Hi, just a few questions about respraying the panels on a Mini. ( Not spraying them myself, getting someone else to do it professionally ).

When you get a Mini and want just the Exterior resprayed, do all the chrome pieces have to be removed for it to be sprayed ?

Also, I heard if you Sand and Prep the panels yourself, it can save you some big bucks. Is it possible for somebody who knows absolutely nothing about prepping and respraying to sand down the panels on a car? I'm hoping it requires little knowledgable, but lots of hard gritty work. ( Then I might be able to prepare it myself for someone else to respray to save me money ).

Any idea how much I should be expecting to get quoted on for an Exterior Respray ? Is it possible to get a Mini Resprayed for under $1000 ? ( No rust fixing etc )

I'm not sure about it, but people seem to sell their Mini's cheap after having it resprayed, so I'm hoping respraying isnt too expensive.

Atm, I'm trying to find some books and tutorials on the net how to Take off the paint on panels, might be something to do while the TV's playing in the background on my off nights.

Oh, last question, does it require about 4 or 5 Litres of Paint to Respray a Mini? Any idea how much Normal or Metallic Paint would cost?

Thanks,

Tyson.

I was just told in another thread that it might cost 6k or upwards to have a car resprayed. ( ouch ) that's not what I was hoping / thinking.

Dare I touch on the subject of Respraying over an old paint job ?

Better to keep it the colour it is, then just "paint" over it.

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Hi, i have just finished respraying my car myself ( aabout a month ago) and i just figured out what the total costs were. Admittedly i work at a sign company so i have a spray booth, spray guns, panel heaters and access to varied sanding devices but i did buy and the products needed myself AND it wasnt a bare metal respray. Heres a rough breakdown

4 litres Black Automotive enamel $80
4 litres Premium Clear Automotive Gloss $40 (on special as was last dinted can)
4 X 2 litre Cans Spray Primer/Putty $10 each
Approx 12 litres of Thinners @ $20 per 4litres
Approx $30 - 40 on various grades of sandpaper
$20 on a tin of filler
Then $30 on my mettalic pearl secret!!
Then probably $50 on varied tools that i needed

So it cost me about $300 all up. Now looking at it i know its not as good a job as what a professional could do ( i found a f@#king hair in the roof) but i am extremly happy with the results. But i did have all the time in the world aswell and i know that labour is the real killer when getting something done, So my advice is prep the panels yourself coz If its not up to scratch, whoever you get to paint it will fix it up anyway but it will still be cheaper than if they did it all themselves.

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That was an awesome breakdown of the required components kasper! Now I'm just gonna try and make friends with a painter...

4L Etch Primer, 4L Primer / Filler, 4L Colour (acrylic), 20L thinners = $400 (all PPG brand, formerly DULON)

You can get a tradie to spray your car from $500 - $5000+.... depends on how much they do and how keen they are to do it. Some tradies prefer to prep themselves, others don't give a rats @rse what they paint over.

If you prep yourself, read up on the subject before starting. Believe it or not there IS a technique to sanding / stripping paint. You can tape around the chrome fittings / fixtures, windows etc, or you can remove the lot. Once again it depends on the quality of the job you want.

Good Luck!