Temporary paint

[sambo]

I'm at that point where I just want my car finished, however I'm a long way off paint and interior unless I win the lotto some time soon. And I'm sick of looking at the dull gray gelcoat.

I spoke to a painter about giving it a light sand/prime (no body work) and laying down a coat of matt black. I was advised that this will all need to come off prior to doing the job properly and will add a lot to the cost of the final job.

I'm thinking it will be easy enough to remove myself with an electric sander and a fair bit of elbow grease. I know a few guys (Boxhead, Gav, Tenrocca, etc) have gone for a matt finish. What are your thoughts on removing it prior to a big dollar paint job?

I've also looked into vinyl wrap, which looks like 1-2k just for materials - lots of waste on a Cobra apparently. Plus labour. Does that sound right?

Any other suggestions?

[boxhead]

The price on body wrap sounds right.

With my car, I did minor body work (knocked down seems and filled larger creases along seems) sanded the whole car with 400 wet and dry then painted in grey primer (with 30% yellow tint added to primer).
mine is done in 2k primer and I was advised to treat it just like any normal primer under paint, so when (and if) I ever get around to making it shiney, it will be a case of blocking it all back and repairing body as would need to normally be done.

[Dimis]

Edit... Beaten to the punch by Box...

[Aussie Mike]

Don't spray it temporary black. It's a pain in the arse to remove later (talking from experience here).

I'm now trying to get it all in one color and then vinyl wrap it. Not bothering with a fancy paint job. I figure you can get 3 wraps for the price of a paint job.

Cheers

[boxhead]

Here is mine all sanded down.




Tinted primer on.


Taped up for stripes, laid out as per ERA website.


Stripes on.


Unmasked.


The color has faded a bit and also the black is really faded or washed away now.

[Rebel1]

Have a look at this:
PlastiDip a WHOLE CAR - How-to by DipYourCar.com - YouTube

Don't know what it costs but it just peels off when you want rid of it.

Available in Oz from: Home

More video here: http://www.plastidip.net.au/shop/cat...fl-3.78/4194/2

[Zedn]

I would go with Boxheads way.

If you can get the body work roughly ok, you can go over it with a high build primer (it comes in black). Then when you are ready for paint block it flat, smooth out any lows with 2 pack skim putty, another coat of primer and then paint. Thats my plan.

If you go with temp black paint and do not have experience with body work do not attack it with an electric sander as fibreglass is not like metal, you could sand big holes in it.

[Modena]

I was thinking of vinyl wrap too - it seems you can re-wrap it every few years for a color change (if so desired), and do it quite a few times before it got near the cost of a good paint job. Not hard to remove too when you do want to drop big $$$ on proper paint.

[DaveW]

I thought most of the cost in a paint job is the prep work, wouldn't you still have to do this before wrapping?

Dave

[boxhead]

I think you do Dave, and the wrap will not stick to a primer, so you need to get shiney paint laid anyway, admitedly a little organge peel or the like wont matter.

[Aussie Mike]

Yes, there is still a lot of prep to do like door gaps and panel fit. The guy I've been talking to wants the car to have a coat of paint on it or at least clear as he's concerned about the adhesion to primer. The vinyl wrap will hide a lot of sins though. Pinholes and paint inclusions won't be an issue though so a garage spray job will be fine.

[sambo]

Thanks for the replies. I really don't want to do any major body prep as it may lead to issues when a professional painter comes along at a later stage.

Unfortunately vinyl wrap isn't a long term option for me as it doesn't come in the colour that I've finally settled on. FINALLY!

So if I need a shiny or sealed surface for vinyl wrap I guess I need to see whether I can polish the gelcoat as it has dulled over the years. Something similar to boat hulls?

[kyleb]

Years ago I had my XB coupe painted by the local TAFE college. It was a gamble but fortunately it turned out great, and only cost was for materials.
Possibly worth looking at, and you get to choose the color.
I'm sure they would jump at the chance to paint a cobra.

[Beejay]

Sambo,

I ran around for a couple of years with flat black, it was fine but a bit of extra work to take back off again later.

If I was looking to do a temporary finish on a Cobra these days I would do a wrap for sure.

Colour is not really an issue, I recently wrapped my ski boat and it turned out great.

Cheers,
Ben

[sambo]

Thanks guys. Spent this much on a fully engineered Cobra, I want nice panel fit and a shiny finish eventually. Sure the vinyl wrap can look good but it can't do this...

[Kimbo]

We are going to vinyl wrap our car. I figure it's not a bad option for us as we aren't ready for paint and we put the car on the track a bit also. It would be nice to make the car look a bit nicer over the next couple of years until somewhere down the track we are ready.
I have purchased four sample colours today to try and figure out a colour scheme. I don't know whether to try and make the car look like I would like it to be when it is painted, or to do something different until I decide to choose the final paint colour.

I don't want to do anything in the prepartion for vinyl that will compromise paint somewhere down the track.

Kim

[Gav]

I have 2Pak high fill primer on mine, it can be used as a base for future paint work too.
Hasn't faded and still looks as average now as the day it was painted

[boxhead]

Yours hasnt faded Gav as it never comes out of the shed apart from race days.


But we can park side by side and both look average together :-)

[Gav]

Mine ventures out of the shed from time to time (for a wash), I have driven it interstate loads of times too (over the bridge in town).

[legenmetals]

Ditto!