Re: A Bear of a story, and looking for a good Denver body shop

[Igor Kessel <e6941tb@ix.netcom.com>]

I am very sorry to hear your story, Bob.

> I've never had to file a claim before, nor have any extensive paint
> work done on any other vehicle. What exactly is involved in a complete
> repaint?

The general rule of any repaint: the more parts you take off YOURSELF, the better 
the final result is gonna be. Try to tape as little parts as possible. If I were 
to do your car, I would take off every_single_moulding, door handles, locks, 
badges, grill, headlights, both bumpers etc. I would also spend the whole day 
taping the car with my exacto knife under my 500w transportable halogen light. 

Do the edges and seams as scrupolously as you can. Then flatbed the car to the 
best shop that you know of. I would advise against any super-dooper-ambassador 
etc deals. Good paint job has_to_be expensive or you don't want it. Ah, one more 
thing. Your shop of choice has_to_have a hermetically sealed paint booth with the 
good suction ventilation, air filtering and preferably, the floor comprised of a 
grill with the water running under it. The booth also has to act as a drying 
oven.

A lot of shops will tell you tall stories that you don't need all this in 
nowadays, that they *will tape the car good* without undressing it and that the 
modern acrylic paints dry fast, so you don't need a drying booth etc. etc.

You can see their work on taxi cabs, that they specialise in, it holds up well 
enough in between collisions...and who cares about those painted Cr moldings and 
door handles anyway...


> Do they "strip" the car first, or just paint over the old
> paint?

No, you don't strip the old paint. You just sand it lightly with a fine grit 
sandpaper and use it as primer for the new base coat.

-- 
Igor Kessel
'89 200TQ - 18psi (TAP)
'98 A4TQ - on order...again. For the third time and counting.
Philadelphia, PA
USA