Paint now or later?

[Glyn_Turner]

There seems to be two main schools of thought regarding when to have the body painted. My origininal plan was to build it in Gel coat finish, SVA it, drive it for a while then strip it, paint it, an rebuild it. As delivery time gets closer I am trying to plan the build, and am now realising how much extra work this will actually be. Also unless I remove the body from the chassis and completely strip it there will be areas which although potentially visible, will never be painted.

So I have two slightly different questions depending on whether you painted at the beginning or the end.

If you painted at the beginning, did it cause you any problems during the build, if so what? Did you have any problems subsequent to the build ie rubbing panels, stress fractures etc. How did you transport the body after painting to avoid damaging the new paint?

If you painted after the car was on the road, did this affect the way you did the build, how far did you strip the car for painting, how much time did this take?

I am struggling with this issue, so I hope to get the benefit of lots of peoples experience.

Best regards


Glyn Turner

[wilf]

Glyn - my thoughts:

A GRP body is never, ever as stable as metal. They move, and the majority of movement occurs in the first year of being mounted to the chassis.
Also you will get things like boot/bonnet panels being "pinched" by the latch handles, possible reactions in the grp from adhesives on the underside, shadows where inner wings abut the underside and so on. All of this can be put right (for good) at paint prep stage.
What I did was to build, SVA, drive for a summer, then strip for paint. This allowed the shell to settle, move as it liked, bake in the sun etc. In short, to get the majority of inevitable bodyshell movement out of the way before paint.
I also got a perverse buzz from driving a disgustingly tatty shed around that could fly past just about anything else on the road! I admit I didn't even deflash the shell, nor polish it in any way - that's a job for the pro's (the painters). The only thing I got was being ignored at shows by the uninformed, since the thing looked so naff!
By doing this, I shall end up with a painted body that will look better for longer.

On the flip side, many folks paint during build. I was worried about this anyway, as you will inevitably make mistakes making openings for roll bars, windscreens etc - far more difficult to correct when painted, but many folks do it that way. I was also sh*t scared of scratching a fully painted body shell as I wandered around it with spanners/hammers/chisels/drills etc!! And boy did I scratch it 'cos I didn't care - made for a much more relaxed build.
The downside is the work involved in stripping it down for paint - interior out, all lights off, dash out, tank out etc. It took me 3 days of not particularly hard work, being as I had made allowances for it during the initial build, with interior panels held in with velcro, carpets not glued etc.The Crendon also helps in this respect with easily removable dash (two nuts, four multiplugs, plus instrument lines) etc.

I guess by now you have realised my preference to your question???

Wilf

[easthamr]

It is about time I got round to painting my machine too, although I have already built and have run for a few years. I would like ask how much I should be paying roughly for preperation and painting of the body?

[StuartH]

Haven't quite got round to painting mine either - it's still purple!!!
I got a quote a few months ago from a local paintshop - he's painted a few cobras and handbuilt from scratch a maserati replica so he's pretty good - he reckoned on from 1500 upwards including racing stripes, basically he said I could spend as much upwards as I liked (typical eh!!) depending on how much time I wanted him to spend prepping/gapping etc... the actual spraying bit was the 'cheap' bit.
He said he would have refused to do it if it was a sumo as he wasn't over chuffed with the previous one he did!!

Stuart

[Kevin W]

>He said he would have refused to do it if it was a sumo as he wasn't over >chuffed with the previous one he did!!

Well any car can be thrown together and look like a 'Scrapheap Challenge' regardless of make, although perhaps some early sumos were a bit ropey.

But sumo gelcoat is top quality.

Kevin

[wilf]

Stuart - I have no axe to grind, but I have to admit that Sumo gelcoat quality is not bad! Maybe your painter had a lot of work to do to rehang doors etc, certainly that could happen.

Some paint shops are plain not interested in proper body prep/alignment. Most can spray OK, only a few take the time to align, rehang, blend, fill and block sand several times over. It is what makes the difference between a so-so and a class paint job, and it never comes cheap. For a really good prep and spray job, in a shop that knows what they are doing, look at £3000 and up.

Wilf

[dave]

> £3000 AND UP?
HHHHHOWWWWW MUCH?
I know that perfect paint is priceless Wilf, but £3000
These guys charge enough as it is...I don't think you should encourage them any further.
I get my cars painted for a grand, and that includes "flat and polish",They bake it a few times first to help speed up the curing process of the GRP and then go around sorting out any distortions and blisters. The end result is very good,not a show stopper, but never the less a job you would be proud of.
They could go a little further, but with my cars being painted and on the road within 8 weeks of leaving the mould i think anything more would be wasted at this stage.I tell my customers about possible future distortion and caution them that the car could need a repaint in a couple of years or so and so far almost all have all gone for painted cars over the gel coat finnish.....You can understand them though,they spend over £20,000 on a car they want something that looks the biz from the word go.
Customers eh....bless 'em.

I'm losing the plot again aren't i?

[robert]

Dave

Losing? you lost it a long time ago!!!

:+ :+

Robert
Forum Admin

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[wilf]

Dave - you?? Lose the plot?? Surely never.

£3000+ is the figure for a full body fill and sanding job- we are talking about 4 weeks of filling and sanding here. Plus extra clearcoats etc. Not that that means a crap body to begin with, it's just what you would expect to do to a top end car for a long lasting, perfect paint job.

I know you can get a car sprayed for a grand, but that is not what is happening. And I don't want to be redoing it in a couple of years - this thing is for keeps, and it is meant to be a "show stopper". (what the hell I will feel like when the first stone chips show up I don't know).

And don't you go calling me no cheque book boy - I been saving up for years!

Wilf

[robert]

Excerpt from a mag article from David Smith of Classic & Sports Cars Services.

Some are good, some are bad, some want using as a fish pond liner, but most suffer from nearly the same faults, which I'll list later! I will not comment on specific makes (as it could get expensive!) but must say that some of the best bodieswe have worked on are wait for it THE PILGRIM SUMO!!!

http://www.cobraclub.com/html/paintyourwagon.htm

Robert
Forum Admin

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