[V6-12v] Respray

[The CyberPoet]

I know that the pearlescent paints used on both of my last two Audi's  
is extremely expensive in terms of both paint supplies and labor  
compared to most automotive paints (even compared to most top-of-the- 
line paints). Last time I priced the OEM paint kit, it was somewhere  
well north of $1400 USD, which would be something in the £700 - £1k  
range for the paint alone (compared to about $800 for a typical top- 
of-the-line 5 coat paint system that uses a base, two color coats and  
two clear coats). As with all paint jobs, the quality of the paint  
job is directly related to the quality of the prep work, and that  
translates literally into hours of manpower.

The most idealized paint job would be an off-body bead-blast, rezinc  
coat, fill as necessary, primer, plus whatever top-coat system is OEM  
or better in quality, then replace all the trim. I've only run across  
one shop that doesn't normally work on historic restorations that  
would go to the detail level of removing the body parts and  
rezinc'ing them; the best you could normally hope for would be bead/ 
sand blast followed by the fill/primer/paint.

KNOW THIS:
A typical paint job needs to off-gas for 3+ months to attain full  
hardness and durability even if it was baked on for a day or two at  
the outset of the painting. Waxing or otherwise sealing the paint  
from the outside before it finishes curing will curse the paint to  
remaining soft and thus easily damaged.

Good luck!!
=-= Marc Glasgow

On Dec 25, 2006, at 5:06 AM, James Whitehouse wrote:

> In any case, I wondered if anyone had any experience of getting a  
> good,
> complete respray done on these cars. A friend of mine who's an Audi  
> mechanic
> reckoned about £2500 for a proper job with the windows out and trim  
> removed
> by a reputable shop where the job will last properly. I'm more  
> concerned
> that they'll have problems getting rid of the last semi-crappy job  
> though.
>
> Any thoughts, or anyone know of any 'master resprayers' in the UK?
>
> Cheers,
> James