard is it to remove the side trim and fill holes for a clean look? I figure I'm part way there since I'll be taking that trim off anyway.

Thanks all!

[mjimport]

Anyone?

[meanEG]

if you never painted a car or pieces of a car, you had better lower your expectaions. i hvae painted quite a bit for a mechanic. i still cant get perfect. i can get close. plan on sanding out imperfections prior to reassembly. i would hop on over to autobody101 and autobodyforum. one of the site guys is a distributer of a lot of supplies. i would highly suggest a mid level gun to spray. expect 300-700 for a gun. you can get a good job from a cheaper gun, but the better makes it easier. plan on 1 day to disassemble. more if you still want a show quality job. i dont like tape lines, so i disassemble the entire car, all of it. windows, winshields, door handles, lights and all. You can reuse seals, but i am replacing all of mine. expect to buy the lockiing strips and possibly windhields. they can break easily removing and installing. my local glass shop wont even do rubber sealed windshields.

paint it assembled (doors, fenders etc) to have the paint match, escpeially if using a metallic or pearl. the lighter the color the more it hides imperfections (if it aint right, paint it white). base/ clear is easier to paint than single stage. i suggest www.thecoatingtore.com for paint. psint over original paint sanded to minimum of 400 grit for light solid colors, 600 suggested. can go t0 800 or 1000 for black metallic. guide coat and block. i like the durablock blocks. i sm in the middle of painting my car right now. ia m going for the best possible job i can do. it is a full color change. i suggest you do not do a colorchange. some body shops do not do overall paint jobs at all. it will take more than a week to do it right by yourself. expect to take 4 hours just to tape to get ready to spray...


I have not removed my felt around my sunroof. i will though. if you didnt, it will be glued shut. if you fill the side trim holes, weld them shut. it will be a ton more work to shave them correctly. it is a lot of work. i suggest doing pieces at a time and keep driving it. block a fender a day, try to break it up and then take the week to do the rest including spray. it will take a day to tape and spray. figure about 10 minutes each coat and then 30 flash times between coats. do not rush it. you will have problems with reactions and solvent pop if you do.

[papag1234]

if you never painted a car or pieces of a car, you had better lower your expectaions.

This 100x. You have a week to do everything? Don't even attempt it.

[mjimport]

Thanks for the input. I am allowing a little over a week for the whole job, but am trying to start trim removal and some body repair prior to that week.
My dad has been restoring old cars for decades now and has a pretty good gun and materials.
I will probably have some help here and there for tear down and other parts of the project.

I'm definitely not doing a color change as I know that is a completely different level of project.
I am however willing to eliminate as many tape lines as feasible. The car had been partially resprayed at some point so a lot of the seals are only a few years old.

I'm hoping not to have to buy new sunroof felt as that is stupid expensive to replace. We shall see!