Painting the body?

[twobone]

What do you think it would cost to have a Caterham S3 chassis painted?

 

I really like the look of a solid colour body, clamshells and nose cone.

 

Is preparing and painting an aluminium body especially expensive?

[pksurveyor]

I had the R300 painted from bare aluminium to neon yellow including the roll bar, nose cone and 7 grill. I also had the carbon fiber front and rear wings clear coated. The labor cost to disassemble and assemble the car is a major cost item. This included the removal of the windshield, roll bar, wings, interior panels, etc. You can save a bit If you can do this part yourself.

[JohnK]

I went to several different places in my area with pictures of the car (WCM Ultralite) and a request that went:

I have all the bodywork that I've disassembled from the kit car I'm building and am interested in having it picked up, painted and delivered.* This is not a show-car, I just want a good paint job.* The surface area is about 70 sq. ft.* It's about 50/50 aluminum / fiberglass.* The aluminum is alclad* with the protective plastic sheeting still attached. The fiberglass is OK, but you can see the impression of the cloth underneath the gel-coat - again, not a show car. Parts: fiberglass hood; 4 fenders, two side panels, one rear panel. If you're interested please let me know.

 

I got only one response from a guy I had met years earlier at a automotive paint supply store and who, luckily for me, had a lot of experience, enjoys his work and was (is) hungry to set up his own shop. His bid of $2,500 was in line with what one other credible shop had guessed at. Work is half complete and will, from all appearances, turn out much, much better than I'd hoped for. I really lucked out. I'll guess that you'll have to do a lot of legwork finding someone - other comments were that such work just wasn't worth the hassle when they could make so much more swapping body parts for the insurance companies. Another high-end shop told me they did an MG TC with the parts off for $8K.

[Mondo]

I think there are a lot of hungry shops out there. The big ones that do a lot of insurance work probably won't deal as much as some of the smaller shops.

I got my 67 PU painted for $3000 and that included removing/putting back the bed, hood, windows, inside cab, shaving turn signals etc... it came out real nice (pic in my album).

[SkinnyG]

You could buy a compressor, a spray gun, and a gallon of paint and still be under a grand if you do it yourself. Get enough wet/dry sandpaper to sand out your defects.

[MHKflyer52]

You could buy a compressor, a spray gun, and a gallon of paint and still be under a grand if you do it yourself. Get enough wet/dry sandpaper to sand out your defects.

 

Have to agree with SkinnyG or you could do what I have done and that is to buy a number of spray paint cans and get busy spraying the car. Not a show car finish but sure was inexpensive and quick and touch ups are very easy.

See attached photo

I know I am a cheap skate but it is my toy and I would rather spend my money on the other toys.

[Mondo]

I have limited mechanical skills but working with filler and sanding too little/too much, without waves, etc... is beyond me. Don't have the patience.

The actual painting is the easiest part (that's when you see all the mistakes you made in prep).

 

 

 

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[twobone]

Another option I'm considering is trying a DIY vehicle wrap. A seven is a pretty straight forward slab sided shape. The only challenge will likely be the hood louvers and nose cone.

 

Might be a fun winter garage project.