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Re: 1987 Bertone (aka Fiat) X1/9
Posted: Fri Jun 05, 2020 7:34 am
by gnat
ipman wrote: ↑Fri Jun 05, 2020 7:28 am
Regarding wrap, my understanding is the paint needs to be in good shape in order to do a wrap. Poor paint or clear coat won't work as I understand. Not to mention wraps seem to be equal or more than paint.
This is true. People keep recommending I wrap the 996 so it doesn't look so terrible, but I have looked into it and I pretty much have to get it repainted before it can be wrapped
The issue is that just like painting a car without fixing all the underlying issues, the wrap will show you all those flaws once it's on.
Also like painting, experienced and skilled people are critical to a good result. I've seen wraps that you can identify from 20 feet, others that you had to get close to tell, and a few that you couldn't tell (these are the ones where they pull all your trim and hardware, wrap inside the door sill area, etc..).
Re: 1987 Bertone (aka Fiat) X1/9
Posted: Fri Jun 05, 2020 7:53 am
by FRUNKenstein
gnat wrote: ↑Fri Jun 05, 2020 6:30 am
I know it's a tiny car, but $7500 seems way cheap for a color change. For that price they have to be just taping over trim and hardware and probably not doing much to correct the underlying paint.
I don't think it is outrageous for a color change, but given the purchase price of the car was $3,800, there's no way I can pull that of with the Mrs. For reference, one of the other auto museum board members had his 996tt changed from silver to Mexico blue a couple of years ago. Top of the line. Engine out. No expense spared. He spent $11,000 on having that done. So, $7,500 isn't a crazy number.
Re: 1987 Bertone (aka Fiat) X1/9
Posted: Fri Jun 05, 2020 7:55 am
by FRUNKenstein
ipman wrote: ↑Fri Jun 05, 2020 7:28 am
LOVE the color. DO IT. That is very close to what I want to do with the Turbo albeit a wrap.
Paint jobs prices are all over the place and varies greatly based on location. I would inquire in some smaller areas around you- Columbia, Wichita, Omaha, Lawrence, Springfield etc. It is worth the drive to save a few grand IMO.
Also, if you can do some prep work, meaning removing bumpers, door panels, trim, etc, that can really help lower the price. Put the child laborers to work ;0
Regarding wrap, my understanding is the paint needs to be in good shape in order to do a wrap. Poor paint or clear coat won't work as I understand. Not to mention wraps seem to be equal or more than paint.
I have gotten a 2-coat paint job for 2500 before for a large SUV. Not a color change but it was a nice paint job, that was 2 years ago. This was an outlier and I would expect between 2500-5k for a nice 2-stage. Don't get a single.
Great idea on going to a small town body shop - I can't believe I didn't think of that. I grew up and have family in a small town about an hour from KC. I will shop it around down there. I'll bet someone will do it for $4,500 easily.
Re: 1987 Bertone (aka Fiat) X1/9
Posted: Fri Jun 05, 2020 8:03 am
by ipman
FRUNKenstein wrote: ↑Fri Jun 05, 2020 7:55 am
ipman wrote: ↑Fri Jun 05, 2020 7:28 am
LOVE the color. DO IT. That is very close to what I want to do with the Turbo albeit a wrap.
Paint jobs prices are all over the place and varies greatly based on location. I would inquire in some smaller areas around you- Columbia, Wichita, Omaha, Lawrence, Springfield etc. It is worth the drive to save a few grand IMO.
Also, if you can do some prep work, meaning removing bumpers, door panels, trim, etc, that can really help lower the price. Put the child laborers to work ;0
Regarding wrap, my understanding is the paint needs to be in good shape in order to do a wrap. Poor paint or clear coat won't work as I understand. Not to mention wraps seem to be equal or more than paint.
I have gotten a 2-coat paint job for 2500 before for a large SUV. Not a color change but it was a nice paint job, that was 2 years ago. This was an outlier and I would expect between 2500-5k for a nice 2-stage. Don't get a single.
Great idea on going to a small town body shop - I can't believe I didn't think of that. I grew up and have family in a small town about an hour from KC. I will shop it around down there. I'll bet someone will do it for $4,500 easily.
Yea, I have talked to people in Cali that have gotten 10K quotes for the one I got for 2500. Part of this is overhead due to regulations- taxes, licenses, special equipment, etc. Someplace with minimal restrictions should be better. Reply back when you have a dollar figure.
Re: 1987 Bertone (aka Fiat) X1/9
Posted: Fri Jun 05, 2020 8:06 am
by gnat
FRUNKenstein wrote: ↑Fri Jun 05, 2020 7:53 am
gnat wrote: ↑Fri Jun 05, 2020 6:30 am
I know it's a tiny car, but $7500 seems way cheap for a color change. For that price they have to be just taping over trim and hardware and probably not doing much to correct the underlying paint.
I don't think it is outrageous for a color change, but given the purchase price of the car was $3,800, there's no way I can pull that of with the Mrs. For reference, one of the other auto museum board members had his 996tt changed from silver to Mexico blue a couple of years ago. Top of the line. Engine out. No expense spared. He spent $11,000 on having that done. So, $7,500 isn't a crazy number.
I gotta move out to BFE. The cheapest (that I'm willing to consider) I can get the 996 repainted for is $10k and that's the 22-year-customer-that-waits-10-months-for-a-simple-dent-fix discount price. Most are $15k or more.
Re: 1987 Bertone (aka Fiat) X1/9
Posted: Fri Jun 05, 2020 8:33 am
by 32wildbilly
FRUNKenstein wrote: ↑Fri Jun 05, 2020 7:55 am
Great idea on going to a small town body shop - I can't believe I didn't think of that. I grew up and have family in a small town about an hour from KC. I will shop it around down there. I'll bet someone will do it for $4,500 easily.
Do you think you could drive it to Phoenix? I know a guy...who paints cars in his garage...
Re: 1987 Bertone (aka Fiat) X1/9
Posted: Tue Jun 16, 2020 10:07 pm
by FRUNKenstein
OK, I dropped the car off on Friday afternoon to have it repainted Verde Chiara #358 (bright lime green). $1,500 for paint and materials, plus $1,500 to $2,500 for labor. So, between $3,000 to $4,000. Should be ready around the end of next week. Now, the funny/cool thing about it is that the guy doing the repaint is the son of a body shop owner who did some work on my previous 1977 X1/9 back in 1982 when I buggered the front in up in a minor fender bender.
Re: 1987 Bertone (aka Fiat) X1/9
Posted: Wed Jun 17, 2020 6:18 am
by FRUNKenstein
Did anybody notice that the X1/9 model had a mention in the new edition of Panorama? I won’t say it got any love, but hey, it was in there!
- 49710264-4769-4F14-9587-24E5760B0590.gif (1.46 MiB) Viewed 1927 times
Extra brownie points if you can find it and post it here.
Re: 1987 Bertone (aka Fiat) X1/9
Posted: Wed Jun 17, 2020 4:29 pm
by Kalashnikov
You are nuts KC. You have a ton of space and plenty of time to tinker around with a car for a few weeks. This fiat already had a crap paint job, and it is not exactly a show car. You could have tinkered with it for 2-4 weeks between beers and spent $500 tops.
https://www.instructables.com/id/Paint- ... Rustoleum/
On the old beater car, spending $4k on a paint job is asinine.
Re: 1987 Bertone (aka Fiat) X1/9
Posted: Wed Jun 17, 2020 5:28 pm
by FRUNKenstein
That looks like fun, so I may try it sometime in the future. Right now, though, I don't mind paying the $4,000. We are just starting to remodel Casa FRUNKenstein, so my workshop is filled with flooring tile.