Respraying part or all of a Classic

[Laughingman21]

I'm about to start my first ever restoration on a Triumph Spitfire. It shouldn't take much to get the mechanicals sorted and through an MOT, but one area that could do with tidying up is some of the bodywork.

There are a few panels that could definitely do with tidying up. I was thinking of giving this a go myself, but wanted some feed back from those that have done it on how easy/hard it is as a beginner?

One thought that had crossed my mind is to go for a full body respray, but I have no idea on time/costs involved. I’m willing to do as much of the prep work as is possible.

Have any of the experienced hands of PH got any advice?

[Laughingman21]

benjj said:

My advice would be to get quotes for:

1) full glass out respray
2) full glass in respray
3) blow over and blend of nasty panels

Once you have that you can decide what you can either afford or justify. Then gave a crack yourself. If you fark it up you know what it will take to put it right.

Any idea how many hours it would take to:
a) prep the car
b) paint the car

for the above situations?

[Laughingman21]

LordBretSinclair said:

Before this thread goes much further can I ask the OP exactly what finish he is going for?

Restoration i.e. as original (or better) or "panels that could definitely do with tidying up".

If its the former then definitely go the professional route. If the latter then there's no reason why you shouldn't have a go yourself

As it stands, the car has some rust bubbles coming through and a couple of patches where the paint is coming away. These definitely need tidying up, but if I could improve the appearance of the car, I'm definitely interested in doing that too (at a sensible cost)