Re-Painting a Rocco (experiences)

[big nick]

Our cars are getting on for 30 years old now, some are even closer to 40! So even with the most attentive owners in the world, 99% of our cars had had paintwork, or need some paintwork, or maybe bodywork too..

Some of you may have read my thread from last week Re; getting keyed on every panel, and as the insurance would write the car off if I claimed I'm gonna have to pay outta my own pocket - so I've been going to as many bodyshops as I can find on Google Maps and getting quotes from them.. The general pattern I'm noticing is a 'quick job' leaving the panels on, the glass in etc is around £800, and a 'proper job' ie, glass out, panels off, etc is around £1800.

Have any of you guys ever sent your Rocco for a full respray? How long did it take? How much did it cost? Were you satisfied with the results? How long lasting / hard wearing is the finish?

I'm still debating which bodyshop to use, and how much I want to go on holiday this year, so I was hoping I could get opinions, experiences and stories from you lot to help me make up my mind.

But its sunny out and I'm going to a VW meet later so I'm off to give her a good wash, hoover, polish and then have a nice cold beer when I'm done

TTFN

[Tim_R]

Speaking from experience, have a really good look at the finished work coming out of the paint shops you are looking at. I'd also consider taking a look at places which do classic car painting, shops that do accident repairs for insurance companies generally aren't going to take their time with prep and painting as much as someone who does restoration and painting for a living, classic car owners are generally going to be far more fussy about the quality of work than Joe Bloggs who's bumped his Focus.

I had mine fully repainted, everything out and off although the dismantling and reassembly was done by friends and myself and it took a long time, partly because of having to wait for the bodyshop to have time do do it, they did accident repairs mostly so mine was always on the back burner. It also had to go back a few times because the quality of work was nowhere near good enough. Have a look in the projects section for the full story!

Hope slightly rambling post helps a bit.

[essextom]

i used to own a custom bodyshop. make sure you get somewhere with a decent heated oven to paint the car, it will give it a better shine and the paint also comes out harder. 2 pack paint is still soft for couple of weeks after painting so more prone to stone chips.if its baked it should be very durable from the start. accident repair shops tend to get the jobs in and out as quickly as possible so they tend not to pay as much attention as a restoration or specialist workshop will. saying that accident repair places will be quicker and prob slightly cheaper. shop about and see what people say but if you want a really good job get a specialist to paint it. you could always remove the rear glass, door cards and trim yourself prior to taking the car to the body shop, it will save you money as most places charge by the hour.

[GTXTRA]

snathe or ant 'the autoad' well worth asking for advice.

[ghost123uk]

Some of you may have read my thread from last week Re; getting keyed on every panel, and as the insurance would write the car off if I claimed I'm gonna have to pay outta my own pocket

Can't you still claim off the insurance ?
The fact that they might "write it off" is not an issue really. You will get the value of the car and they usually are happy for you to keep the car. This type of "write off" does not stop the car from being still legally used on the road.

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Watching this thread, as my other half's 92 GTII got keyed a couple of years ago and this year I plan on splashing out on a re-spray (as the car is a keeper) Just a few miles from us is a small classic car restoration place and I will be taking it there (having had 2 poor experiences from "mainstream" accident repair type places). I have been there a few times to look at the E-Types and MGB type stuff they turn out and their work looks good.

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Good luck with it Nick

[Cpt Custom]

I'd also consider taking a look at places which do classic car painting, shops that do accident repairs for insurance companies generally aren't going to take their time with prep and painting as much as someone who does restoration and painting for a living, classic car owners are generally going to be far more fussy about the quality of work than Joe Bloggs who's bumped his Focus ...

Spot on with that advice IMHO. I just got Lily's bonnet resprayed at a 'mainstream' bodyshop, mainly because I knew someone who worked there.

Even though I did most of the prep myself and stressed to them that when finished the underside needed to be as good as the top, I wasn't happy with the finished result. Even after putting it back in the shop I still wasn't 100% happy, but given she'd picked up a few additional scuffs and scrapes while she was in there I decided to pull her out and make do.

If I ever want to get any additional work done I'll certainly be looking at going down the specialist route.

[essextom]

if you want a really good finish, your better off doing it yourself, spending a decent time prepping and paying attention to all the little bits.

[ghost123uk]

if you want a really good finish, your better off doing it yourself,

Agreed re the prep, but as for the final top coats you need £££££'s of gear, and preferably an infra red baking system :o

Mind you, I got a very good result once with good old fashioned "Coach paint" and I brushed it on !!! (Bedford CF van that was, in a gold sort of colour :))

[Nate]

far more fussy about the quality of work than Joe Bloggs who's bumped his Focus.

did i not tell you how much grief direct line got about the crap repair on our focus?

