What do spray painters know?

sogood

Perhaps a spray painter might be the best person to answer this, but I was just wondering what the general opinions might be. Recently I enquired about having a Jag xj6 resprayed. The prospective painter explained that they do a thorough job, by stripping the car right back, everything off etc. etc. This entails a lot of labour, as I have learned from experience. I wanted a somewhat "hands on" approach and suggested that I strip it down myself. ( This incidentally only resulted in a potential saving of approx 10% of the total cost!) Anyway, as a regular contributor and enquirer on various Jaguar forums, I realise that many simple enough jobs require some advance know how, as in, how do you remove the chrome trim on the bumpers? Bumpers off first! How do you remove the bumpers? Remove the door cards, mirror covers, chrome trims, badges, door guards etc. etc. Not everything is so obvious or self evident, thus the popularity of sites such as this one, amongst others. So, am I expected to believe that your average spray painter has an intimate working knowledge of the workings/ secrets/ hidden fixings/ methods etc. pertaining to every make of car on the roads? And surely the same painter would jump at the chance of having a car delivered, stripped of all the aforementioned bits and pieces, rather than dismiss the option, with a fairly minimal reduction in the cost? Thoughts please, thanks. BTW anyone recommend a good painter, midlands and surrounding areas, who would be more ameanable to my approach?

dgt

Are you doing a full colour change or just brightening up the car?

El Guapo!

They'd know from experience mostly. If they were unsure about something they'd probably ask someone who has experience with that particular model. And if they can't get any info that way then google is usually handy in those situations.

challengemaster

I'd imagine like everyone here, they use the internet if they're unsure about something.

The prep that is really time consuming would be the paint removal and filling in the little dings, removing the bits and bobs wouldn't be an issue for them, 'twould be almost instinctive for a decent lad how to remove stuff, as mentioned if they got puzzled there is no shortage of info on the net.

Mech1

Experience goes a long way, there are only so many ways that any item can be attached, chances are a good mechanic / painter has come across something similar if not the same in the past.

Doing something for a living is very very different than even the most dedicated diy type approach.

sogood

dgt wrote: »

Are you doing a full colour change or just brightening up the car?

Its a full respray, clearcoat over a water based paint. All but one ding filled and most of the flaky top coat removed. I'm happy to strip everything and rub it all down.

sogood

Thanks to all the replies. I have tried google etc. in the past, but you sometimes need someone who has actually done the job in question already.

Del2005

sogood wrote: »

Its a full respray, clearcoat over a water based paint. All but one ding filled and most of the flaky top coat removed. I'm happy to strip everything and rub it all down.

To be done properly there'd still be a few more times of having to sand it down, after each layer is applied. So you'll only have done the 1st sanding and unless you know what your doing the painter may still have to do some sanding.