Getting my car painted!

[Tom]

I finally bit the bullet and decided to have my car painted. I had the windshield-forward redone maybe 10-12 years ago and the color was never right. One of the rear quarters is yet another shade of red, as is the rear bumper. And the paint on the roof and doors are original non-clear red that's half a wax job from hitting primer (and already has in a few spots). So, while it is presentable, it's always bugged me....

On the recommendation of a friend in the industry, I'm having Beeline European Auto Care do it, over in Santa Cruz, CA. Interesting place in that the do mechanical work and paint/bodywork -- mostly of the project ilk. Will post pics and progress along the way, and fingers crossed it comes out nicely. Here's a before shot that highlights the color mismatch. I considered blending and wraps, etc., but ultimately concluded life's short, the remaining factory paint is timing out, I'm never selling this car, and I want it right. So here we are....

paint-mismatch.jpg (232.88 KiB) Viewed 75 times

[Themetalguy852]

That would bug me, too lol, but I'm sure it's going to look sick when it's done. I can't wait to get my car repainted, but there's a bunch of mechanical stuff that needs to be addressed first

[blueline]

Nice and congrats! Looking forward to the progress pics and commentary as well as the after photos. (I know all will be well documented... )

And yes, quality new paint that will be uniform and modern is going to be awesome!

[blade7]

I guess it depends how far the car is dismantled, and if there's any rust. A guy over here had his red turbo properly painted a while back, and I'd guess the going rate for a job like that would be around $12-15000. On a different note, what size front brakes can you run under those 16" wheels?

[zooklm1]

Congratulations Tom. I had a date to get my 86 painted last year and had all the gaskets for the disassembly/reassembly. I had to call it off as part of purchasing my 968 cabriolet agreement with my spouse. The estimate at that time was $9k-10k for a windows out, strip to bare metal base/clear coat system. Probably $2k in seals/soft goods. Their backlog was 9 months. I have not given up on the repaint, hence keeping the parts in the house(heated/cooled space).

[barnwerks]

I recommend limiting the amount of bare metal exposed in the refinishing process. If panels are displaying original paint or if original paint is found below a respray, a controlled sanding down to, or near to the factory applied primer surface is best. The metal treatment and substrates originally applied to these cars simply cannot be duplicated.

[Feld]

There is bit more to the process, it depends what paint system is used which specifies the primer for bare metal and filling top coat primers which get wet sanded before new paint is applied. Pick a good shop and let them do their thing with the paint system they have. I would prefer a premium paint system like Glassurit, Spies Hecker or Axalta which used to be dupont.

[Outlaw944]

Awesome. Look forward to seeing the results. Sadly a lot of cars this age have had spot painting and show different shades of red. There is a real science behind red paint and why it dulls more than any other. I could talk for hours. For those that want to know if your car has been painted (specifically red cars) just take a black and white image to see the different shades. A doorbell camera at night is a good tool for this to see...

[Latitude48]

Sounds exciting. I need to do the same for the 944 S2. I think it may have had a port repaint of the RF fender as that one has always looked different after aging and is much more susceptible to water spotting and fading. Or maybe the previous owner had it done but didn't say anything about it. I'm the 3rd owner and have had it for 29 years and 120,000 miles.

Edit: Tom, this would be a great time to install a Euro rear bumper and molding or update the mirrors to 968 versions if so inclined.

[Latitude48]

Awesome. Look forward to seeing the results. Sadly a lot of cars this age have had spot painting and show different shades of red. There is a real science behind red paint and why it dulls more than any other. I could talk for hours. For those that want to know if your car has been painted (specifically red cars) just take a black and white image to see the different shades. A doorbell camera at night is a good tool for this to see...

Ah, so true. I had a minor accident when my S2 was parked in the garage where the center panel in front of the hood got damaged when a leaf blower fell off a rack and bounced off the panel. When that was fixed I also had the 968 mirrors and door handles installed. That panel and the mirrors have always had a somewhat different shade.