new paint job questions

[5spoke]

Hey guys I just bought a 89 cabrio for $2000, its paint is in pretty rough shape. I bought the car to fix up and be able to learn a few things while doing so.

I am thinking about getting a new paint job, but I am not willing to spend >$2000 for a paint job on a $2000 car. I am probably going to end up using a local shop that does decent work, and doing some of the prep work myself to save cash. But my question is should I do a respray of the same color to keep things from looking to nasty?
I would love to paint the car satin or flat black, but I am worried about the lack of clear coat, meaning lack of paint protection. I think that the satin and flat blacks look really awesome when done right. This car would be mostly in the garage, or kept under a car cover when not in use, since it is not my daily driver. Does anyone have any opinions on doing the satin black paint?

[Tavern Gnome]

I would never personally paint a BMW flat black but if you must there are ways to do it and still have a quality paint job. Most people that do these satin paint jobs just end up sparying the car with DP90 or another black sealer. This is cheap but sealer doesn't flex, therefore making the paint very easy to chip. If I was going to do it, I would probably go out and buy like half a gallon of single stage black paint then use a a bunch of flattening agent. If you have a few more bucks go for a base coat-clear coat combo and flatten the clear. That would be the longest lasting and most chip resistant solution.

[Janissarie]

do most of the work and I recommend sticking with original paint, it sucks when you paint the car different color, and it will cost you thousands more to paint the car fully different color

I would take the bumpers off, sand them down with 1000grit paper, wet sand, take all the trims off, fill in the dings and dents,

put it all together and take the car to the paint shop

the paint should not cost you more than a grand if you prep the whole car

Jani

just look at my paint

[monty]

Dp90 will turn gray because it is just an epoxy and has no UV protection. I recommend staying with the factory color because it will cost more to paint all the jambs if $$$ is an issue. Painting a complete for $2000 will not get you a quality job unless you do most of the prep yourself and you know what you are doing (remove and reinstall trim, fix dents, prime and block sand, then polish the finished product). Our shop rate is $50 an hour. So $2000 will get you 40 hours of work. It may sound like 40 hours is a long time but in the body shop world it's not. I sprayed my tuck with a factory GMC blue color (815k) with Dupont products. It took about 1 1/2 gallons of base coat to paint it including underhood, all jambs, inside and out of the bed. The base coat ONLY was $479 a gallon. There are different paint lines, (PPG, Sikkens, Martin Senour, Omni, to name a few). Check your local autopaint distributor for brands and costs. You can by the paint yourself and take it to the body shop. I paint cars for a living, if you have any ???'s let me know.

[5spoke]

Dp90 will turn gray because it is just an epoxy and has no UV protection. I recommend staying with the factory color because it will cost more to paint all the jambs if $$$ is an issue. Painting a complete for $2000 will not get you a quality job unless you do most of the prep yourself and you know what you are doing (remove and reinstall trim, fix dents, prime and block sand, then polish the finished product). Our shop rate is $50 an hour. So $2000 will get you 40 hours of work. It may sound like 40 hours is a long time but in the body shop world it's not. I sprayed my tuck with a factory GMC blue color (815k) with Dupont products. It took about 1 1/2 gallons of base coat to paint it including underhood, all jambs, inside and out of the bed. The base coat ONLY was $479 a gallon. There are different paint lines, (PPG, Sikkens, Martin Senour, Omni, to name a few). Check your local autopaint distributor for brands and costs. You can by the paint yourself and take it to the body shop. I paint cars for a living, if you have any ???'s let me know.

thanks for the help man.

The deal is I dont want to spend a crap load of money on a car with 215k miles. Dont get me wrong I love the car, and really want to keep it for a long time, but I want to figure out what is the smartest approach to this. My interior is in decent shape, except for the rear seat, and the engine is in pretty good condition, but could use a few things here and there.

"If" I were to consider painting in satin or flat black, are there any clearcoats, that will protect it, but not make it shine. I bought the car to drive and enjoy, but I would also like to show it some when I get it the way I would like it. I dont want to really have to consider to the "Maaco" level paint jobs, but I actually am considering doing some research on nearby "cheaper" shops. I guess the flat black thing looks bad ass in theory, but in reality might not be the most practical?

[rThor432]

The deal is I dont want to spend a crap load of money on a car with 215k miles.

Miles are unimportant. If you want a nice car you will have to spend more money to get it there. I spend a ton of money on my car, but that is because it is a BMW and I think it deserves the best stuff. If I had a Honda it might be different.

That said, what exactly is wrong with your paint? If that is your car in your signature then it is a red single stage car. If the paint is just oxidized you should be able to bring it back with some elbow grease.

[5spoke]

Miles are unimportant. If you want a nice car you will have to spend more money to get it there. I spend a ton of money on my car, but that is because it is a BMW and I think it deserves the best stuff. If I had a Honda it might be different.

That said, what exactly is wrong with your paint? If that is your car in your signature then it is a red single stage car. If the paint is just oxidized you should be able to bring it back with some elbow grease.

Well the guy who owned the car before me decided to start "trying" to prep it for paint. He sanded random spots on the car including spots on the hood, and trunk. Also it has been keyed down one side when the previous owner had it. There are no major dings or dents anywhere, so major body work is not required. But it does need a respray.

[UNHCLL]

should I do a respray of the same color to keep things from looking to nasty?

Yes.

I would love to paint the car satin or flat black, but I am worried about the lack of clear coat, meaning lack of paint protection. I think that the satin and flat blacks look really awesome when done right. This car would be mostly in the garage, or kept under a car cover when not in use, since it is not my daily driver. Does anyone have any opinions on doing the satin black paint?

Sure... paint it satin black. You've now turned a $2k car into a $800 car with a crappy, non-complete paintjob that 90% of body shops can't even do correctly.

-Chris

[5spoke]

Well I have decided just to do a respray of the same color. Flat black in theory is cool, but I figure it will probably be a bigger mess in the long run. Plus I found some threads with what zinno red really looks like, and I like it. Thanks for the help.

[speedhop]

Well I have decided just to do a respray of the same color. Flat black in theory is cool, but I figure it will probably be a bigger mess in the long run. Plus I found some threads with what zinno red really looks like, and I like it. Thanks for the help.

Don't fall for the r3v mind tricks!

Do your own shit...try new things...like you said, it's only $2000 so have fun with it and make it your own!

Don't listen to every party following r3ver...do it flat black and never look back.

Try out Hot Rod Flatz. It's chip and fade resistant and is highly durable. You could also try John Deer flat black, being that it is used on tractors with no problem, also very scratch, chip and fade resistent.

Yay r3v...destroying another creative mind :woowoo:

[Tavern Gnome]

there is nothing creative about painting a car flat black. Maybe 5 years ago it would have been "wild" to see a flat black E30. Now it will just look like a civic that wants to be a "rat rod".

[speedhop]

there is nothing creative about painting a car flat black. Maybe 5 years ago it would have been "wild" to see a flat black E30. Now it will just look like a civic that wants to be a "rat rod".

ummm....how many nice flat e30's have you seen?

exactly

[monty]

You seem like you want to be original. Why not base the car same color so you dont have re-color the jambs, and instead of using traditional clear, put a flattener in it this way instead of flat black it will be flat red and still have UV protection.

[einstein57]

they do make colored flats. I was reading about this custom pickup with a flat blue.

[monty]

I cant find the digitial pics, but after I got done painting my truck I sanded it down for polishing and it was all flat. It looked pretty cool actually. If I can find the pics I will post. Or maybe at work tomorrow I will take a picture of the car I have to polish after sanding it.