Try Painting it yourself....you never know till you try!

[VERTED71]

Aloha all,

Just wanted to make a quick statement to all of the VW owners out there that are looking to get your pride and joy painted. Before you shell out all that coin, ask yourself what is the end result you want? Daily Driver, Trailer Queen, etc...

The reason I bring it up is I had some damage to my hood and deck lid when I bought my 71 vert. Long story short, got the dents fixed but didn't want it painted yet so I held off repainting the parts. Multiple shops and paint supply places stated that they can get the color close, but wouldn't guarantee 100% same color/tint/tone.....

So, I decide to just have the parts painted matte black. Well, that must be the most difficult color I the word because the prices ranged from $300-1200....just to paint the HOOD AND DECKLID. Mind you, this is the outside only, not the inside.

After much milling about and cursing.....lots and lots of cursing, I decided to call my old painter and ask his opinion (he got married and completely got out of the custom paint game) and he said "why don't you paint it yourself?".....never thought of that. Have been in the booth when has has painted my two show cars, my motorcycle and my daughters car.

After getting all the paint, supplies, tack rags, thinner, hardener, sand paper and primer; I was only out of pocket $198.43. The booth rental near Pearl Harbor is on $45.00 a day and if you paint on Sunday, it will stay in the booth until Wednesday because they are closed on Monday and Tuesday.

Here's a step by step on what I did (hopefully didn't leave out any steps)

Wet sanded all parts with 600 grit
took a squeegee and wiped them down looking for any shinny spots.
Shot with high build primer (two coat)
Continued to sand until smooth and uniform.
Shot high build primer (one coats)
Wet sanded again.
shot with high build primer (one coat, not needed but I was on a roll!)
wet sanded, let dry over night in my garage
Total time less than 3 hours (all done by hand, no DA sander and that included)

Will be sanding the hood today after I get off work. That is a big job due to the size of the hood and shitty primer used by the place that did the body work.

Looking to paint all the parts next week when I can book the booth. Will post pictures after I'm done.

What I take away from this experience is, sometimes you have to take matter into your own hands, I understand that painting is a art and those that do it have to feed there families but I cant see feeding them and sending them off to college. With that said, give painting a shot, you never know how good or bad it will turn out until you give it a shot.

Take your time and do your best. If you "F" it up, it's not a mistake, it's "character"! :O)

Aloha'z
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Aloha'z and have a great day!

71 Super Beetle Vert
15x4.5 Front
15x6.5 Rear
155/60R15 74T tires FRONT
205/65/15 tires REAR
1600 Dual Port
Progessive Carb
Electronic Ignition
Tri Mil "hotdog" exhaust

[Spezialist]

Seems matte black could have been handled by a couple of rattle canz in a parking lot.
That's what I did when I was a kid.

I like it, is this before?

I'd love to hear how sounds with that fricken 4 barrel on it.
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[VERTED71]

[air-h2o-air]

while I give you kudos for attempting yourself...you seem to have forgotten when discussing charges by a professional.....those professionals have LARGE amounts of the money that customers pay them going ONLY for govt regulations....so be fair with your assessment of charges. All the blame for painting costs don't belong to the body shops

[VERTED71]

[EverettB]

VERTED71 - Thanks for posting your experience and encouraging others to give it a shot themselves.

It's clearly BS if they say $1000 then all of a sudden it's $600.
I would walk away from a company that did that.
Give me an honest estimate up front, don't play games.


My advice is to ignore Spezialist - he does not speak for the majority of people on this site who are here to help and support others, not put them down.
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[VERTED71]

[jason]

Most of the cost is labor. Your $45 cost of the booth covers the govt fees and materials or they couldnt rent it any cheaper.

[Spezialist]