Painting Door Sills and Spoilers

[AZ88Turbo]

Hi,

I have decided to paint the bottom half of my 88 turbo the same color as the top (currently the top is white and the bottom is gray). I took it to a body work shop and they said they would need to remove all of the parts in order to repaint them, and the price would be $2k.

My questions are; should I feel comfortable letting them take my car to pieces? (right now I don’t, I’m pretty sure they don’t have much experience with Lotus’ and I don’t like the idea of them taking my car to pieces).

Does this price sound a little high or about right?

Any other advice?

Thanks for any help.

AZ88Turbo

[LotusACBC]

I cant comment on their experience or taking the pieces off. But the pieces will have to come off the car. As far as the price, it seems a bit pricey to me, as a paint job for a whole car is around 2-3grand normally from a reputable paint shop.

[karlfranz]

I wouldn't let them remove the side skirts (door sills) if I were you. This is quite a complicated job as the sills are usually glassed, bonded, and riveted in place. Tony did this to his 89MY when he replaced the side skirts with the ones on the V8. If you want to see just how much work is really involved, look at www.black89lotus.com/59.html and you will realize you don't want them touching this.

Removal of the front air dam is also non-trivial. After removing the undertrays, you need to work your way into the inside of the union between the air dam and the bumper. Not something I would trust to someone not familiar with your car.

If you're having doubts about the competence of the shop working on your Esprit, don't take your car there. In the words of Obi Wan: "Trust you instincts, Luke".

Regarding LotusACBC's comments on price, a $2-3K paint job on an Esprit is very much on the cheap side. I would be suspect of the quality of anyone who claims they could paint the whole car for that price.

Cheers,

Karl-Franz :-)
www.espritfactfile.com

[madmike]

I'm with Karl. Just out of curiosity, I mentioned a respray to my Lotus specialist once and he thought I was nuts. He explained that to properly respray, you essentially had to dismantle your car, and it would cost a small fortune to do.

Just some FYI.

Edited to add: BTW, I like your two tone gray and white. It's quite nice looking, and probably more practical as the bottom section gets dirtiest fastest, and on a white car...

Mike

>> Edited by madmike on Thursday 1st May 19:27

[LotusACBC]

Regarding LotusACBC's comments on price, a $2-3K paint job on an Esprit is very much on the cheap side. I would be suspect of the quality of anyone who claims they could paint the whole car for that price.

Cheers,

Karl-Franz :-)
www.espritfactfile.com

But hes not getting the whole car painted, just the bottom. Thats a fair price?

[karlfranz]

But hes not getting the whole car painted, just the bottom. Thats a fair price?

I realize he's not getting the whole car painted. I know $2K sounds expensive to paint just the gray areas. However, he was also told they would have to remove the lower sections and paint them separately. If you were to count the labor involved in that monumental task, $2K would not even begin to cover it. However, I would never let these people dismantle my car to do the paint job.

He can probably find a place that will do a good job painting the gray areas in situ for about $1K.

Cheers,

Karl-Franz :-)
www.espritfactfile.com

[superdave]

I can't see why the car has to be dismantled to respray the bottom section. Mine was completely resprayed and the guy did a great job. I don't have any real expertise in this field but both my Lotus Specialist, another Lotus place where I was going to get my car serviced and the new bodyshop where Iam having the rear valance done, all commented how good the paint job is. So like a lemming I too agree.
As for cost, I would rather not say but LotusACBC wasn't far off the mark, and yes I do realise that your in US dollars and we are in pounds.

Cheers,


Dave Walters
ps. After the guy painted the car, he did say to the PO that he wouldn't do it again for the same price, so nearly had you all there for a mo.

[swedishsurgeon]

Mark,
The '88 was a special year, first of the Stevens
and I would keep the original paint colour. I know where your coming from, however to me in Lotus land we try our best to make our cars look as "original" as the year of MFG. When you make changes, it lowers the value of the car as not to mention they have dereased in value as it is. This is just my opinion.
Robert