1968 To Paint or not to Paint - suggestions?

[Tequila]

I was hoping to hear some of your thoughts on whether or not I should get my 68 GT/CS repainted. The paint is in fairly good shape although when you look at it closely you can see all the imperfections and oxidization (already tried buffing but it's not helping). It was repaint about 20 years ago and sat outside for the last 15 or so years collecting mildew and dirt. After about 8 hours of scrubbing and cleaning it looks fairly good.

I just got all the rust issues taken care of and ready to put together the interior. I am trying to keep it as original as possible, including several new NOS parts. I just spent a small fortune getting the bumpers re-chromed and bought mostly all new NOS trim parts (tail light cover, hood pin, door handle, emblems, etc). The body shop who did the rust repairs recommended that I drive the car without repainting for a while and I am of the same opinion.

However, my dilemma is whether I should swap out all the old parts with the new ones now and paint it later, or bite the bullet and get it repainted now and swap out all the trim afterwards? I am not planning on driving much so I don't think the new parts will get ruined much but I am worried about possible damage removing it again for the repaint at a later point. I definitely want to get it repainted but since I already spent a small fortune I don't mind waiting until next year for the repaint.

Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Anyone in Seattle that knows a good paint shop? I do want a fairly decent paint job but nothing extravagant. The body shop thinks that a good paint job would run about $8k. is that too much?

Thanks.
RT

 

[CougarCJ]

Do you have inside storage for it now?

I would save the good parts until you get the new paint. Enjoy it the way it is now.

Once you get it painted and 'done', you will drive it less. Been there, done that.

 

[stangfan]

From what I can see in the picture, the car looks pretty presentable already. How confident are you about your paint buffing skills? The reason I ask is that a good detail shop might have some tricks/techniques that you don't. I would highly suggest finding a dependable shop and getting an opinion from them. They may be able to bring the paint up to the point that you will not need to repaint. I think that would be my first step. After that, you could make your decision about installing your new parts.

Just my .02 worth. :grin:

 

[Northern Pony]

RT,
I agree with both of the above. Put new parts on after you paint. But first check into what a good detail shop can do, I'm sure you would be surprised. Minor touch ups and a good cut polish will do wonders to 20 year old paint. Search out the best detailed you can find, not just some shop that is "detailing" fairly new cars.
BoB

 

[Ruppstang]

+1 on all of the above.
Marty

 

[Tequila]

Thanks everyone for the input. I will get the car back from the shop on Monday so I will try and post a close up picture then. I tried some Griots fine cut cleaner in couple of spots and it made it worse. I will try and get a professional opinion.

I agree, I shouldn't put the new trim on until the car is repainted. So, now I am thinking that I should get it painted sooner than later. It would drive me crazy not being able to swap out the trims.

How much should I budget for a decent paint job? The car will be parked inside and hopefully wont see the rain. I think I will have to strip the old layers of paint before repainting, right? If anyone knows of a reasonably priced shop in Seattle, please let me know so I can get an estimate.

Thanks again...
RT

 

[Ruppstang]

Yes strip to bare metal. You should be able to get a nice paint job for around 8-10K especially if you disassemble and reassemble the car your self. It is expensive but so worth it when it is done. Good Luck

 

[Tequila]

Yes strip to bare metal. You should be able to get a nice paint job for around 8-10K especially if you disassemble and reassemble the car your self. It is expensive but so worth it when it is done. Good Luck

Thanks!!! Do you think I should attempt to strip the old paint? Or just let the shop do it? I can certainly remove all the trim but not sure if I should attempt to strip the old paint due to concerns about old paint getting everywhere in the garage. Also, I have two young kids at home so I am worried about exposing them.

 

[CougarCJ]

I had mine soda blasted. Not as expensive as you would think, plus no chemicals or labor for me.

 

[Tequila]

Hi Scott,
Great pic. I don't know if soda blast would be an option for me as I am almost done restoring the interior and don't want to rip it apart again. How does it work on Fiberglass sections? Thanks.

 

[CougarCJ]

I had all of my fiberglass parts done too, although if I had it to do over again, I would have asked him to be careful not to remove the gel coat layer.

We did both sides of my doors, and that made the inside the car textured areas perfect for a fresh coat of paint. Sand blasting would have etched them too much.