Paint Preparation Thread

So my car is going into the shop to be rapainted in April. In the meantime I would like to know what I should do ahead of time to ensure the best results and maybe some money saving tips too. I was planning on painting the car the original Bright GM Red with a Pristmatique coat in the clearcoat.

I am looking at roughly $1500 for the job. What I am wondering, would it be worthwhile at this point to pull the engine / trans and have the car towed to the shop so my paint guy can paint the engine bay and I can clean and polish up the motor before it goes back in.

How hard is it to pull a motor / trans?

What equipment is necessary?

What hazards will I run into doing so?

And any suggestions toward really getting it done right.

I am also wondering if I should have the bottom of the car cleaned and painted. I am trying everything to stay away from an all out paint job (Pulling the entire car apart to paint interior and all). Anybody done this type of job before? Anybody wanna help on a weekend?

Thanks for reading... Enjoy this sweet Batmobile Z06



And this shot too! Man I love these new vettes!

[WMCC Gary]

If your painting it the same color I see no need to paint the engine compartment or the underside of the car.

[JoeliusZ28]

agreed with gary.

[phoenix_rising]

Could I polish the strut mount areas and that?

[97rs4life]

unless you are going for show car material, don't bother pulling the engine and such as it can be a hassle. Just take it down there and let them do there thing. Also how are you getting a full paintjob with the color red for only 1500 bucks. Sounds like a pretty cheap shop and I would be worried about quality. Red paint is some of the highest priced paint to get. You can paint the underbody yourself if you needed to later on.

[phoenix_rising]

Actually that was quoted from the same guy that did the body work on my car before. Did a great job. Jenkin's Auto Refinishing has been in business for over 50+ years and is one of the most trusted in the area. I am not concerned about the quality of their work. They are very good. Also that price does not include for painting the jambs and such. They use PPG Paint.

[96mikez28]

Actually that was quoted from the same guy that did the body work on my car before. Did a great job. Jenkin's Auto Refinishing has been in business for over 50+ years and is one of the most trusted in the area. I am not concerned about the quality of their work. They are very good. Also that price does not include for painting the jambs and such. They use PPG Paint.

Shit if there that good and cheap, i'm coming down there!

[DTZ28]

Mine's getting done by Pace, and its gonna be sweet, I got some body work to be done too.

[tenpin842]

Yes agreed on the price.....thats cheap!!
Red is one of the most expensive colors out there.
Not to mention a good clear can run upwards to $300.00 for a gallon. And thats not even the activator or the hardener

Agree with the people here. If your not going "SHOW QUALITY" dont bother pulling the motor and tranny, just wash it up and get some motor digresser. You can really make the motor compartment shine with a little elbow grease. About the bottom of the car, You can always tape off the bottom of the car and spray some rust proof and make it all black. (just make sure you get the flexible or rubberized)

[JoeliusZ28]

as a detailer one of my tricks for bringing an engine bay back to life after cleaning it is to take armor all (whatever equivalent) and just douse the entire thing... I mean drench it. 303 Aeropsace is really good. Anyway just leave it sit like that for a couple hours, then come back and wipe it down. Itll look amazing.

[WMCC Gary]

as a detailer one of my tricks for bringing an engine bay back to life after cleaning it is to take armor all (whatever equivalent) and just douse the entire thing... I mean drench it. 303 Aeropsace is really good. Anyway just leave it sit like that for a couple hours, then come back and wipe it down. Itll look amazing.

Tire Foam works great as well.

[WMCCjames]

as a detailer one of my tricks for bringing an engine bay back to life after cleaning it is to take armor all (whatever equivalent) and just douse the entire thing... I mean drench it. 303 Aeropsace is really good. Anyway just leave it sit like that for a couple hours, then come back and wipe it down. Itll look amazing.

Lol..then 2 weeks later you open the hood and That stuff is a dust magnet!

[kammi10]

joel damn quit giving out a detailers secrets

not if i you wipe is down good james

[JoeliusZ28]

well if you use armor all its a dust magnet

[GETGONE]

Did he say which line of PPG he's using? PPG makes a cheap line paint called Omni. I have used that and had good success with it but several professionals say they wouldn't even paint their lawnmower with the stuff. I used the Omni AU line on my Sonoma when my dad and I repainted it. I pulled the bed off but left the fenders, hood, and doors in place. I just masked the inner edge of the engine compartment and covered it and painted the edges of the fenders and hood so they matched. The firewall is still the factory emerald green. You'll get the best quality job if you do pull it all apart. Otherwise you'll have lots of overspray areas and paint lines from where they mask. There are lots of cracks and creavices on an Fbody and it wouldn't take much to make it look ugly from all the overspray. Did that price include painting the door jambs and hatch area? Are they even going to prime it or just scuff your factory paint and spray over it?. I had about $750 in materials when I did my truck and that was still using some leftover primer and clear that my dad had from previous things he had painted. To me it sounds about one step above a Macco/Earl Schieb paint job.