Paint, what to expect?

[spence]

Almost done with the mechanicals, the car has surface rust over the right rear quarter panel, trunk, severe spider cracks.
I am considering prepping the car myself in hopes of saving money. What price should expect for a paint job? Not looking for show quality, something to keep the rust at bay, looks good on the road etc. I plan on a full restoration in the next few years when business picks back up. What about Macco?

[Jimb]

Almost done with the mechanicals, the car has surface rust over the right rear quarter panel, trunk, severe spider cracks.
I am considering prepping the car myself in hopes of saving money. What price should expect for a paint job? Not looking for show quality, something to keep the rust at bay, looks good on the road etc. I plan on a full restoration in the next few years when business picks back up. What about Macco?

If you are doing a full restoration then it makes sense to wait and do body and paint then. If you plan to keep the car you will definitely regret saving any money on prep and paint now.
My advice...do it right, don't go cheap.
Jim

[v6spider]

If you are doing a full restoration then it makes sense to wait and do body and paint then. If you plan to keep the car you will definitely regret saving any money on prep and paint now.
My advice...do it right, don't go cheap.
Jim

Solid advice for sure. If you have surface rust I can guarantee that there is more than what you can see with the naked eye. At least that is my experience when going in to fix it. Take your time cut out grind and treat all the rust or you will regret it. If you must wait just treat the rust with something for now there are rust converters out there.... at least that is what i would do.

Rob

[spence]

I neglected to mention this is my daily driver. I bought it before I lost my higher paying job, so a grand paint job is out for now. My main concern is the rust eating through the metal, it snows here, they use road salt, you get the idea. I have inspected the car, surprisingly, there's very little rust elsewhere on the car. There's a guy who works at Advance Auto who has a paint booth, he painted his Beetle, looks pretty good. He said $400+materials

[wikkid]

It's going to be hard to prep the car yourself if it is your daily driver, unless you have a week off work. On the other hand, it would be hard to give your car to a paint shop if you need it like that, too. The real work is going to be in the prep. Done well, it can last a good, long time.
-Chris

[Raze]

Prep the car, roll-on paint, one coat per night when you get home from work, wetsand when you get home, roll another coat, keep working. $35/qt of topside marine boat paint from Westmarine, If you don't have $$$ a $400 isn't going to really do that good of a job, sorry. I'd rather spend $50-75 for roll-on including paint, thinner, high density foam rollers, sand paper, and some painter's tape. If you started on a Friday evening you could get 5 good coats with sanding in by Monday morning...

Just food for thought:

[spence]

I had a painter suggest, like others have here, do the prep myself, to insure it's done properly, and that Macco would do a pretty good job provided I had done the prep myself. I would sand, primer, tape, remove. Raze, good info, I will research further.

[v6spider]

I had a painter suggest, like others have here, do the prep myself, to insure it's done properly, and that Macco would do a pretty good job provided I had done the prep myself. I would sand, primer, tape, remove. Raze, good info, I will research further.

spence: Take a look at my post - The True Enemy...
http://www.fiatspider.com/f08/viewtopic ... 15&t=11828

Rob