Full body paint - Yes or No

[jgkurz 52]

Hi folks, I am having a debate with myself on whether I should continue with a partial paint or full body paint of my Mach 1. I would like your help to decide.

My original project started with a restoration of the engine and engine compartment. This escalated into also having the fenders, hood, and cowl painted while the engine and engine compartment were being worked on. The car is now running and driving so it's time to get the car together. Unfortunately, the front-end body parts are not done which got me thinking. My painter tells me it will be difficult to get an exact match with the rest of the car so they will have to blend. The paint on the back half of the car is a thin single stage done by a previous owner that is in fair condition. There are chips and scratches from age, but the gloss is still good. The color is a non-original red so it might be good to get the car back to the original candy apple. I was really looking forward to driving the car this summer, but I may be changing my plans. I thought I could just have the front of the car painted and it would look great. I have learned that front of the car will probably look different to the experienced eye. I know the cost goes up, but I am now thinking I should just find a way to paint the whole car since I'm already 50% disassembled. I plan to keep the car for many years so I'm happy to make more of an investment, but I will cross over where I'm into the car more than it's worth. If I'm honest with myself, It will probably take another year and 10K to get the car on the road if I do a full paint. I'm not wealthy so the extra money need to be saved. I think my painter could make the car look good (not great) if he just does the front, but I think I will always regret not painting the whole car when I had the front end already pulled apart.

So that's my situation. Would you just paint just the front or is it the right time to paint the whole car?

 

Thank you,

John

 

[Hux 45]

I hear you...tough decision.  Get it on the road and enjoy knowing full well that it will be years before you do the full paint job or suffer some pain for 12 months and get it exactly how you want....

If he does a colour match you will have double spent in reality as it wont look quite right, you wont be perfectly happy, you will be able to see the mismatch in your mind and then you will have do a full respray however you will then have to pay to have the front end repainted again.

 

I would (am) just sucking it up and doing it right the first time and (hopefully) saving money and pain.

 

[Shep69 149]

Hi John, 

A tuff call but if you have no plans on selling it any time soon and the car is already 50% apart just save up the coin and paint it all. I was in a similar situation and although it has taken a couple of years extra I’m happy with my decision.

If you think you will regret it if you don’t do it, you have answered your own question.

good luck 

Mark

[1969_Mach1 333]

Tough decision.  Consider the cost now to color match.  If the budget isn't there for a full repaint I would seriously consider the path of color matching.  If you are going through a body shop, you will easily have 8 to 10K in paint.

Lastly, I would say most of us have more invested in our cars than they are worth.  It's the nature of this hobby and not like what is seen on television.  Most of us don't consider our cars a money making investment.

[copb8 97]

That's a tough decision that I may face one day as well. My car looks great for the most part but whoever painted it missed some details and now there's some chips and nicks on it. Thing is that if I paint it now to make it perfect am I going to be too paranoid to drive it and enjoy it. As it sits now I use it all the time and don't get all wound up every time I park it somewhere.

Something to think about before dropping the $10K

 

[Bob & Sue 110]

Is it a single stage paint? If it is you should be able to deoxidize & polish the rear to get a good spectrum color match, I'd pull the trunk lid off & take it to the either the painter or paint supplier so they can match it correctly then paint either the hood or fender to see if your satisfied.

If it's base/clear coat that can be trickier the base doesn't change color it's the clear that can oxidize making it harder to match if the clear isn't failing there shouldn't be any problem matching it. Any good painter or auto paint supplier can match it Wesco, PPG dealers etc.If your painter isn't confident in his abilities find another one.  

The painter should be able to feather it in if the color is matched correctly, there is a lot more to match it than just having paint mixed a lot of things can make a color mismatch humidity, temperature, not completely spraying the car (like doing hood waiting a couple hours then the fenders),  changing spray pressure can very a color up or down on the spectrum, etc.

Like stated above it's a big investment for most of us that said a $7,000-$10,000 is at the low end for a restoration paint job, a concours paint job will be anywhere north of $40,000 to over $100,000. I have a local restorer that is ok his jobs are about $7k & up. Another one I know won't do anything unless it's a body of restoration his quotes are bring it in minimum $40k we'll call you when we know how many hours we have in it for a final approval before spraying the car the last restomod I looked when he finished was $85k.

It's a tough decision.   

[jgkurz 52]

Thank you everyone for the comments. I am leaning towards a repaint if I can find a shop that wants the job and will charge me a fair price. I won't be looking for bottom dollar, but rather someone who is experienced and wants to do the project. My current body shop is great for partials, but probably won't want to do the full repaint.

I started a new thread to discuss what parts need to be removed. Here we go!