Well, a few years ago I got my '92 Vette for a pretty good price. It had 32k miles on it, interior was perfect, and the engine purred like new. The only problem was the paint on all the top surfaces of the car (paint was faded pretty bad). So this summer, I took her to a detailer, to see what I could ahve done. He worked on it for quite a while, and she came out nice and shiny. A couple weeks later, however, after a rain storm, water spots and other nasty "artifacts" started appearing on my baby. I took it back to the detailer, and he tried to buff it out, but said that the paint had oxidized so bad, that there wasnt much he could do with it. Over the past 4 months, it has gotten worse and worse, to the point that my car always looks dirty. I am almost ashamed to drive her around (she looks abused!!) What I am wondering is, how much would an inexpensive paint job run me? (as a grad student, I probably should not have a vette, as the insurance kills me, so I have to do this as inexpensive as I can). I figure it cant look any worse then it already does. Are there any "master" detailing vette owners here in central NJ that could give me a hand with possibly fixing the problem without re-painting? Any info would be great.. Thanks!

 

your clear coat sounds dead... repaint... sorry...

 

theres no way to do anything right cheap. You could go for a MAACO paint job, but you get what you pay for. I own a body shop, and yes, sounds like your clearcoats died.

 

a cheap estimate but my vette specialist is going to charge me about $2500 to paint mine triple-black with a triple-clear and he does excellent work. If youre gonna repaint yours the same color, then you might get it for a little less. Cost of living is so high in NJ that my $2500 is more like $3500-$4000 for you.

 

I just had every area except for the bottom of the doors and the bottom of the rear qtrs on my vette re-painted same color for $2,000 with a dbl clear coat. If you want to come to NY, his number is 845-227-2520


[Modified by 1991C4, 4:33 PM 12/8/2001]

 

How good of a job did he do?? I could probably swing 2k this spring.

-Mark

 

Time for new paint. Should go for approx. 2500-3000. Materials alone go in the range of 800-1000. You get what you pay for.

 

Mark--I had my 1991 painted for $2500. in jackson nj (where i live) the shop is CARLSONS Automotive 732-9281515
my car was a color change also, so it was a great deal of work and the job they did was fantastic. they do a lot of corvette work and the owner Carl has had over 95 corvette of his own over the years. If you call him you can tell him you were refered
by me JIm Addonizio--my car was in the shop for 4 weeks for the color change--i am getting ready to send in some photos from start to finish on the job--any questions e-mail me---good luck jim a :cheers: :flag

 

Hey I live in NJ, I might just check this guy in Jackson out, I need my front bumper repainted, that probably won't be too expensive.

 

Agreeing with everyone,get new paint for the car.
Youll be far happier in the end and long run then trying to polish it down to the primer.

Since the paint was just faded bad,most good shops will sand and scuff down the factory paint and repaint over it.
Theres nothing wrong doing it that way and is cheaper then sanding the car down to the primer and redoing it all the way up.

My advice is save money for that goal.ALso,get new outer window seal moldings so you can take the old ones off,or the shop,and paint the doors correctly with no masking lines.

This will prevent peeling as well later.
Id also take off the mirrors and their reusable plastic gaskets for the same reason as well.
Or let the shop do that when they paint the car.
They can just mask off the door handles then.

If youre serious about the paint job,try NOT to wax the car or polish it anymore.
Just wash it good.
Keep tire dressing off the tires too.No armor all either.Keeping that stuff off the car and cleaning it well by good washes will help a bit when its paint time.

Even though they will clean the paint with a wax and grease/silicone remover,the less there is on the car, the better the prep job will come out.
Those products can cause paint problems if they cant get it all off at the shop.
Theres a high chance the detailer used silicone based polishes and that needs to be off the paint to ensure a good job.

Good Luck!!
:)

 

Jimbo-

Thanks for the info. I will definatly be in touch with him. Jackson, NJ.. how far is that from Princeton? (I just moved here a few months ago). I would be interested in seeing your vette, and the quality job that was done.

Bill-

I figured I would have to re-paint it, but was just hoping beyond all hopes that I wouldnt have to. I guess I will start saving up for paint instead of gears (ouch).. but the gears will come eventually. How much do new window seal mouldings cost? (they are just the black strips that are along the window right?? The black is starting to come off mine, so it would be nice to replace them anyway.) I definatly wont wax my car any more.. it really makes no difference anyway. I just find it amazing how the paint went from "so-so" to terrible in a matter of 2 months. I guess thats what happens when the paint isnt in great shape though. Thanks again for the info!

-Mark

 

Mark --Jackson is about a 20 minute drive from princeton--cross over rt! and head for Freehold--jackson is south on rt 9
about 7 miles--e mail me and i'll give you my number if you want to see my car.
PS--Carlson also replaced all the door mouldings and weather stripping for that price jim a : :flag :D

 

Hey Mark,
Glad to be of some help...the outer window seals are about 30-40 bucks a side.Somemtimes cheaper for the set of two, like 60 bucks or so,depending on which company you get them from.Jeff Kopp(18carfan) on the forum may be able to get them for you at a good discount from GM.

Or you can speak to the shop and see what they can do for you.Sometimes they will get you trims and moldings for near their cost since youre giving them a full job to do.

In case you wanted to know, the seals are accessible by taken off the door panels,and drill out 2 or 3 pop rivets near the edges,then they pull off their clips.
Then once theyre out of the way, the mirror nuts(2 of them) can be removed easily to take them off the door.

Its a simple job the shop can do while theyre at it.
:)

 

Thanks for more info Bill. I have actualy wanted to replace that trim anyway (as I said, its starting to show its age). Looks like this is going to be an entire makeover for my car! I wonder how it would look, red, with a big white grand sport stripe up the middle.. hey.. if you are gonna step in mud, do it properly! (BTW: This is my normal account. I was on another computer for a few days and forgot my password..) :cheers: