repainting a fibreglass bodied car

[Head Wreck]

Right. decided on my little project as govt are banning my number one hobby. i'm going to buy a reliant

no not that one...

ultimatly i'd like one in british racing green or silver, but if i end up with an orange one or electric blue (god, they even put electric blue leather interior in some).

i may need to respray during a rebuild. any advice on this, or do i seek a specialist and pay the man.

[The_Dark]

Have you ever painted a car before?

[Head Wreck]

no but i know someone wha has done metral bodied cars, just wondering if there was a differance and i should go elsewhere

[Msterbeau]

Painting a car is NOT simple. Not if you want good results. I'd do all the basic repair/prep and let someone competent do all the detail prep and paint.

Then again.. If you don't have much $$$... that's not going to be an option. In which case I'd learn all you can about the prep work and get a cheap place to deal with the painting. At least you won't have to deal with the mess that spraying a car makes. (You really need a garage, etc to do it yourself anyways)

As for fiberglass vs metal... I'd say it easier in most respects as far as prep goes. Metal requires a lot of specialized tools to get surfaces right. (Assuming you have dents to repair etc..)

[Head Wreck]

i know a few body repair shops that i could get done cheap by name dropping my dads name. but whether i get good results is another story (i am after a pretty weekend car and my budget doesnt stretch to morgans).

the one i'm looking at now is on silver and looks in very good nick. but i'm unsure of the reserve price on the ebay auction, it may be out of my budget and have to go for a less desirable colour on an Se5

[Homicidalheathen]

I knew someone who painted his car himself.......you could tell it wasn't done professionally.

[Msterbeau]

If everything is cleans and straight... Just read up on basic sanding and surface prep and then take it to the painters. Idealy, you would lifte the body off the chassis and take off all the trim... Makes life easier for the painter since they don't have to mask anything. Barring that... try and get off all the trim that you can..

[Head Wreck]

it shouldnt be to hard. the SE5 and SE6 models were all handbuilt over a seperate steel chassis (which i am told is very simple) stripping it down may also be the answer to a few age related issues with them (sealed beam headlights, no relays on electrics) most have been refitted but i might get one of the rarities that have not been.

but a car is not woth nowt unless its restored and tbh i will pick favouring interior conditions (i figure its going to be cheaper to repaint than to re-apolster in leather)

[Msterbeau]

On an old car... I'd say just the opposite. it's probably a simple matter to retrim the seats and door panels. Instrument panels can be trickier depending on the material they're made from. Trimming probably won't be cheap... but it's not difficult once the stuff is out. You just have to find a reputable person to do it... Probably not a big problem in England.

[Head Wreck]

theres a few places as the scimitar has a cult following, and i belive someone must have the right to build them. but the interiors came in two flavours. mura-esque early dash. and a later lower quality curved plastic one which tbh doesnt look that bad).

i'll hopefully find an early Se5 if anything just to get the pre 1973 manufacture date tax exemption (i will be trying to keep a fuel tank for an old ford 3 litre V6 design). but gennerally the more i look into it the more appealing it sounds