Sending car to paint- on wheels or on dollies?

[SteveJ]

Trying to send my M3 for paint (hopefully) by the end of next month, if all stays on schedule. Currently the car is completely stripped down and all the driveline/suspension is out.

Before it goes out the garage and onto the trailer, it will need some wheels of sorts. My choices are to > Re-install the subframes, suspension, and stock wheels to make it mobile. On the plus side, the car would sit firmly on the ground. On the negative side, it would still have no motor or brakes, so it wouldn't be a driver. There is also the chance of overspary on the freshly refinished suspension parts & wheels.

The other choice is to > Fabricate some rollers/dollies to make the car mobile. On the plus side, with the rollers/dollies I would be doing all the suspension/driveline install once, after the painted car comes home. On the negative side, I would need to figure out how to make up a roller stand that would support the car and be workable for the body shop. That's all I need is another sub-project.

Any ideas or past experience out there? Buy four cheap skateboards and roll it on those? How much does a bare E30 shell weigh?

[TurboJake]

Portable Rotisserie.

[M-technik-3]

Suggest rolling on suspension

[nrubenstein]

If you're worried about your parts, pick up a bunch of suspension from a piece of crap E30 and bolt it on. I'd bet you could pick up a piece of crap parts car with a usable 4-lug and wheels for about the cost of a set of dollies. And then sell them on afterwards and make your money back, if not turn a profit.

[jlevie]

The paint shop will be a lot happier if the car is on wheels. And you'll be a lot happier getting it on/off a trailer or flat bed with the car on wheels. If the paint shop is worth a flip, overspray on the suspension won't be an issue.