I recently purchased a 1970 LT1 tribute, convertible 4 spd. in beautiful Mulsanne blue. The passenger door has a chip about the size of a quarter, and an electrician doing work in my garage while I was on a business trip must have accidentally dragged a screwdriver across the door while it was covered. I can only assume he turned around with a toolbelt on, and was too close to the car. Yes, I read the riot act to my wife about this. I only realized this about 3 hours after returning, and now it will be hard to prove he did it.

Point is, if I bring if to a known Corvette shop, what would be a fair price I can expect to have the door repaired and repainted?

I appreciate any info you can provide.

 

I would contact the previous owner and see if they have paint code if they or the previous owner might have the paint code assuming it has been repainted. Don't see the need for a Corvette shop for the repaint. Just a really good body shop.

 

Sorry to hear. Painful isn’t it. Be prepared for a wide wide range of answers!! Your location would also play a significant factor in the cost.

Ike

 

Thanks, so you think a "repair' can be made without actually repainting the entire door? That would be great. Tampa Bay area.

The paint is a correct mulsanne blue, but this was a paint job from 20 years ago. The car was originally maroon.

 

Is it base clear or single stage paint? and where on the door is the damage? If the chips and scratch are in the center of the door and it is base clear paint, the easiest and least noticeable way to repair it would be to sand out the damage, fill if needed then prime. Then spray color only to the damaged area blending out into the door. Then clear the whole panel. In this area, for a reputable shop, it would probably run you $400-$600 to get it fixed

 

Not sure why it was important to state you “read the riot act” to your wife. What did she do wrong?

 

Because if she were in the garage while they were working on the breaker box, she could have ensured they stayed a good distance from the car.

 

What part of the door is it in? Upper or lower? How long is the scratch?

There is a complicated answer to your problem. It comes down to how much do you want to pay, how 'good' do you expect the repair to be when finished/vs cost? Will the insurance company cover it?

1) Repair scratch. One way to go if the scratch is not quite in the most visible part of the door is to attempt to build the color and build the clear with several applications over a period of a few days so it is above the rest of the paint surface (very carefully!!), then wetsand the clear down level with the rest of the paint surface, and machine-buff it out. Depending on how careful you are/were ...and how good of a job you do, the results could range from almost undetectable, to not all that great. This would be the cheapest and quickest way to go. I would try this first, look at it in different light ...if it's satisfactory then leave it. If not, then go to the 2nd stage.

2) Take it to a body shop. They'll probably need to paint the scratch area (after the repair) and clear the entire door. Hopefully that's all they'll need to re-clear. If it's a good paint job and good painter, you shouldn't really be able to see it. If they do a crappy job, then everytime you look at the car door, you'll see a dis-colored splotch. So you want to find a good painter to handle this.

If your insurance is covering it and you don't want to goof around, skip step 1, go straight to #2.

Show us some before and after pictures when you get it fixed.

 

ThNks. The chip, which was present when I bought the car, is near the passenger doorlock. The "scrape" is more in the middle of the door and is maybe 12 inches long.

I will take it to the Corvette Shop in Tampa for their assessment, and maybe go for a few more touch up spots as well, if pricing is reasonable. I definitely cannot afford right now ro repaint the whole cat at a cost of approx. $15K.

 

This could be a job for a good local bodyshop. A shop that does a lot of paint 'blending' day in and day out. But one that has a local owner deicated to 'get it right'. Since it's metallic, blending is actually easier b/c you do the blending ...then, you clearcoat the entire door. You don't add color to the entire door, just blend around the scratch. But then it gets down to the angle of color application, air pressure and so on. If it's an insurance claim, have the shops give an assessment like you say. You may want to have the adjuster look at it BEFORE you do scratch mitigation ...because once you start into it, you open the possibility of disputing the amount of damage.

 

[QUOTE=Mark G;1605789602]This could be a job for a good local bodyshop. A shop that does a lot of paint 'blending' day in and day out. But one that has a local owner deicated to 'get it right'.

Hello, this is very similar to what happened to me last March. A very elderly guy backed into me at a gas station and tapped the "nose" of my '78. It chipped the paint about an area of 1" by 3" I took it to one of the best shops in the tri-state area who I know the owners pretty well and they've done 2 previous jobs. They matched the "Corvette-Red" paint perfectly, total cost $480. The owner asked me the age-old question, "You want it done cheap, or you want it done right"! Of course, my answer was I want it done right. He said good, 'cause I don't do cheap! Regards, LowSporty

 

Pics would help us give you better guidance. That's a nice color and a good body/paint shop (doesn't have to be a vette shop) can do a good job at matching.


Sorry if I'm sticking my nose where it doesn't belong, and I mean this with respect as we all blow it once in a while. I'm guessing you are kidding with the above comments. If you're not, IMO, you owe your wife an apology and a really nice dinner out. You can let her know that the emotions of seeing your 2nd level pride and joy temporarily got the better of you, and your 1st level pride and joy (her) didn't deserve to be the brunt of it.

 

Doctor Phill and autobody 101. Love this site.

 

lol

 

No, not an insurance claim, so all out of pocket. And I may have exagerated a litfte bit when I said I read her the riot act.. but I certainly wasn't happy, that's for sure, and let her know. That's enough for Dr. Phil.

Can't take pics -cause I'm back traveling already, but will be back end of the month, so I can post pics then.

Btw I may ask them how much to pull the "LT-1" stickers (and maybe the stripes, too) off the hood and blend any discoloration under the stickers. I just don't like the idea of "advertising" it as an LT-1 when if wasn't born as one. Just a hang-up I have. I'd rather have no stripe or lettering, with the "big block/LT-1 hood (which is required due to the highrise manifold).

Thanks, all!

 

Actually, I have a pic of the small chip that was on the door when I bought the car. The scratch will have to wait for my return.

 

My tach needle fell off the other day, and gumby doesn't bend well, so I have to pay someone to pull the dash and reattach the needle. This is obviously prior. These pics were from the seller before I bought the car. Other than these, the pic in my garage, and the paint chip, were after the purchase.

 

 

Car looks nice. That picture you posted isn't a scratch, it's thick paint which has cracked, or possibly bondo which has cracked. There's more work to do on your car than simply filling a scratch. But it can be repaired by whichever shop you choose.

 

What’s worse, bitching out his wife? Or the fact he expected her to watch over the electrician while he/she was working? Hmmm, tough call…