I had a pretty nasty garage mishap that damaged the rear quarter panel. Since I now have to get some bodywork done, I'm thinking of attempting a respray with color change since the previous owner didn't take very good care of the paint.

Body is in great shape with very small minor dings, but overall the panels are nice and smooth.

I have access to a paint booth that will supply the clean air, and I definitely want to try my hand at auto painting.

Since I'm kicking around the idea of changing color (from Electric Blue to a darker color like Tahiti Blue), everything I read says that to do the job "right" I need to spray the engine bay, inside the car under all of the trim or otherwise it will decrease the car's value since it will look like it has been in an accident, etc.

I do understand that I'll need to spray the jambs and all places that are visible when the doors are open, but is it really necessary to respray the areas hidden underneath carpet/headliner/trim or engine bay?

 

You can respray it any way you want. The "correct" wat is totally stripping the car and doing the above. If you were doing a concourse type restoration, that is what needs to be done. For a regular color change, forget what's not seen and get the jams and engine bay. For a car you are going to enjoy, forget the engine bay. It's a lot of work. Only you will notice. By the time you go to sell the car, the difference in resale will be negligible. It helps that you are going the same general color, only darker. I wish all manufacturers would do the engine bay black. Makes color changes much easier. Just my .02.

 

It is really up to you. If you have the time and want to color match the new paint job with every part of the car that is painted, go for it. Otherwise, just respray the sections that you feel are necessary and are going to be happy with. I think doing all the places that are visible should be fine.

 

done "right" a color change is a HUGE $$$$
think of the door jambs, under the hood, etc...
then be sure to notify the DMW to correct the registration...
Your choice...your car...
but just think...done wrong, it can be a HUGE negative...
Done right, its fine, but $$$$....MANY HOURS of prep...basically a full car disassemblely...
so if you go this route...BUY THE BEST PAINT YOU CAN BUY...do it once..do it right.

 

If you're not an experienced painter and you're thinking of doing some learning, I would paint the car the same color as it's original color and then only paint the outside parts of the panels. If, once you're finished, you are happy with the quality of the work you did then you could consider a color change by painting each and every panel a different color. If this is your first paint job I doubt the quality of your work will make it worth your time and money to do a complete change without considerable practice.

 

The better the result, the longer the prep.

How far are you prepared to go? A full body respray and that pretty much requires fully disassembling the car, prepping it, painting, then assembling it. The advantage is you can inspect every single part and replace anything you want to.

The down side is... You need a place to store your car parts, and it takes hours and hours, and hours, and hours, and...you get the idea. It takes a bit of time.

BUT, the reward is a car you did.

Best of luck.

Motor on!

 

Electric Blue , thats a great color. I would keep it the same and that way you dont have a color change in the door jams and engine bay. Plus the EB is a rare color to see around and a personal fav of mine. Good luck in whatever you do.

 

You want to take the trim off the outside of the body such as headlight tailights etc. I just did it and yes it took time but it turned out awesome I just resprayed my metallic space blue and did it in mirror finish instead of orange peel. You can see how far I tore it down if you look up my thread checkmate build near the top here.

 

Having owned two Electric Blue MINIs I cannot imagine anyone wanting to do a color change.

But if you insist, to do it right you'll need to do the door jams, engine compartment, etc. It's a lot of work but anything else will be half-way done.

But if that doesn't bother you, go for it.

 

Guys, I appreciate all of the feedback! It does make sense to keep the original color since I don't have any paint experience.

Perhaps I'm just unhappy with the Electric Blue because the condition of the paint is so poor! The blue seems quite faded and what's left of the clear is really dull.

 

Hot damn, I just checked out your build thread! Now I really want to get a respray.

Did you do it yourself or did you have a shop do it? If so, mind if I ask how much you paid for the paint job? I'm assuming you just re-shot the same color as stock?

 

I'm getting a color change on my mini. My plan is to take all trim off, bumpers off, hood off, fenders off. Doors off. I will remove all my trim and bumpers at home. Drive to the body shop and then remove the hood and doors at the shop. I won't be painting the engine bay. As my car is currently dark silver and the engine bay will look fine with the original paint.

