Should I paint my car the same color or a different color?
 

I have a red '90 GTU and I got some rust spots and dents that i'm taking out. I'm debating if I should repaint it the stock color or some other color like black, white, blue, etc. I don't really care for red, but I also don't like to change from the factory color. Some opinions pleaz.

The owner of the shop said he'd do bodywork, and paint for $1400, how does that sound?

I would go with a red color unless you plan on painting the door jams and engine bay which is a pain in the ass because you have to remove everything in the engine bay to do that. Of course if you don't care about the mismatching colors or can afford to repaint them too then you could do some other color.

Are you talkin a full paint job, or just a top coat type spray job? In other words, are you pulling the engine and painting the engine bay, painting the inside edges of the doors and door sills, the inside edge of the hatch and shit like that? If you are painting the entire vehicle (every square inch of exposed metal) I would do a custom color that fits your personality, but if you are just doing a visual surface job, I would certainly stick with the original color. If the interior is stripped to the bare metal like a race car I would do the exterior and interior in nicely contrasting colors. I saw a rex that was pure white on the outside and candy apple red inside, very nice. That might sound like rice, but it was done right and was for real off the hook

Funny that you should bring up this subject. I need to paint my 88 GXL. It's red and I was thinking of going to a charcol grey. I went to three of my favorite paint shops and was told pretty much the same thing from all the painters.

If I want to change the color, there is no way to get around paying more for the door jams, engine compartmant, trunk lid and other parts. Some of the guys said they'll have to take my car apart to do the job right. 'Beverly hills paint and body' said they needed to keep my ride for 10 days (5 days prep, 2 days paint,3 reassemble, cost approx. $1500). I can't afford to be w/out my car that long.

Another guy at 'Manuels paint and finder' on Venice blvd. in west L.A. that did a great job on a 1997 Saturn SC-2 that I had said he could hand prep, hand sand and primer, pop out a silver-dollar sized ding in the finder and spray my GXL for roughly $500 (red), and do it in about 3 to 5 days.

This guys got 30 years in the same place and I trust his word. bottom line is anything is possible it all depends on what you want to pay. There is a huge spread in prices. Lot of the time I found it has to do with the kind of work the shop normally handels. Some only do high end custom work. I've seen $10,000 paint jobs done there. Others; in the case of Beverly Hills paint and body, mostly do insurance claims. I'll go for Manuel. Because he knows this is coming out of my pocket so it's more personal. I'm not going to display the car at a auto show, I just want a decent paint on a daily driver.

Stay away from those 1 day paint shops. They only have about 12 colors that they'll paint your car, and it's a hack job at best: ripples, smearing, missed spots, just a nightmare. I hope this helps;)

Painting a different color brings a lot of more factors that will either make the car look worse or cost much more. Even a different shade of red applies here.

-any chip will show the old color
-door jambs might look akward, even with an attempt to repaint them.
-underhood will be different color (no big deal, its not visiable)

The main one is the first. Any time the paint is scratched or chipped, it will show the lower layer.

Here are some pics of what a professional will do if you are getting your car repainted.

https://www.rx7club.com/photo/index....r=5685&thumb=1

not all have been approved yet, but give it time