Respraying

David Speir was seen penning the following ode to ... whatever:

Chances are that a good paint shop won't touch it - they can't guarantee that the preparation was done to the required standard don't want to open themselves to the inevitable when you come back and complain about the paint falling off.

Best thing to do is to agree with them how far they need the car stripped, strip it yourself and clean it up really well, then leave the rest to them.

Since preparation is a large percentage of a decent job, you'd be laying yourself open to any problems afterwards as being down to you. So the sanding down etc is best left to the painter.

To explain further. One real problem is old silicone polish. This should be chemically removed - and thoroughly - before starting sanding, as sanding over any residue can simply drive it into the paint, and make it even more difficult to remove. And this won't show until after the new paint has been applied.

Removing and replacing trim etc might well save some money, though.

You have tried a bloody good polish with G3 haven't you? It *does* fade again, but polishing every 6 months VS the very large amount of cash needed for a proper respray, and the fact that if it's a bare metal spray, the rustproofing will never be as good as Porsche's, is a pretty obvious choice to me.

Unless there's lots of paint damage - like stone chipping etc - I can't see why you'd bare metal it.