Wishin4A77Vette

Hey Guys-

After pricing around at some of the local shops the price it would cost to paint my Tan 1977 Corvette and switch it to Yellow.

The prices were, well lets just say, a little out of my means.

I was thinking well I've done everything else on the car, why not repaint it myself too. I know it wont be cheap but it will be cheaper than a pro job and rewarding.

So are there any REALLY GOOD threads or articles that outline the entire process of repainting and switching colors on a fiberglass car? Preferably a C3.

Thanks
Josh

markids77

The search function is your new best friend. There are many many good threads on "do it yourself" paint both in this section and under "paint and body". Get a beverage and a notebook, and settle in for awhile reading.

3JsVette

1st let me say I am NOT a painter. Just keep in mind what's involved to do a color change. If you want it to look good you have to take EVERYTHING off or apart. All the jams have to be done. All the moldings have to come off. This is a major undertaking. Are you sure this is the type of project you want to learn as you go? There is a reason the estimates you got seemed high.

Wishin4A77Vette

I really dislike the original paint which is Tan, 1977 paint code 80, I've never seen a really nice car with this color paint? It's just so tan, lol.

I really think a color change would make me happier with the car, maybe some pictures of the original color on a nice looking car might change my mind but I've tried, I just cant love it.

Easy Mike

There are a couple of How To Paint Your Corvette books and several on auto painting in general. Buy a few and bone up on processes and procedures.

Good luck.

C5SCCA

I am in your same boat going from white to red. I plan on stripping all paint myself and pulling all the parts. Depending on cost, I might also prime and sand it. I plan on leaving the shooting to the professionals. Doing it this way, the cost should be reasonable.

johnt365

That is exactly what I did. A fella named Lars did a paper once on painting your car. Have a look here and you may find it http://corvette.wikia.com/index.php?title=Exterior

The quotes I received for a color change were between $8k-$12k. I set out to do it myself to save some cash. I spent about $2k with tools, materials,paint and ultimately labor.


This next stage will last forever, keep a sharp blade.

Yes, my car was originally silver

Then take your car apart



Eventually, after much scraping and sanding, you end up with something like this

That is so much work that I now understand why guys drive around with primer cars.

Then you guide coat, sand and repeat. This is by far the least fun.

Painting small pieces



Pic of the air dryer unit also

I had help wet sanding. Probably best to get family because your friends will end up hating you for it.

I laid down the base coat with no problem. But the clear is another story. I orange pealed it and had to sand it down one more time.

Took to a shop to spray paint only. $1000. Once it came back I reassembled

Voila! a 4 year color change...

7T1vette

John,
You are my new "hero". Congrats on tackling a very tedious and difficult task and gloriously succeeding . Since you now have all the required skills, you should go into the business of: 1) advising other C3'ers on how to prep their own cars for repaint; 2) recommending the proper products/paints for them to select; 3) commissioning ONLY the "shooting paint" part of the job for an appropriate and resonable fee for yourself; and 4) instructing the owners on proper curing and maintenance of their new paint job.

I would bet that you could get a lot of work and pretty good 'spare time' money for that advice and shooting the paint. (And you wouldn't even have to lift a finger for the rest of it!)

C5SCCA

I hope it does not take me four years...although I am worried that I might be being a 'little' optimistic. haha

johnt365

Thanks for the compliment.

The time all depends on

a. how much time you can devote to the project
b. how much help you have
c. how long your attention span is for doing things that you hate to do, like sanding.

John 65

Give it a try. I never did any bodywork before, but gave it a shot last summer. I had to make some lips over the wheel wells and fix a bunch of cracks, along with getting rid of all the "dimples" from the headlight header bar. Then I drove the car around some, nothing cracked, so I stripped the rest of the car and finally got around to priming it today. A friend let me use the back lot of his shop. Lots of work, will block sand it and take it from there. Good luck.

Wishin4A77Vette

Thanks for all the advice guys......

I guess I hadnt anticipated pulling the entire interior to swap colors, I figured I could pull the weatherstrip and mask the door openings and spray the jambs that way even with the interior in the car, obviously this isnt feasible.

Thanks I'll keep reading and looking into it. I'm really leaning to doing it myself, but perhaps stick with the factory color.

highschool67

I did my 66 in my garage a couple of years ago. New quarters, new fenders, stripped and paint. The paint job cost me about $1000 total with primer and bc/cc PPG paint.
If you have done most the other work on your car yourself go ahead and try painting. You can always sand it down and respray if you don't like it.