What to expect from a respray and a retrim

[Lurking]

I'm looking for a 964, went to view one today that had had a respray (including remedial work to address some rust) and a retrim both in the last two or three years.
My question to the more experienced folk on the this forum is what standard should I expect?
The respray seemed ok, but a few issues:
- some window rubber was a bit twisted/ not seated properly
- frunk shutlines inconsistent left and right
- poor quality paint on one patch on sill

Retrim good as well:
- but door trim not smooth


Curious on thoughts, it's not priced at concours, and is high mileage anyway. Generally it looks very tidy, so perhaps I'm being picky?

[BrewsterBear]

As with everything there are resprays and there are resprays. Mine is currently being bare metal refurbed with many new panels. New panels almost never fit right though and the lengths that are required to go to for a good fit are time consuming and skilled work. It's a bit deflating seeing your brand new panels being cut, pulled and welded back together, however you see so many cars where the panels have been sprayed and bolted on where they lay and they just look rubbish.

There have been scores of hours put in getting shut lines right and trim gaps perfect on my car before even prep for paint. It's not cheap, but this car is for life so it's worth it to me. Whether that car is worth it is up to you. A poor spray will not age well though.

[IMI A]

BrewsterBear said:

As with everything there are resprays and there are resprays. Mine is currently being bare metal refurbed with many new panels. New panels almost never fit right though and the lengths that are required to go to for a good fit are time consuming and skilled work. It's a bit deflating seeing your brand new panels being cut, pulled and welded back together, however you see so many cars where the panels have been sprayed and bolted on where they lay and they just look rubbish.

There have been scores of hours put in getting shut lines right and trim gaps perfect on my car before even prep for paint. It's not cheap, but this car is for life so it's worth it to me. Whether that car is worth it is up to you. A poor spray will not age well though.

I wish you had not backdated that SC. For me was one of the nicest out there as it was. Looked superb IMO. Looking forward to seeing the back date though. I do like the earlier cars.

[BrewsterBear]

IMI A said:

I wish you had not backdated that SC. For me was one of the nicest out there as it was. Looked superb IMO. Looking forward to seeing the back date though. I do like the earlier cars.

Thanks. It was what I call a good 20:20 car. Looked good at 20ft or 20mph.

The reason was due to a poor previous respray. I last had it done 4 years ago by an aircooled VW "specialist" in Misterton near Gainsborough. He came highly recommended and I'd seen a lot of his work in the metal which was stunning. He was totally rotten though. When it got to the point that it was 3 months overdue and still not prepped for paint I lost my patience with him. He then rushed it, prepped it poorly and although what I got at the time of delivery looked shiny within weeks it came out in vapour pop. The paint was so soft you could mark it with a fingernail. It was porous too and bubbles were appearing in it despite the underlying metal being solid.

The decision was made to get it done again by a Porsche specialist at more than double the previous cost for the prep and paint alone. I weighed up my options and agonised over whether to keep the impact bumper shape or to backdate/restomod. I even asked my non-Porsche mates for opinions just in case I was blinded to it having been rebuilding it over the last 5 years. That came out as 50/50 split.

I know backdates are falling out of favour in recent times with seemingly every man and their dog doing one, but I've always loved the original shape and the chance to own a 300bhp early looking car that I can drive without worrying about values was too much. In for a penny and all that, I then spent another £8k on panels and trim and with a bit of luck it should be ready in the next week or two. They've been keeping me well updated with photos of every panel adjustment, every scab cut out and repaired, etc. Fastidious doesn't cover it, but at least it reassuring.

Sorry to the OP for pulling their topic slightly off, but the above is a cautionary tale, if nothing else, on the perils of a "cheap" respray/refurb. I'll probably do my own thread when the bodywork is complete as this is the last chapter in the rebuild saga for me.

[Cheib]

I think re the OP’s question you really need to judge it based on how much the car is for sale for against an original car of similar mileage. If it’s a few £k to get it right and that’s in the price then it’s an okay deal. Although you need to factor in I suppose that if you took an original car and had a top class pain job the car would not be worth the sum of that. If a car costs say £ 60k and a pair job is £15k it doesn’t mean the car is worth £75k!

[Lurking]

Thanks all, I think my question is that given the paint job and re-trim don't appear to be of the highest quality does that mean I should walk away (as it's indicative of corners cut and anyone who was decent would have done a better job) or, as was mentioned earlier is it just that there is a range of money that can be spent on these things and that as long as the fundamentals are ok I shouldn't worry? (it's not priced claiming it concours)

[9xxNick]

It comes down to you as a buyer and whether you can live with the faults. If you've spotted these problems before purchase though, you'll probably find others if you buy it.

If it's cheaper by the cost of a proper respray and retrim than other examples, it might be worth it. If it isn't, it might make more sense to find an example you're properly happy with.

[Pugley]

As an owner of many "Garage Queens" over the years, I can honestly say I prefer a car with a few imperfections so that I can drive it frequently and not worry about spoiling the immaculate show room image.

Providing you have put any rust at bay - Wax it and Tax it!

[nurburgring1]

Perhaps an idea to ask to see photos taken during the re spray. You can hide a lot with a bit of body filler.

[hornbaek]

With a poor quality respray I would be more worried about the things you cannot see rather than what you see. The body could be full of filler etc. I would walk away. It doesn’t cost more to do a proper job. It just requires the right talent and attention to detail.

[RSVP911]

BrewsterBear said:

Thanks. It was what I call a good 20:20 car. Looked good at 20ft or 20mph.

The reason was due to a poor previous respray. I last had it done 4 years ago by an aircooled VW "specialist" in Misterton near Gainsborough. He came highly recommended and I'd seen a lot of his work in the metal which was stunning. He was totally rotten though. When it got to the point that it was 3 months overdue and still not prepped for paint I lost my patience with him. He then rushed it, prepped it poorly and although what I got at the time of delivery looked shiny within weeks it came out in vapour pop. The paint was so soft you could mark it with a fingernail. It was porous too and bubbles were appearing in it despite the underlying metal being solid.

The decision was made to get it done again by a Porsche specialist at more than double the previous cost for the prep and paint alone. I weighed up my options and agonised over whether to keep the impact bumper shape or to backdate/restomod. I even asked my non-Porsche mates for opinions just in case I was blinded to it having been rebuilding it over the last 5 years. That came out as 50/50 split.

I know backdates are falling out of favour in recent times with seemingly every man and their dog doing one, but I've always loved the original shape and the chance to own a 300bhp early looking car that I can drive without worrying about values was too much. In for a penny and all that, I then spent another £8k on panels and trim and with a bit of luck it should be ready in the next week or two. They've been keeping me well updated with photos of every panel adjustment, every scab cut out and repaired, etc. Fastidious doesn't cover it, but at least it reassuring.

Sorry to the OP for pulling their topic slightly off, but the above is a cautionary tale, if nothing else, on the perils of a "cheap" respray/refurb. I'll probably do my own thread when the bodywork is complete as this is the last chapter in the rebuild saga for me.

Would love you to start a thread - might do the same at some point.

Where’s the body shop ? Cheers