[V6-12v] respray

Mon Dec 25 16:09:40 EST 2006

Roger,

That's a great perspective, and a fascinating insight into what you plan to
do with your prospective V8 Quattro.

I do indeed intend to keep the car for at least five years, probably much
longer. I actually like the last generation 80, I have a bit of a thing for
the shape and the build, etc that I like much better than the later cars.
This one seems generally fine and only cost me £1500.

Putting it into the terms you were suggesting in your email, I can afford to
put right everything that's wrong and get a decent respray/ repaint for a
fraction of a newer car with similar performance and style. When you put it
like that, the cost of a full, good, respray seems like quite good value.

Cheers,
James

> -----Original Message-----
> From: v6-12v-bounces at audifans.com [mailto:v6-12v-bounces at audifans.com] On
> Behalf Of Roger M. Woodbury
> Sent: 25 December 2006 17:57
> To: james_whitehouse at yahoo.co.uk; Kentmclean at comcast.net
> Cc: v6-12v at audifans.com
> Subject: Re: [V6-12v] respray
> 
> This is the kind of issue that causes people to rush out and get rid of
> whatever they had and buy something new to save the money that they would
> otherwise "waste" by putting it into a restoration of their old car.  It
> is
> also nuts, and makes NO sense whatsoever.
> 
> The only thing that makes a car not worth restoring is obsolescence...the
> total unavailability of parts that renders the car unuseful as a vehicle,
> or
> rust and corrosion that makes the car structurally unsound over the life
> of
> whatever the cost/magnitude of the restoration project was.
> 
> I am in the process (as Kent knows well), of planning for my next car.  My
> 1991 20-valve Avant is going to need quite a lot of relatively expensive
> work before it will pass inspection next time around...which is next
> summer.
> I do not want to spend the money on THIS car, which has had a few too many
> northern New England winters to make the physical/mechanical restoration
> process truly effective. That coupled with my wife's preference that I
> have
> something that she can drive also for those many times that we are in the
> car together, is making my 91 20-valve Avant obsolete.  And the devil of
> it
> all is that there is nothing, absolutely NOTHING on the market that is
> newer
> than this particular series of cars that is even remotely interesting to
> me.
> 
> So, what I am leaning toward (today, subject to change tomorrow), is a '93
> V8 Quattro.  All of which brings me around to the subject of "respraying"
> or
> repainting, as we say here in the colonies.  I have had this done to two
> other Audis in the past, and in both cases the jobs were mediocre and
> inexpensive.  The first job was done on my burgundy '87 5000CS Quattro
> Avant.  That was a pretty complete job, and I had all the chrome...roof
> rack
> and the like...removed.  The masking job on the rest of the car was
> outstanding, and when all was done, there was hardly any overspray
> anywhere.
> It cost $1500 U.S.  at the time and although the quality of the spraying
> itself wasn't the best, the car looked new from fifteen feet away, and
> only
> a careful examination of the body work revealed that the car had been
> painted...a little ripple here, and a tad of "orange peel" there.
> 
> Then I had my '93 V8 Quattro repainted by the same shop.  A little more
> expensive and not as good.  The new owner had to have the hood
> repainted...
> 
> In neither case were the windows removed, nor the rubber scrubbers
> replaced.
> 
> Now, IF I tumble and actually buy another Type 44 Audi like this
> mysterious
> V8, I might take it to the body shop that I know about 130 miles from here
> that does "magic" body work...or at least they always did do "magic" work
> on
> high end automobiles, and for a long time was THE only, true concours shop
> north of Boston. My plan for the "new" V8, will be to 'do' all the
> underneath stuff first, and then pull the engine and (maybe) the engine.
> While the engine and transmission are out, the car will go to the body
> shop
> and have the exterior properly prepped, windows removed along with chrome
> gizzies and so on, and the car properly redone.  Depending on the
> condition
> of the interior, I might get some of the interior redone at the same time.
> 
> Meanwhile, the engine and transmission would be resealed at least, and
> again, depending on miles, the engine and transmission might be
> overhauled.
> Once the body and interior is done, it would come back to the wrench's,
> and
> the reassembly reaccomplished.
> 
> The result would be a "new" V8, as near new as possible, and a car that
> will
> be capable of another 100,000 miles of properly serviced driving.
> 
> Cost?  Well, I dunno, but I think that the breakdown will work something
> like this, in current US dollars:
> 
> 1.  Cost of car:  $2500-6000.
> 2.  Body restoration:  $5-8000
> 3.  Engine reseal and service:  $3000
> 4.  Transmission rebuild:  (I don't want to go there right now, so let's
> pretend that it doesn't need it).
> 5.  Tires, wheels, brakes, brake lines, suspension bushings and the like:
> $4-6000.
> 6.  Misc.  odd and ends:  $3500. (A/C and other electrical services)
> 
> So, yes, the total restoration cost will equal $25,000 or more in the
> worst
> case.  Will spend this much to restore a Type 44 V8?  Probably not. But it
> might be tempting to head down the road at least part way.  There are few
> other cars that will deliver the kind of performance that the V8 Quattro
> will for much less than twice what the cost no object restoration price
> will
> be.  Then figure in the added cost of insurance, taxes and interest on the
> purchase of a new car, and the restoration of a V8 looks more attractive.
> And if you need further confusion, just figure in the comparative cost of
> tires for a V8 versus the cost of tires for something equal and newer,
> like
> an S8, and you get my drift, I think.
> 
> The ideal car will be either white or Black with black interior and around
> 100,000 miles.  I know of a dark green one right now that has pretty
> careful
> ownership and maintenance over its 220,000 miles, but the asking price is
> still so high that I won't even make an offer.  The '93-94 V8's are VERY
> scarce, and in the end, it all may just be a pipe dream and go up in
> smoke.
> 
> So, around to the idea of respraying the James Whitehouse 80 in the UK, my
> thoughts on the process are to make a decision first about how long you
> really plan on keeping and caring for the car.  If your decision is to
> keep
> it in service for five years more, then take it to a quality shop, and pay
> them the money to strip the car properly, resand and square the body
> panels,
> and property prep and repaint the car.  The car will likely be off the
> road
> for two or three months to do it properly, but the result should be a
> sparkling new looking Audi that you will be pleased to keep in service
> throughout the term.
> 
> Roger
> 
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