Paint Prep-Work Question

I had a shop come out and quote me for the body work on the wagon. He was super adamant about pulling the bubble windows and windshield as well as the trim below the door windows. That seems way excessive does anyone have advice on what parts should be removed and which should never be touched. Also what would be a reasonable price to paint a wagon the same color with minor body work? This guy said 4k and I'm no rocket surgeon but that seems f*cked. I could buy a nice gun and send myself through a community college auto body class for that much.

Dos:

Door handles
Side trim EXCLUDING Furthest rear side trim
Hatch license plate plastic
Mirrors
Lights
Remove Fenders
Remove Bumpers
Remove Hood
Anything else?

Don'ts:

Metal strip below the hatch window
Bubble windows and trim
Windshield and trim
Furthest rear side trim
Anything else?

Anything helps guys because I'm truly ignorant when it comes to body work.

Comments

  • It depends on what kind of finish your after.

    removing the most amount if parts is always better as there's less change of overspray on the parts and so you can do better prep work around the glass etc.

    i would advise removing the front windscreen to repair any underlaying rust that isn't visible. You can leave the rear screen in.

    Remove all trim on the doors, exterior window door trim I would also remove, it isn't very hard to do so (the horizontal trim).

    if you were to give them the car in full trim then 4k is still abit excessive for the to strip, prep, repair, paint and reassemble.

    If you provided the car stripped, I would say 2k or so is reasonable for a good job.
  • SPWSPW Senior Wagonist
    Grifty nailed it pretty much. Your results are much better by taking as much of the exterior parts out. If your going to be removing windows, moldings, etc be very patient with the clips. I broke quite a few today myself lol. Ohhh and you don't have to take as much time taping all your edges on your trim and stuff if you remove them. Also, the metal strip below the rear hatch glass slides out.
  • CharbCharb Administrator
    Look at my build thread 'Nancy'

    hes right about what you 'should' pull

    Im working at a body shop now. If you wanna bring your car to Spokane I'll take good care of ya :)
  • Good info guys, I'm taking my time with it. As soon as I get frustrated I walk away before I break something. Charb I might have to take you up on that. My wife and I have been all over 2 states for this wagon and its fun showing her around since shes from the east coast.
  • CharbCharb Administrator
    Feel free to message me if you have any specific questions. If I don't have the answer I'm usually with my buddy that is running the operation and has been painting over half his life (16 years lol )
  • Ok so I've started. My list is pretty incomplete, you don't realise how much is on the car until you start. Here are a few spots I got stuck on or am currently stuck on. First of all I've had to remove most inside panels to access bolts amd such.
    The wiper on the back has a cap that pops off.
    531.jpg

    In the center of the license plate cover is a clip, f*ck that clip. Haha. It is so hard to get out, even after exposing everything I could. I ended up breaking it but I don't think it is that important.
    534.jpg

    Everything else is pretty self explanitory. The spoiler needs to slide forward when you take it off and there is a bolt behind the 3 tail light.

    Also the door handles come out easily but the trick is that you have to remove the latch as well.

    Ok here are the things I'm stuck on.
    These stickers, how do I get them off and keep them reusable? Or do I have to purchase new ones?
    7320ADC2-2FEC-40B1-89CF-6C63AD4AFB1E_zpsu8pxcq3o.jpg

    And the garnish on the bottom of the window. I got the rear ones out but the front ones are pissing me off, they won't bugde and I'm using pressures that are getting to the point I'm going to break clips? Any thoughts?
    537.jpg
  • CharbCharb Administrator
    You're going to break most of the clips. But they're the same as other civics. Start with a flathead at the end closest to the back. There's one big clip that will need to be popped, which you are likely to break. Then 4-5 other clips that you will probably break too lol

    As far as your Civic emblem, run a scraper under it and peel it off. You can clean it up and reuse if desired. The RT4wd sticker you're going to have to find someone to print you a new one. Shouldn't be too hard we've got some creative sticker people here.
  • CharbCharb Administrator
    FYI- make sure you check the quick links to see how to remove side door trim. Bam bam did a write up
  • A bit of heat will help the Civic emblems as you scrape them off like Charb said.
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