Time to Paint it...

#1

Mechanically and safety equipment wise, my car is 95% there. I still
have to install my fire supression and do my timing belt and water pump.

It’s now time to paint the car. I’ve gotten estimates for a high end base/clear
job and also considered the MAACO special. I’ve been given free use of
a paint booth at a body shop, so I’ve decided to do it myself. It should be fun
and if I mess something up, well hey it’s a race car. I’ll also learn a lot in the
process. I’ve done everything else myself (except the cage) so I might as well
paint it too.

I’ve got 110 hours in my car so far so I’m guessing that I’ve got at least 30-50
more to go. I was hoping to debut my car at Rockingham in Oct., but I’m
guessing that it will not be complete by then.

I’m open to any advice on paint if anyone has any they would like to give.
I’m planning on doing a 1 step paint rather than a base/clear.

Steven

#2

Glad to hear that your almost done. It will be very rewarding once your out on the track and get to enjoy the fruits of your labor.

As for painting the car…if you have never painted a car or don’t have prior experience (as I don’t) I would be hesitant to tackle that job. I considered doing the paint job myself and after pricing the paint alone it would have been around $250 to $300. If you don’t really care about the quality of the outcome then I’d say go for it. But for $400 or less you can get pretty good paint job from Maaco and not have the hassle of messing with it. Everything I’ve read about people painting their own cars proves that the first DIY job looks pretty bad. But you may have better luck.

It sounds like you have ruled out the high end paint job which is a very good thing. Like you said its a race car and will be subject to very harsh conditions. My suggestion is to get lots of pictures right before your first race when the car looks its best. Because it will only go down hill from there. Ask me how I know.

#3

I’m in the same boat: 95% done and need paint (but I’m outta money)! I cannot wait to lose the damn Bronzit!!!:angry:

Sashs

#4

You might want to look up Peach Auto Painting & Collision – they did the paint and stripes on my coupe for about $500, including prep and primer (granted, I did remove a lot of the trim before dropping it off).

They’re a step above Maaco (sort of) and HQ’d in Atlanta.

If you are planning on running in October two alternative strategies:[ol][li]Get it painted now so the paint has a little time to cure and won’t chip as much (I ran the weekend after getting it painted and suffered for it)[/li]
[li]Slap cheap numbers (use contact paper) on the car and run it the way it is, giving you and your bank account time and a little rest – NASA-MA had no problem with me running the car with the nasty flaky clearcoat/delphin look for one weekend, so long as it was clearly numbered. (But do spend the money on the quarter window and windshield decals, since you won’t be painting those parts.)[/li][/ol]

#5

sharkd wrote:

Are you kidding…you’ve seen Al’s car right?:wink:

#6

Ex36 wrote:

[quote]I’m in the same boat: 95% done and need paint (but I’m outta money)! I cannot wait to lose the damn Bronzit!!!:angry:

Sashs[/quote]

:laugh: thats the colour of my car too, it will be getting painted

#7

screwynewy wrote:

[quote]sharkd wrote:

Are you kidding…you’ve seen Al’s car right?;)[/quote]

This was my car… on a good day: clearcoat.jpg

It’s not visible, but the roof and the trunk were worse than the hood.