[Nate]

if you ignore the keying, what is the paint like on the rest of the car? if the rest of it is good, then it may be worthwhile looking into a "smart repairer" who will only paint the damaged area. i have seen this done to a very good standard. but as with everything, there will be good and bad

[big nick]

Hi Guys,

Sorry to bring this back up to the top again but I've decided what I'm gonna do..

I've spent every spare minute of the last few weeks going to every bodyshop within 50 miles that I could find on Google and I've noticed some very stark contrast within the car painting industry. Apparently,there are two types of bodyshop - there are the well respected places who pay LOTS of attention to detail, who will strip the car as far as possible, bare metal everything and treat your car as if it were their own. The type of place that invites you in for a walk round the place, shows you the cars they're working on currently and the quality of finish of jobs they've recently finished.. I found one of these places, two guys own the place, one has an IMMACULATE 1967 Ford Mustang, the other guy has an IMMACULATE Lotus Sunbeam - and in their workshop was a bare metal Mk1 Golf, a freshly painted Mk2 Escort mexico, and a Mk1 Capri with a 3 litre V6.. all of them looked absolutely PERFECT, the paint was like looking in a mirror! Plus the fact they spent just under an hour going over every square inch of bodywork on my car, making a bit of a 'mental list'

The other kind of bodyshop is the type of place where you wouldn't want to leave your car, the type of place that offer to 'mask it up and blow it over in about 3 days mate', without even seing the car, who have no work in at the moment and no examples of work to show..

I'm sure you can guess which one I'm going for (the one that I actually have confidence in, maybe?) and yes, two and a half grand and two weeks is a bit less competitive than six or 7 hundred quid and three days - but it'll so be worth it in the end.. pics to come as soon as the process starts

TTFN!

[Cpt Custom]

and yes, two and a half grand and two weeks is a bit less competitive than six or 7 hundred quid and three days - but it'll so be worth it in the end ...

I hope your planning on keeping the car for a while then as that's probably more than most of them are worth.

Something tells me though that you are in which case what you're proposing is an investment in the future and the best way forward without a doubt. Look forward to seeing photos when its finished.

[ghost123uk]

I hope your planning on keeping the car for a while then as that's probably more than most of them are worth.

Too true :(

We have 2 Scirocco's , 2 T25 campers and a 59 Matchless motorbike. One of the Scirocco's has to go (and later one of the T25's)

A while ago a "bloke in the pub" offered to tidy up a few scratches and a slight rear quarter panel ding on the 92 GTII = BIG MISTAKE = he made a right mess of the paint :( So the price we will now get for the car is less than before he fcuk'd it up :( and we would not get back any money spent on trying to correct it :(

That "mates rates" job from the "bloke in the pub" has cost us dearly

Anyone want a very sound 92 GTII with rubbish Graphite Metallic paint

[MacColl]

All I can say is..

For every bad quickly bodged job out there, there are enthusiasts who are proving them wrong by doing the whole process themselves.

The problem with painting is whether you do 60% or 99% of the process correct it can still end out being a disaster. Some people have been able to figure out the 100% through good research and even a bit of luck finding the right products and environment to get good results. There's a young guy 'Copage' on Edition 38 who has been doing his own rattle can repairs with halfords paints that look amazing. He's figured out a process that works.

I suppose if you can find the right people in your area then you might be able to get involved with some preparation to help keeping the costs down but that takes some research in itself. I am actually going to either spray some wings myself with a very good rattle can guide or prep the panels and try and get a good price on the spraying (I speak to guys in the trade in the local paint suppliers). Cars don't need to be bare metalled for good results as long as the correct processes/products are used (maybe for high end stuff) . There are people out there who have roller painted there cars which is a lengthy process involving sanding back each coat but the budget is low.

Cutting paint/colour sanding/ polishing/ detailing is an art in itself and this is the trouble there so many variables. I would try and get involved in at least part of the process. I still want to get into a mates rates situation where I can weld and fab and in return get stuff done

[Phil]

and yes, two and a half grand and two weeks is a bit less competitive than six or 7 hundred quid and three days - but it'll so be worth it in the end ...

I hope your planning on keeping the car for a while then as that's probably more than most of them are worth.

Something tells me though that you are in which case what you're proposing is an investment in the future and the best way forward without a doubt. Look forward to seeing photos when its finished.

When I had the Mk1 painted, I spoke to a number of bodyshops and agree with your findings the quality and type of outfit varies considerably, I was surprised by the amount of people who would quote without even looking at the car!! In the end it cost me a lot more than I budgeted for, but everyone seems cagey about telling you how much they paid for a respray so I never had much to go on, in the end it cost me £2500 for a full respray and we did a lot of the prep as well but the results were worth it.

I can't think of anything worse than spending a load of time getting a car right and then the final paint job lets all your hard work down