Thinking of sending in my DD for a full respray in the original color, when I bought this car 5 years ago the paint condition was already like this, it hasnt gotten any worse and in fact I have replaced some moldings and the headlights so it probably looks better. Everything internal (engine, drivetrain etc) I DIY and is near perfect for 208K, however the body has always caused my ride to be a laughing stock.

Since I have put 60K miles since I bought this I am thinking of keeping this car for the long haul, but as you can see in the pics the paint is peeling and oxidized, and I need to have three dents on the side fixed. I called one shop and they said dont waste your $, it would be $2K for a full respray (this shop is in santa ana, socal).

My question is, how much work could I do on my own to save some cash, as I understand the prep work eats a significant amount of time and cash? I probably pay a PDR guy to smooth the dents but I have no experience in sanding or primer or bondo...... Is the paint condition just too far gone to bother having a respray? Its a pity because the internals and interior are really clean and smooth for the miles and age of the car........

My budget (as in amount to pay ppl for this job) would be no more than $1K.

 

a hundred views and no suggestions? I guess I will be taking it to Maaco then ....

 

you always get what you pay for. so dont expect much from any shop if you dont want to spend more than 1k. Maaco probably would be your best bet.

Your paint is too far gone, and thats why you need a respray.

if u were looking into doing things your self, this paint and body forum has covered the topic of how-to/tips/tricks/techniques/tools-needed a million times over... and the rest of the internet, and Youtube has all your answers and tutorials as well.

 

when you say too far gone, does it mean I need to sand down to bare metal? or just 150 and up grit? and I was hoping to get an evaluation from the many experienced eyes on how much work the car needs, like, if the dent is too huge for PDR, the paint is too oxidixed to just respray over etc etc.....I am not asking for a DIY but more like recommendations based on the condition of the paint I have posted here.

 

He means your clear coat is peeled off too far so the paint is now uncovered. If some clear coat remains you can wet sand it and have basically new paint with a slightly thinner clear. You need to repaint it because the paint has now faced the elements.

 

so those dark greyish patches are areas that have peeled off clear coats, or is the basecoat oxidized as well since it is dark color. And the roof....I always thought it was oxidized, but now I am just confused....if it has lost its clear coat how come it doesnt look llike the patches on the hood?

and the large dent on the rear quarter panel.....is it too large to PDR and have to be pulled?

and btw does anyone else with this level of trim (DX, stock 97) actually bother to respray? I plan to keep this car for at least a few more years if not forever since it is paid for (bought it for $3k in 2008) and I know its probably only going to get $500 on craigslist...

 

I have an 02 accord se with less than 40,000 miles on it and my bumpers look like your car. At best I'd send it to macco, your putting in 2k on a car that's not even worth $500. It doesn't pay. If it Barthes you that much, have the car sanded down and have macco fill the dents and do a mid level paint job. The better the car is prepped, the better the paint will look.

 

I had a Civic in worse shape than that that I painted myself. It was not really all that hard although I ended up painting it three times, mostly because I didn't get a few things right the first time. All you need is a cheap Harbor Freight air spray gun ($30) and about $120 worth of paint. I used Rustoleum with an acrylic enamel hardener and reducer the first time, sort of for practice. It looked pretty good really and only cost like $35 for paint. The second time I used Restoration Shop single stage Urethane with a hardener of course and it came out really well. The body work you have there looks easy. Looks like a good car to learn on. Here is a picture of when the bodywork was done. Next post will be with it finished since this post wouldn't let me load the picture.

 

Here's with the urethane. Still looks good years later. Sorry about the bad picture.

 

thanks steve! did you do a color change? I would consider DIY if I had a place to put a compressor and air gun, but I live in an apartment complex. Even sanding I have to do in a parking structure.

I was just gonna do a 'closed door respray' in the same color, ie no door jams etc to minimize cost . I understand the Maaco in Stanton, CA is pretty good provided I do some prep on my own. I plan to remove the side trims ,under fender splash guards, get a new bumper and maybe mask off myself although I heard masking is the hardest part of prep???

Also is it necessary or common for people to remove the tail lights/headlights before a respray? Does it make a difference to the paint shop if I remove as much as possible from the car before sending over?

 

As for my car, it was originally red faded completely to a chalky pink color so anything I did was an improvement and the door jambs remain red to this day. I would recommend the same color or one very close to it. That makes it waaay easier.

I would go down to Maaco and talk to them. That doesn't cost you anything. Ask them what they think, hang around and chat. I just saw on a Jeep forum where someone was very happy with a Maaco job for $500 but a lot of people said it depended on the particular franchise shop.

You can do body work in any parking lot, but if you are going to pay for the paint you might as well pay for the bodywork since what you have there except for the rust doesn't look that bad.

Do a search on "wetsanding". Maybe you could wetsand the clearcoat and go to Autozone and get 2 cans of clearcoat to get you by for a couple of years til you get the car you really want.

 

thanks again, yeah I think I will just let them handle the bodywork....but I will probably remove as much of the trim as possible in order to save some labor time and I know I am more **** about putting it all back together with new clips/ or even replace moldings if necessary.

this might sound crazy but I am perfectly happy with this car as I have grown very familiar with it after 5 years of daily driving. I feel very comfortable working on it, know where to get all the parts,get great mileage and I know there isnt much to break in the first place since everything on it is a manual!

PS: I noticed your door side trims are not there anymore, how did you fill in the holes? or is that model always like that without the side trims?

 

The trim looked pretty bad so I just removed it. I filled the holes with Bondo after epoxying a piece of tin can on the inside. Hey, it worked.

 

Ok, as an update I got an estimate from a production bodyshop. I am going to go with a single stage urethane in the same color, they also offer a clearcoat layer on top of that for an extra $150.

My question is would that clear coat make a difference in terms of looks/metalic appearance and durability? Isnt single stage urethane supposed to not need a clearcoat like BC/CC? FWIW I keep the car outdoors.

PS: they have to sand down to metal and primer the hood and almost to the metal for the roof and trunk because as you can see in the pic the base coat is 'contaminated' /destroyed.

 

I'd go ahead with the clear for only $150. That's not very much and it will help with durability plus it will look better.

 

thanks was considering that just that I had a budget and that would have put me $150 over it but no big deal if it makes an improvement to the final result.

did you clearcoat your urethane painted ride in your pic?

 

I did not clearcoat it and I must say it looked just fine. It was a metallic paint though, not sure if that would be any different. I bet it would look so much better with new paint that you wouldn't care if it didn't have the clear. You could just save the money and keep it for other maintenance to come.

 

yep thought about it more and would just save the $150 for new shocks. Mine is a metallic too, I was told urethanes dont look good in metallic but yours look fine!

 

That car, If its worth it to paint it, then paint it. The 1000 you put into it you will get back most if it out of it. Or you could just say screw the paint and just build a sleeper.

 

at this point a new paint job for the car is for my own personal satisfaction...being driving around like this for 5 years ; since the day I bought it the car paint was in this condition, will probably want to keep this car forever since its basically FOC to own just gas $ and liability only insurance to run.

I am now 'attached' to this car and love how easy it is to DIY everything....and am slowly restoring the car to an almost new condition. That includes drivetrain, interiors, but of course you have the whole freaking body which needs a new coat and that is my #1 priority on the next list of to do.