Respray + Retrim?

[megalomaniac]

With the amount of... shall we say less than perfect... examples showing up on eBay and the like (and often reappearing after some work at a dealers with a hefty markup) I was wondering roughly how much you'd be looking at for a respray and retrim, if anyone has experience of doing so, and has any recommendations of who to go to for such things? I understand painting a fibreglass Esprit is a bit of a dark art and a rather different proposition to your standard rust bucket, but I'm guessing most interior specialists could handle a retrim?

Edited October 18, 2016 by megalomaniac

[theelanman]

I looked at wrapping.......(when I had a project type 50...elan +2)

the whole thing would have cost me £1200.......a respray between £3k and £6k

no brainer really........just depends on what you want.........

I think youd have know it was wrapped but as it happens I didn't go down that line anyway

interior....no option really......depending on what you want it trimming in.....

original spec/new vinyl/leather......the skys the limit

[OwenGT3]

I've got a few prices recently regarding respraying my Esprit. My quotes range from £2000 to £6000, and that's me stripping the car and reassembling the car!

I am getting my done, but am going with solid two-pack paint which works out a lot cheaper than base and lacquer for a solid straight colour. It's fine, you just need to be careful how much you polish or cut the paint as it will remove it over time. Also my paint work is tired, but not bad, so prep is minimal work, reducing cost as well.

[theelanman]

Owen,

Didn't think 2pak still existed......it's some bio/eco water based stuff now isn't it?......

 

[Nelly]

My experience, back in 2009/2010 was £2k respray and £2.5k for the re-trim.

I reckon the re-trim cost would still stand but having done m car the bodyshop told me they would add another grand to that if doing another.  That did involve me putting it back together, although that as sprung on me when it was actually time to put it back together. 

[Barrykearley]

40 minutes ago, theelanman said:

Owen,

Didn't think 2pak still existed......it's some bio/eco water based stuff now isn't it?......

 

Still available for old cars 

2 minutes ago, Nelly said:

My experience, back in 2009/2010 was £2k respray and £2.5k for the re-trim.

I reckon the re-trim cost would still stand but having done m car the bodyshop told me they would add another grand to that if doing another.  That did involve me putting it back together, although that as sprung on me when it was actually time to put it back together. 

Think the worlds changed now we are all out of the depths of the recession 

[Nelly]

37 minutes ago, Barrykearley said:

Think the worlds changed now we are all out of the depths of the recession 

Any more relevant figures to offer us then?

[Barrykearley]

Afraid not chap - back in the realms of market forces....anything from £2500 - £7000 depending on what you work you do. Also depends whom you use.

i had a triumph herald prepped and sprayed for £500 labour, I payed for the top coat kit, that was last year - but it wasn't perfect - you pay your money take your choice.

if you want a concours job - it's gonna be right at the top end

[march]

As for the paint - it depends on how far you want to go, by the time I had all the panels removed, all the rusty parts / fittings replaced, all the previous owner(s) bodges corrected and it all put back together it came to approx £12,000.00 I think. It all depends on how much of a perfectionist you want to be (just ask Phil at SWLC how anal I can get about things). One thing I will say is that the finish is brilliant and the paint used is amazing (had a biggish stone hit the bonnet this summer and the mark just polished out).

As for the interior - I had the seats recovered for £1000.00 and was told that was a bargain, redoing the whole interior could easily end up being several thousand I suspect.

[NR2k]

Recent quotes for a full respray between 4.5k and 12k with us disassembling the car. Its now booked in with surface and design.

[JNW3]

Mark at Stocks Coachworks is your man for respraying Esprits - not sure what he'd quote now, but his work is exemplary - I can't recommend him highly enough and he's definitely worth a conversation with. 

[megalomaniac]

11 hours ago, NR2k said:

Recent quotes for a full respray between 4.5k and 12k with us disassembling the car. Its now booked in with surface and design.

£12k... wow. 

[frix]

Mark at stocks painted my car couple of years ago, it was one of the worst he had seen, it cost me £6,600. Lotusbits do resprays, i was there today just talking to Mike today about the cost of respraying due to a friend of mine is possibly buying an Excel from him, he's looking at approx £3,500 for a full repaint. 

paul

[NR2k]

The work I have seen from stocks looks great,  but we could not afford his prices. 7 to 9k plus paint plus vat.

[lotuseaters]

Thanks for your kind words Jonathan..

With regards to costs on a respray it just depends on how far you go with it , sometimes especially with fibreglass cars all the paint has to be removed and the fibreglass has to be re-coated with a polyester spray filler and this is very time consuming.

If this is not done it will sink and reactions or micro blistering may occur . Old paint on a fibreglass car is not a good base to apply fresh paint on .

saying that we could sand the car down and just primer and paint it and this would be much more cost effective for yourself  but I could not offer any guarantees on what the paint would do over time whereas if we did it my way I would guarantee it as all the material on the car would be what we applied.

Nicola let me know your budget and i will see if I can help.

  

[jonwat]

It's worth reading LotusEspritWorld to get an idea of the amount of work involved. 

[megalomaniac]

53 minutes ago, jonwat said:

It's worth reading LotusEspritWorld to get an idea of the amount of work involved. 

Off topic... but how do you find the Jag compared to the Esprits you've had?

[jonwat]

1 minute ago, megalomaniac said:

Off topic... but how do you find the Jag compared to the Esprits you've had?

Way too soft around the twisty bits, it's more like driving a boat. 

Am in the process of changing it for a later model which are supposed to be much better, if not I'll fit some upgraded springs. 

[JayEmm]

I've seen retrim and respray quotes anywhere from about 2,000 to over £10k. Spending five figures on paintwork is very easy, especially if you anywhere near somewhere that mentions the word "concours".

The funny thing about those places, is Concours is allegedly about originality, and the work these places do is always far better than the original factory, whatever the manufacturer!

[james280779]

I am in the process of redoing my interior. The leather itself was in great condition (no holes or tears) but looked tatty and a terrible colour. I bought a leather dye kit, stripped it out and have been redying Black (from 80's blue). It looks fantastic.

 

the carpets were grey and falling to bits, a new carpet kit was about 300 quid from Coverdale also in black. I have replaced all the rusty screws spraying the new ones to match the interior, refurbed the original speaker covers, new steering wheel, seats (Elise) , hydro dipped all the crap black plastic, v8 alloy trim to add. Only halfway through but it is looking fantastic and will have cost me well under 800 quid all up including shipping all the parts to Oz. Its time consuming but fairly easy. My car only has 16500 miles from new but almost every screw, bolt and nut was loose. Glad I am doing this job even just for the safety side of it.

[hopo]

We need to see some images of this James

[lotus-62]

On 18-10-2016 at 23:40, JNW3 said:

Mark at Stocks Coachworks is your man for respraying Esprits - not sure what he'd quote now, but his work is exemplary - I can't recommend him highly enough and he's definitely worth a conversation with. 

i have an esprit that was done at stocks coachworks.... not impressed, (moisture in the paint) maybe it was an low budget job 

[lotuseaters]

Hi Rick

This is Mark from stocks Coachworks please email me to explain the problem of your car . 

I can not recall respraying a car  for anyone in Holland but PM me anyway .

Thanks

Mark

[lotus-62]

Mark, PM send

[lotus-62]

had a talk with Mark,he remembered the car and he treated to kill me if I did not rectify the  measage I left behind about his paintjob..  just kidding 

He did not ask me to rectify it but apparently the PO left the car underneat a cover (car was outdoors underneath a cover when I picked it up) so I guess the hot London summers is to blame) 

Rick