The seed of a mildly insane thought (repainting)

[OVERDRIFT]

This morning I was conversing with my gf about how, as a kid, I fantasized of taking an na miata out on a beach with grippy tires and thrashing the **** out of it until it died screaming in a mess of sandy engine parts and torn suspension. Not because I wanted to destroy the car but rather because somehow i knew the miata would be the most fun to take over the bumps and such on a beach and thrash about. Also I knew this activity would likely kill the vehicle thus I accounted for that. This was back when I considered the miata as a cool car but not something anyone actually OWNED. (Somebody never told my young self about what the best selling converable in the 90s was. [Actually wouldnt that have been the sebring? everyone had one of those back then.])

But I digress. What surprised me as I was thinking back that the miata in question was always white. I suppose I have always loved white miatas and cars in general. This sparked the thought that a white m NA would be hot as all get out. Those tires would go real nice with a white finish. And wouldn't you know? I HAVE an m NA. One with a questionable exterior. It couldn't hurt resale that much. I mean likely couldnt get much more or less than 1500 for it now as its only real virtue is as a well running 94m with an ok top.

How crazy/stupid is this? I know that a goooooood repaint job will cost me thousands and that a cheap maaco job might look like garbage. Also unless i primer it, painting white over a dark color never works out well.

As an aside, I would never put any miata (mine or others) through the waterside horror above. Unless I was filthy rich and the miata was on its last legs.

[metalman]

Decent paintjobs can be had at $1200-1500
Was the the question? Or was there a question? :lol:

[OVERDRIFT]

Where? Is it worth it? Can a good one be had for less? Is it heresy to repaint an m?

[metalman]

Where? Is it worth it? Can a good one be had for less? Is it heresy to repaint an m?

I dont think it heresy...especially if its a 94M :lol:
Okay, that was a biased opinion on my part. hehe
Honestly though...a less expensive paintjob will leave your engine
compartment in its current color so if you can live with that there
are any number of shops you can talk to that will paint base clear
white on a Miata reasonably.

If it was me I would talk to Sentry Paint & Body in Lilburn or Lee's Collision Service
in Loganville and tell them what I want/expect. Some say the Duluth location
of Sprayglo is decent at around a grand. I dont know, I havent seen their
1 k paintjob. Your expectations have to be realistic however.

There are a few members on this board that have gotten very nice
paint work done in that price range.

[tbone heller]

I know some guys that work at a large car dealership. They do bodywork & paint "on the side". They did my car at a very fair price.

[MoD_Scotty]

It's possible to get decent results out of a cheap paint job. You just have to do ALL of the prep work yourself. This includes all of the sanding, smoothing, bondo-ing, masking, removing trim, and primering (which will need more sanding, of course). Then once it's been sprayed, depending on what kind of paint it is, you might need to wet sand, or at least buff everything.

I think there was a really good article in GRM about making a $400 paintjob look like one that cost thousands.

[OVERDRIFT]

Do you remember the name of that article? Sounds a bit out of my league but might be helpful none the less.

[jester911]

Most of a good paint job is in the prep work. As long as there is no major body work to be done you don't need to have great skill to prep the car. You do need to put in the time and elbow grease.

The better the prep the better the finished product. I will have to search around but I think I have a link or two that is pretty comprehensive for DIY.

You probably will need to talk to the shop that will actually be doing the painting before hand about what primers they recommend for the type of paint they will be using if in fact you do the priming yourself. You may even want to get it from them.

[MoD_Scotty]

Can't remember the name of the article. I even checked GRM's site but it wasn't on there. I know it was an older car that they painted...it might have even been on the cover. Sorry I can't be more specific.

[OVERDRIFT]

Thanks for looking and all of the info! At best this will be a summer job so i have a bit of time to look into it and decide if it is really for me. I do have a small dent that needs to be pulled but other than that its just minor.

[mustangtomiata]

Can't remember the name of the article. I even checked GRM's site but it wasn't on there. I know it was an older car that they painted...it might have even been on the cover. Sorry I can't be more specific.

I remember the article your talking about. I want to say they did the 78-80sumthin malibu that is commonly made into a drag car. And it did look quite nice, i would gladly say i painted it if that was the result and i only had 400 in it.

[BFH miata]

If it was me I would talk to Sentry Paint & Body in Lilburn or Lee's Collision Service
in Loganville and tell them what I want/expect. Some say the Duluth location
of Sprayglo is decent at around a grand. I dont know, I havent seen their
1 k paintjob. Your expectations have to be realistic however.

There are a few members on this board that have gotten very nice
paint work done in that price range.

I'll second the vote for Sentry, support spec miata racers. They fixed some damage caused by a guard rail and resprayed my whole car for around 1500. I wouldn't pay much more than that on a car that you intend to drive. You have to remember, it is going to get dinged and bugs/rocks are going to hit the front bumper. Why fret over a 3-5k paint job?

[jesseealexander]

the GRM article was for their saab rally car. :)

[Jack-MX5ATLanta.com]

I'll second the vote for Sentry, support spec miata racers. They fixed some damage caused by a guard rail and resprayed my whole car for around 1500. I wouldn't pay much more than that on a car that you intend to drive. You have to remember, it is going to get dinged and bugs/rocks are going to hit the front bumper. Why fret over a 3-5k paint job?

Have Sentry got a website? I failed in my google just then.

[metalman]

Have Sentry got a website? I failed in my google just then.

They dont have a website to my knowledge.
They are just old school car guys. I can forward
contact info if needed.