I am considering having the Tiger painted. Unlike American iron, there is significant painting required on nearly all surfaces. If anyone has done this recently, please share your experience. I want to go to a stock, quality appearance. What can I expect to pay for the required work ? How much tear down is necessary to do the job "right" ? Thanks for your input.
Anyone paid for new paint job recently ?
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Moondoggie
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My Tiger is currently being painted so I can offer up some imformation. To do
it right you need to strip the body of all chrome pieces, windshield, door glass
and top. If you are doing the engine compartment then everything comes out.
The car should be stripped back to bare metal and then any body work needs to
be done. Then paint.........My Tiger is pretty straight but door gaps and block sanding will take sometime. My bill will come to about $14k mostly give and no take.....that does not include taking everything off and then putting it all back on. Your experiance might vary as I am using a body shop that only does show cars so that price would be on the high end quality..
Moondoggie
it right you need to strip the body of all chrome pieces, windshield, door glass
and top. If you are doing the engine compartment then everything comes out.
The car should be stripped back to bare metal and then any body work needs to
be done. Then paint.........My Tiger is pretty straight but door gaps and block sanding will take sometime. My bill will come to about $14k mostly give and no take.....that does not include taking everything off and then putting it all back on. Your experiance might vary as I am using a body shop that only does show cars so that price would be on the high end quality..
Moondoggie
Wow, I am not surprised by the prep necessary but that bill is something else. While I would like an incredible paint job, I will be driving the car and showing it casually and rarely. I am hoping for a $5-7K charge to get a good, presentable paint job. I might be dreaming. I hope not; if it runs more, I am probably going to live with what I have. Thanks for your response and good luck. Sounds like your car is really going to be nice when all is completed.
Moondoggie
Gold forum user
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Here is a picture of my car just before it went off to the body shop which
gives you an idea of how much stuff needs to be taken off the car. Now I don't want to have tape lines anywhere on the car but if you can live with that then
the windshield and a few other things can be left on the car. You can get a nice
paint job in the $5-7k range and of course it depends on what your body shop
charges per hour. My guy does nothing but show cars and I'm going for that
perfectly straight body and perfect paint.
Moondoggie
gives you an idea of how much stuff needs to be taken off the car. Now I don't want to have tape lines anywhere on the car but if you can live with that then
the windshield and a few other things can be left on the car. You can get a nice
paint job in the $5-7k range and of course it depends on what your body shop
charges per hour. My guy does nothing but show cars and I'm going for that
perfectly straight body and perfect paint.
Moondoggie
- Messages
- 2,968
Adding Flavours
Tigers have particular areas in the fragile uni-body that require some attention during basic prep in order to end up on the right side of good. Find a Tiger/Alpine experienced shop for one thing. Some of us may know people in your area who have danced this dance before. A basic broad angle soda-blast and trained/experienced blocking will cover the gamut if you don't need to tackle rust issues (or worse). Dry climates vs damp climates make for different sealing prep approaches or you end up wasting dollars. Your desire to stay under 8K is very likely as long as the car cooperates.
Tigers have particular areas in the fragile uni-body that require some attention during basic prep in order to end up on the right side of good. Find a Tiger/Alpine experienced shop for one thing. Some of us may know people in your area who have danced this dance before. A basic broad angle soda-blast and trained/experienced blocking will cover the gamut if you don't need to tackle rust issues (or worse). Dry climates vs damp climates make for different sealing prep approaches or you end up wasting dollars. Your desire to stay under 8K is very likely as long as the car cooperates.
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Them Body Parts & Such
Basically, peek into anyplace where moisture could have burrowed and started nasty stuff behind the panels. I always find weakness behind the seams and quite often around the trim & script areas. P.O. exposures in known damp climate & salt States can hide serious sins. We scare some newbies often by being aggressive with media blasting to find thinned metal areas (better to find em' now) and I always open the rockers' pinch welds to get a clear look at the inner rocker and weld joints where it meets the A - B posts et al. We also open the fenders at the front and rear cowls if something doesn't feel or look right to us. It may look like a fillited Halibut for a couple of days, but so much better when the hidden sins don't telegraph up thru a quality paint work.
