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Painting vs. wrapping

Joined
17 June 2007
Messages
29
Location
San Jose, CA
I have a '93 with red body and black roof. All the red paint is still shiny and brilliant, but my roof pillars--and now, my roof--in recent years have developed splotchy worn-through clearcoat and oxidation. Places want a fortune to repaint all the black components--$3000 to $4500--but a recommended place said that they would wrap all the black components for about $450, and they're guaranteed for ten years.

Any opinions on this? A black car there had a wrapped bumper and I never would have noticed had I not been looking for it--it looked 95% as good as the paint.
 
Wrap it! I didn't know paint was so expensive...
 
Another suggestion might be to remove the side pillars and roof side trim leaving only the roof panel on the car.
This would take several hours as part of the interior needs to come out to access the roof trim fasteners.
Then take the car to a good paint shop.
The roof panel will be easy to sand and mask once all the trim is off.
And the trim can be easily painted off the car with the same paint batch.
Once the car is home you can put it back together
I think that would save you significant money.
 
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That sounds crazy to just paint the roof..my last NSX (silver) had same issues...had the black top painted for like $600 and it came out like new...

Funny thing is I did just the opposite with my latest Nsx ... I had the whole car wrapped except the roof and pillars(canopy)... I wanted to do the color change without the price and devalue that a color change with paint would have caused... Some people have had good experience with cheaper paint companies like Maaco for doing front end re-sprays.. You should look into something like that if your just doing the roof black.
 
That sounds crazy to just paint the roof..my last NSX (silver) had same issues...had the black top painted for like $600 and it came out like new...

Funny thing is I did just the opposite with my latest Nsx ... I had the whole car wrapped except the roof and pillars(canopy)... I wanted to do the color change without the price and devalue that a color change with paint would have caused... Some people have had good experience with cheaper paint companies like Maaco for doing front end re-sprays.. You should look into something like that if your just doing the roof black.


How is your wrap holding up?

I am talking to someone about doing a high-lustre Berlina Black wrap for my NA2. Same color as on the car now. Am I playing with fire? Will it ever look like an OEM paint job?
 
How is your wrap holding up?

I am talking to someone about doing a high-lustre Berlina Black wrap for my NA2. Same color as on the car now. Am I playing with fire? Will it ever look like an OEM paint job?


It's been almost 1 1/2 years and it still looks brand new, garage kept, but very little waxing if any has been done. Just a simple quick spray wax once every so often.

I really think you should so a little something different if you're going to do a wrap, there are some really cool different types of black when it comes to wraps( satin, brushed aluminum, gunmetal, etc...) that's the great thing about wraps, you can do a color change on a car like the Nsx and not screw up the value by doing a paint color change. Also a black car is one of the best candidates for a color change wrap, since you don't have to worry too much about the door jams, trunk, engine bay, etc... IMO,if you want the same color, just have it painted...but I think you'll have more fun doing a wrap.
 
An update: I did go ahead and have my roof wrapped and I'm very pleased with it. It seems every bit as shiny as new paint! And now after a year and a half of near-daily driving, it still looks good as new. The only negative is if you're within about five feet of it you can see some very slight mottling...it's barely noticeable and is completely invisible beyond five feet. Only about 15% the cost of a new paint job--I recommend it, at least for the roof.
 
An update: I did go ahead and have my roof wrapped and I'm very pleased with it. It seems every bit as shiny as new paint! And now after a year and a half of near-daily driving, it still looks good as new. The only negative is if you're within about five feet of it you can see some very slight mottling...it's barely noticeable and is completely invisible beyond five feet. Only about 15% the cost of a new paint job--I recommend it, at least for the roof.

Photo of said "mottling"?
 
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