Hmmmm - considering I've never done any work like this before I'd be hesitant to take to my mini with a spray gun for the colour coat. I have someone who can help me with the prep work and undercoat who's worked with mini's all his life - admittedly he's a mechanic, not a painter/panel beater. Still very unsure what I should do???? I'm more inclined to get the car to bare metal stage and get a good panel shop to do the rest. Surely this is not that unreasonable? Aren't I actually helping the panel shop by doing this? By getting it to this stage I haven't actually done anything that might jepardise the final result. Please correct me if I'm way off here.



Looks like you did a "stirling" job there pete. I really like the finish on that. Was this one finished in Acrylic or 2pak?? I think this guy got pretty good value from looking at the pics.



Hmmmmm - really appreciate your advice pete. Sill no closer to deciding how I'll go about this though. Unfortunately I don't have any friends who are painters but as I said once before, I do know a painter through a trusted friend in the mini club. I guess the best thing I can do at this stage is to just go down to the panel shop and speak with him about what I want to do and get some ideas off him. I'd be very very hesitant to do this myself as I want to do my car justice and get the result that it deserves. With a limited budget of course. Hate that part!! I wish I could just walk into a panel shop with an open cheque book and say "here - make it perfect".

Thanks again.

_________________

That's what I'd be doing, stripping the shell back to bare metal should save you quite a bit, from what my brother has experienced each panel beater will want different levels of preperation / stripping of the shell so the safest bet is talk to the person who will do the work.

Find a repairer you can trust, and try not to make them quote too tightly (this may seem strange) but if they are forced to quote to an exact figure they may add a margin for error in case they find rust or extra work that needs doing, by all means get a ball park figure and then ask that they keep you informed about how much work is required and how much it will cost in the end.

I wouldn't be tempted to do the striping etc and then go for a cheap spray job, after all the paint job (and getting rid of rust patches) is the whole point of the exercise. If the paint is done badly you will have to start again.

my 2 cents

_________________
---
Roads need more corners
A Deluxe(CG13DE), 2 Clubbies(998 and 1275) and 2 Morris 1100Ss

I havn't got the details for the painter, sorry, but if you PM Rodney, he'll be able to help you out, as he's getting a Clubman sprayed for his daughter.

_________________

Thanks poeee.



Good advice f-h-m. I think that's what I'll do - this weekend if I can. It almost brings me to tears thinking what I have to go through to get my car back to how it was. I'm even tempted to have second thoughts from time to time. Just buy something ready made for $4-5k and be done with it.

thanks for your advice.
BC.

_________________

the paint used on the little 850 is Glasurit 2 pack, it was and i personally think it still is one of, if not the best paint brand on the market.......it also costs that way too, our shop on average spends anywhere between 11000-17000 bucks a month on paint and materials......but at the end of the day its not the cost of a can of paint that decides how much money you'll make.

Brown, i think your best option is to get in contact with the Painter your looking to work with and get their opinion, they'll give you the best advice on what and how it should be done and you may not even fall over at the price.

If your willing to have a go yourself there's usually night courses at TAFE colleges on Spray painting and generally they're focussed on the guy at home willing to do some work on his own car. That would be your best option in gaining some decent knowledge on whats involved and would possibly be the best investment.

If your going to pay someone to paint your car I really recommend going with a 2 pack finish.........you'll be so much happier with the end result and the question of "originality" is (my personal opinion) usually brought up by people with sub-standard laquer jobs who are jealous of cars with really nice 2 pack paint jobs.

If your going to paint your car yourself at home then by all means go with Acrylic Laquer as painting 2 pack at home isnt exactly legal. A NICE acrylic laquer job requires a phenomenal amount of extra preparation and work compared to a 2 pack job and also even more work once its painted. That said i really do like the look of a beautifully done Laquer job!!!

The little red 850 pictured hasnt got a drop of polish or wax on it.....that finish is straight off the gun. Thats why our painters make 100 grand a year each.

yes paint ur car in 2pak paint, mine isnt, and has buff marks on it paid $2500 for mine, but it was origionally gunna be 4 odd grand so we rubbed the car back and repaired what we were able and knocked off heaps!

_________________
Potato