Basically, peek into anyplace where moisture could have burrowed and started nasty stuff behind the panels. I always find weakness behind the seams and quite often around the trim & script areas. P.O. exposures in known damp climate & salt States can hide serious sins. We scare some newbies often by being aggressive with media blasting to find thinned metal areas (better to find em' now) and I always open the rockers' pinch welds to get a clear look at the inner rocker and weld joints where it meets the A - B posts et al. We also open the fenders at the front and rear cowls if something doesn't feel or look right to us. It may look like a fillited Halibut for a couple of days, but so much better when the hidden sins don't telegraph up thru a quality paint work.
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- 1,942
paint job
for some photos of a restoration of a rust free car, go to my photobucket and follow the photos. http://s606.photobucket.com/albums/tt142/65beam/ this resto is an alpine but the same procedures apply. we replaced most of the right rear fender due to damage in the area at the soft top hinge area and the left tail light area. he also removed the lower right front fender skin up to the alpine script area due to some bad repairs many years ago and replaced it with a panel from randy. he also cuts open the finish panel in the fender well area where it sets against the bulk head and he also removes the upper inner fender panels above the rear wheels. this allows him to clean and coat the bare metal. this body was dipped so we had bare metal everywhere. he also works the seams where the rockers weld to the inner sills as randy said. he adds a lot of additional welds to the X frame, rear spring mounts since there are usually cracks on tigers ,etc. this car also had angles welded to the area between the X frame and the inner sills for jack stand supports. most of the spot welds to the inner fender panels for the front fenders and the hinge panel were removed to allow the fenders to be free from the car in order to check frame rail alignment. he always says that a rust free car has been close to being totaled. he also remade the front valance using a top panel made in canada and added series 5 oil cooler mounts like the MK2 has. the lead was removed from all the leaded seams of the car and those areas were welded and ground down to eliminate any cracking from the old lead. since this is a series 4 body which is the basis of the MK1, new mounts in the fender well area were made for the soft top boot cover hinges and were moved in order to have the covers at the same level as the body. nothing was left untouched on this body. he actually had to open up the door gaps in the A post area since the gaps were so close and he was afraid that as the door hinges wear we could have the doors touch the body as they open. all of the gaps on this car were unusally close compared to the many others he has done over the years. the underneath will be painted forest green using enamel with no undercoating so dents in the X frame ,floors ,trunk floor.etc were all worked out and blocked similar to the top of the body. it's a lot of work but it should be a nice car when finished.
for some photos of a restoration of a rust free car, go to my photobucket and follow the photos. http://s606.photobucket.com/albums/tt142/65beam/ this resto is an alpine but the same procedures apply. we replaced most of the right rear fender due to damage in the area at the soft top hinge area and the left tail light area. he also removed the lower right front fender skin up to the alpine script area due to some bad repairs many years ago and replaced it with a panel from randy. he also cuts open the finish panel in the fender well area where it sets against the bulk head and he also removes the upper inner fender panels above the rear wheels. this allows him to clean and coat the bare metal. this body was dipped so we had bare metal everywhere. he also works the seams where the rockers weld to the inner sills as randy said. he adds a lot of additional welds to the X frame, rear spring mounts since there are usually cracks on tigers ,etc. this car also had angles welded to the area between the X frame and the inner sills for jack stand supports. most of the spot welds to the inner fender panels for the front fenders and the hinge panel were removed to allow the fenders to be free from the car in order to check frame rail alignment. he always says that a rust free car has been close to being totaled. he also remade the front valance using a top panel made in canada and added series 5 oil cooler mounts like the MK2 has. the lead was removed from all the leaded seams of the car and those areas were welded and ground down to eliminate any cracking from the old lead. since this is a series 4 body which is the basis of the MK1, new mounts in the fender well area were made for the soft top boot cover hinges and were moved in order to have the covers at the same level as the body. nothing was left untouched on this body. he actually had to open up the door gaps in the A post area since the gaps were so close and he was afraid that as the door hinges wear we could have the doors touch the body as they open. all of the gaps on this car were unusally close compared to the many others he has done over the years. the underneath will be painted forest green using enamel with no undercoating so dents in the X frame ,floors ,trunk floor.etc were all worked out and blocked similar to the top of the body. it's a lot of work but it should be a nice car when finished.
