After deciding ages ago to leave the body as naked ali, I'm starting to get second thoughts.

There is no way I can do my own spraying in my garage (it's directly connected to the house, and the top end has the freezer, tumble dryer, etc.) so I have to get someone to do it for me - also, I'm not confident that I can do a decent job.

So, the question is, has anyone had their car painted professionally (i.e. a local body shop) and how much did it cost?

I'm talking about the external ali panels, bonnet, and scuttle. The GRP will stay self-coloured.

At present I have no idea of the sort of money I'd have to shell out. If it's too much then bare ali may start to look appealing again!

rgds

David

A good rule of thumb is about £100 retail per paintwork panel excluding parts and repair work. If you can find a bodyshop that is quiet this time of year (the smaller ones will be cheaper, they dont have the same EPA restrictions that we have), they would probably charge about £400 for a top line job using all 2k paints and primers if you do most of the prep yourself, including any necessary stripping.

Thanks, Mark.

That sort of works out to the total I'd estimated... £400 - £500 for a good job.

My next problem would be how to present the car. I really don't want to strip it back to the bare chassis + ali. In your experience, if I leave it on its wheels, with the engine & transmission in, but with just about everything else removed (including the GRP bits), would a paint shop be able to cope?

I only want to get the side panels, rear panel, scuttle and bonnet painted.

In that state of strip-down I can borrow a trailer and easily take it to the paint shop. Any other way and it's a lot of work to prepare, and just about impossible for me to transport.

cheers,

David

David,

Just a thought, but could you take just the parts to the paintshop. Pre-drill all holes etc, so all you have to do is reattach painted panels.

ATB

Simon

Too late!

See my pics in the photo section to see where I'm at (or a few months back, anyway).

David

David,

See you point.

As a matter of interest, did you make your roll bar, or purchase.

If the latter, who did you but from?

Thanks

ATB

Simon

Made it myself - got some suitable tube (50mm diam x 3mm wall thickness), hired a BIG hydraulic tube bender for a day, and got stuck in.

It's heavy, but that's one bit of weight-saving I'm not interested in!

David

If you take the car without wheels, they will probably tell you to f*ckoff! they will need to move it around the paintshop. I wouls remove all the glass, and dismantle enough for the front wishbones to be remove in a few minutes, they can paint all the GRP and the side panels on the car without any really awkward angles around the front suspension. If in doubt, ask them what they prefer.

Thanks Mark,

I guess it's the old, old story - the more that you can reduce the professional's man-hours, the less the cost.
Fortunately I don't need to worry about the GRP - that's staying yellow!

regards

David