Respray question - Mk2

[DZ300]

Hi all,

My wife's '98 s-reg 1.8i is starting to look a bit worse for wear and I'm making attempts to return our beloved "5" back to her former glory. Structurally and mechanically the car is completely sound, it is just the cosmetics that are letting her down.

The car has been partially resprayed (badly I might add) by the previous owner and it is starting to show (a half red, half pink car is not the look we're after ...) In addition to that I have found some significant rust problems along both sills as well as part of the lower rear quarter (between the sill and rear wheel). I have found that MX5Parts sells replacement Mk2 sills and rear quarter panels for a bodyshop to use so that's not a problem. Rather than doing another partial respray I'd like to get the whole car done - nothing fancy, same colour and certainly not to "concours" finish. To that end I was wondering if anyone had an incling as to how much a respray might cost and whether there are any recommended bodyshops in the West Midlands or Warwickshire/Worcestershire areas.

Any feedback is gratefully received. Really looking forward to getting her back to her former glory!

Thanks.

Dan

Edited by DZ300 on Tuesday 12th May 12:33

Edited by DZ300 on Tuesday 12th May 12:33

[TwistingMyMelon]

Hmmm Ive got similiar problems in reguards to the sills and looked at the replacement pannels, what put me off was the cost of fitting and preping and then spraying them.

I mean a decent respray is I guess 2000
2 x Pannels are 200
Fitting and prepring the pannels is probs a few quid as well as they are welded on.

Thats got to be nearly worth as much as the car

I'd be tempted to wrap the car in Vinyl for cica 800 and cut the old sils out and weld some new ones in at 2-300 a side.

Edited by TwistingMyMelon on Tuesday 12th May 17:09

[OnlyMX5ives]

Unless they are terrible I'd just get some suitable patches made up.

Most pink cars can be cut back to red and maintained by waxing occassionally.

However I do know a few bodyshops who are sensibly priced.

The better (and more expensive) one is in Stratford on Avon the cheaper (and adequate) one is in Earlswood.

PM me for no.s

[DZ300]

Hi chaps,

Thanks for your feedback. I've made an appointment with a welder and a bodyshop (next week) and will see what the concensus is. Unfortunately the car has now developed an intermittent problem which requires urgent attention (see separate thread re: ABS light)

Thanks for the info ref the Stratford and Earlswood bodyshops - I'll drop you a pm later for their numbers.

Unfortunately I have already tried to restore the pink paint back to red on several occassion. Each time the result lasts for about 2 weeks before reverting back to pink ... Really think it's time for a respray now.

All the best,

Dan

[TwistingMyMelon]

What have you been using to restore the paintwork? Hopefully not T-Cut!

Idealy you want to firstly use a polish type paint restorer product to "cut" into the paint and then a decent sealent wax to "seal" the paintwork, which hopefully should last longer. Although its a while since I did any propper detailing, I'd be tempted to post some pics in the detailing forum and ask for advice...

[DZ300]

Hi,

No, not T-Cut! Have had bad experiences with that particular product.

I used the following Meguiars products:

Claybar
No.83 (Dual Action polisher application with W8006 pad)
No.80 (" --------------------------------------" )
No.7 (Hand application)
NXT (Hand application)

The above products/procedures have worked extremely well on other cars and initially the results are spectacular on the MX5. However, after about 2~3 weeks the colour fades to pink once more (the panels which had previously been resprayed - badly).

Regards,

Dan

[TwistingMyMelon]

Oh sorry mate, seems like you have been trying hard with decent stuff. Nothing more I could suggest, apart from consulting bodyshops for their opinion.