 

I've thought about doing the exact same thing to my mini one of these days. I've painted a lot of drag cars/hot rods in the past. But like you mentioned, the "right" Way to do a color change is to paint everything that's the "old" color with the "new" color.....in other works......paint the engine bay. There is a reason most autobody shops charge a small fortune to change the color of a car.......you need to pull off every piece of trim, pull off every badge, pull off the insulation under the hood......EVERYTHING needs to be the new color.

If you don't do this, it's going to look like a cheap paint job, and that will not help resale.

 

COULD BE that all that's needed here is a GOOD BUFF ..... clear does not normally wear out .... unless it is re-paint clear that is de-laminating . . .

AND if you are "not an experienced painter" your first effort is gonna be **** poor ..... unless you are the 1 in 1,000,000 with natural skill.

I took an adult education class in auto body repair and painting ..... 5 times! We had access to a full paint booth and professional equipment courtesy of the county school system VOTEC High School, and took in donor cars for a "free" paint job (they paid for the materials only). After painting about a dozen I'm still cautious of what colors I try to shoot and how much area .... black and most metallics are a PITA to get right.

Now a nice plain red .....





****************
Footnote: YES, I am painting in my garage which is dumb and dangerous ...... you CAN blow the whole house up!

 

I agree 100%! I took a votec class back several years ago, and having an experienced instructor help you out the first few times is darn near mandatory if you want your first paint job to look nice.

Its not as easy as just hooking up a spray gun and shooting on paint. It takes a long time and many cars later just to get decent.....and much more time to even come close to being "good".

By the time you buy the tape, sand paper, primers, sealers, fillers, base coat, clear coat, reducers, hardeners......you are talking an easy $600 or more in supplies. You don't want to just "wing it" and see what happens. Its going to look like hell. Painting isn't something you are good at the very first time.

See if you can take a local painting class....it's great info, and fun

 

not intending to pile on BUT

an inexperienced painter probably does not know about

base/clear versus one step paint systems

flash time

nor even where to buy automotive finishes

or get paint spray guns

and BTW .... your typical home air compressor is WAY WAY too small to support painting a car

unless you plan to do it with a roller ..... which an uncle of mine did!

 

Plastidip it any color you want, cheaper than paint, watch the YouTube channel a few times, do it yourself, change the color again, and when you are ready, get it redone by a pro, but until then have fun with your car color.

 

Plastidip is ok if you try to remove it after a month or so.....but if you leave it on there for a long time, it's a real pain to get off. Not sure I would want to spray the stuff all over my car....and then try to remove it several months/years down the road. I've had it on my wheels for over a year now, and when I tried to peed it off.....it just stuck like glue.

 

i had mine on for a year, and yes, where I sprayed too thin it was a pain, but it all came off eventually. but if you do mess up, it comes off, paint doesn't. either way I spent 300 for the kit and 3 gallons, painted my own car, and protected my (real) paint over the winter. I liked it.

 

Wow...that's a lot of money for some plastidip......

 

300 for the kit included 3 gallons. how much is earl shives nowadays?

 

Keep the EB, and add vinyl to the roof and A panels, this can be done cheaply and doesn't detract from the cars value.

 

Had a plastidip'ed car pass me the other day...actually was stuck next to it in traffic...
Could tell looking at it cause the lines were not crisp...kinda odd actually too see it from 5 feet away...
But when it was slightly ahead of me, it looked "wavey".....the shine and gloss was sorta there...but you could tell it was dipped...honestly, looked like crap from my car till it was about 20 feet away...guess the angle of the light made it worse...
But still...

Suggestion to the op...

As stated, painting is $$$$ to do right...and is permanent....
Dipping us $300 or so...and IMO is very temporary, and looks...er..not do hot..
My suggestion...
Get your car wrapped...full car...
Test out a new color, or even a pattern...
Should last about 2 years from what I have heard depending on the quality of the wrap, and where you park (out of strong sunlight, in a garage, etc)....
And best of all...it is reversible....