My Tijuana paint job

[monoblanco]

A few months ago I started looking into my options for painting my vert. The rates from shops that would do a better job are always more than my car is worth. Then there is the Earl Scheib type shops. It seems they would do such a crappy job that there was no point.

A buddy of mine suggested Tijuana as a joke. To me that did not sound like such a bad idea so I began my research. I found multiple threads on car forums about paint shops south of the border. These are some of the threads I found most useful when making my decision:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-914-914-6-technical-forum/159413-i-wanna-tijuana-paint-job-ideas.html

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=439586

Based on what I read I selected the shop that the gentleman from the samba forum suggested, taller Los Ponchos.

Taller Los Ponchos has been in business for over 40 years. Instead of just taping over everything they are removing tail lights, brake lights, door handles etc. Though there is no way to know what my paint will look like years from now my experience so far has been very positive.

[woodisgood]

Keep the pics coming.....did you get mexican insurance on your car while it is down there?

[IRON-E]

Your friend, is his name Angus?

[ak-]

Very cool.
A family member of mine used to go to Tijuana for dental work like root canals because the rates here are absurd, and it was quality. Paid close to nothing compared to here and he's very happy. No complains over the past years.

[monoblanco]

Your friend, is his name Angus?

I was not referred by a friend. I went after reading the feedback from the guy from the samba forum. He was referred to that shop by a friend. I did see his bus being worked on while there. This is it:

[monoblanco]

Keep the pics coming.....did you get mexican insurance on your car while it is down there?

Yea but only for the day I drove the car down. That's about $20 for 24 hours. Do not drive to TJ without insurance.

I will buy insurance again when It's time to drive the car back.

[nick526]

Mexican shops also use a lot of cool old school techniques that most shops up here don't like using lead to fill panels instead of bondo. Last time I was in TJ I saw an old dude using lead on a hood, was super cool.

[markseven]

Back in the late 80s TJ was the hot ticket for interiors and paint and body. It seems sketchy now... especially since my Spanish is more than lacking.

Did you negotiate in English or Espanol? What kind of security to you have that the car will A) be returned as promised and B) Returned? C) How long will it take?

If this comes out well I may just take my car there.

[monoblanco]

Back in the late 80s TJ was the hot ticket for interiors and paint and body. It seems sketchy now... especially since my Spanish is more than lacking.

Did you negotiate in English or Espanol? What kind of security to you have that the car will A) be returned as promised and B) Returned? C) How long will it take?

If this comes out well I may just take my car there.

Spanish is my 1st language so that was not a problem.

They quoted me $1000 US. I did not try to go lower.

I asked them a lot of questions about what they would do to prep the car, and about how they would address the rusty areas.

An upholstery shop across the street from the paint shop is installing a new top for $130 (I supplied the top).

There is no guarantees.
a) If the paint job they do is crap it still will be better than the Earl Scheib special.

b) If the car was to be stolen it would suck, but then again at its current state it is hardly a $2000 car. Also I have not found any or heard any stories about stolen cars in Tijuana.

c) They told me the car would be ready in 12 days. It is not my daily driver so I'm in no hurry to get it back until I'm happy with the outcome.

[dirk619]

Your friend, is his name Angus?

I was thinking the same thing.


What part of SD are you from sir?

[joeymc123]

haha socal buddies!! all this talk about angus i had to say wadup to socale30, my main e30 forum :nice:

[monoblanco]

I was thinking the same thing.


What part of SD are you from sir?

I live in Encinitas.
Is Angus someone who had some work done in Tijuana?

[dirk619]

He got his care painted there a while ago, we live south of SD. I'm off the 54 by Plaza and Angus is around Imperial beach.

You can catch us more @ www.Socale30.com

[monoblanco]

Ok here is the work in progress so far.

We had a little misunderstanding.

I had told the owner that I wanted to take pictures of the car before the paint, but that I would not be able to stop by until the weekend. He asked me, "so you want us to go slow?" I told him no, that I did not want to hold them back, and asked him to take the pictures for me. Well I got there last weekend and they had not touched the car.

Today however there was some progress:





















The guys from an upholstery shop across the street started fixing my rear seat, just the back side. They are also replacing the carpet inside and installing the convertible top I bought.

[markseven]

Looking good so far, mang. Can't wait to see the final pics.