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dale · Joined: 22 Aug 1999 Posts: 3087 Location: Seattle, WA USA

from Tom:

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Well, 2 more weeks have passed, and thanks to Jeff Butler and Haury's Lake City Collision, the race car has a fresh paint job! Oh my freakin' God this was a lot of work.

Masking for paint in the interior -

Interior painted -

Exterior prepped for paint -

Done!

Finally in my garage - time to go to town and assemble a race car. Only 4 weeks to the Seattle race!

And here's the goal when it's done - Will Hoy's car. The 1991 British Touring Car Championship winner.

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sold in 2016
87 325 5spd eta

Tom Olsson · Posted: Sun Apr 16, 2006 1:37 am Post subject:

Hey, you beat me to it! Wink

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07 335i, 91 318is, 87 325is race car #55 Pro-3

peerless · Joined: 12 Nov 2003 Posts: 1721 Location: Orange County, Ca

Looks great! At first it looks a little odd with the colors, but in full race trim it looks very proffesional. Great effort.

Good luck on the 06' race season.

Smile

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E30 Repair and Maintenance Services
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idanity · Joined: 21 May 2005 Posts: 3097 Location: N.W.U.S.A.

what did the paint cost..
im thinking of doing all my little body work, and then getting it painted...

i can do the hammering, but the paint, i want to know someone who takes pride in their work...

so,
i wonder what you paid for the trunk, jams, hood, and outer shell?..one color, or an estimate...

nice lookin car, makes me want a racer too...
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Tom Olsson · Posted: Mon Apr 17, 2006 9:33 am Post subject:

Well, that's not really a fair question, as I have a friend with a body shop, and he let me do the work myself on nights and weekends when the shop was closed in return for sponsorship on the car when it's done.
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07 335i, 91 318is, 87 325is race car #55 Pro-3

dale · Joined: 22 Aug 1999 Posts: 3087 Location: Seattle, WA USA

idanity:

if you spend a few weeks doing the prep work yourself
- remove all the grills, light, trim, door handles, etc
- repair minor dents, dings by filling or hammering them out
- prep and sand the existing paint, get it ready for new paint
- haul it over to almost any shop, they will shoot the new paint for you for less then $1000.
- if you want them to do all the other work also, figure $3000

Dale
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sold in 2016
87 325 5spd eta

Tom Olsson · Posted: Mon Apr 17, 2006 12:35 pm Post subject:

Actually painting the car is easy and fast. The prep work is really time consuming, and shop rates are expensive. I probably have 24 hours into the sanding, cleaning, and masking. The good news is none of it is very hard, it just needs to be done right for the paint to look good. Once it was all ready, the paint went on in less than 3. All of the different colors made the job harder, as there was more planning / masking to be done to get the stripe done. A solid color should be much easier.

One last thought - paint is expensive these days. We used Glasurit single-stage, and my bill for the paint alone was $400, so $1000 to have someone else paint is pretty cheap.
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07 335i, 91 318is, 87 325is race car #55 Pro-3

85-325e · Joined: 30 Jun 2002 Posts: 4712 Location: Southampton, NY

Tom... you plan to have flames shooting out of the bottom of your car too? Wink

It looks good so far. Is it my imagination or is your suspension up very high? It looks way higher than my stock car. No engine or other weight in there yet?

Idanity... as long as you do all of the prep work yourself, almost any place can shoot it if there's no masking etc. When I did mine, my windshield was cracked, so I had it removed before painting and a new one installed with a new gasket after painting.
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Cosmo - 1985 BMW 325e, Single Owner, 265,000+ ORIGINAL miles and still going strong! But now on the East Coast and the salt air corrosion is eating my beautiful car alive... Sad

Quincy56 · Joined: 03 Jan 2002 Posts: 2634 Location: San Marcos, CA

On the subject of paint, I need my valance redone, the paint is chipping off. I assume the old paint has to be removed first. If so, should it be sanded or could you use a paint remover? Or maybe sandblasting? There are a lot of curves, nooks and crannies so sanding would be a pain.

Also once it is ready, is the quantity of paint what costs, or is there some fixed startup cost?

Just trying to guess how much I might have to pay to get it looking good again....

John
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92 325ic - Isabelle
91 318i - Oscar - RIP
89 325i - Otis - RIP

Tom Olsson · Posted: Mon Apr 17, 2006 12:48 pm Post subject:

Tom Olsson · Posted: Mon Apr 17, 2006 12:51 pm Post subject:

Quincy -

Not necessarily, unless you want the paint to be perfect. If you want it color-matched, and don't mind ridges under the paint, then all you have to do knock the loose paint off and sand the gloss off the paint that's stuck well.

Wesco (auto paint supply house) here in Seattle will sell you a rattle-can of color matched paint ready to shoot, so you could do this yourself if you wanted to.
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07 335i, 91 318is, 87 325is race car #55 Pro-3

idanity · Joined: 21 May 2005 Posts: 3097 Location: N.W.U.S.A.

thanks folks...
im definately doing all my own body work...its easy, but i need perfect days for the (if any) bondo to dry proper.

that 800dollar paint was what i was looking for..thats sortof high, but also to be expected...

i want a very lush, deep blue, and to get back to your car.

that is gonna be sooo awesome..
i have to watch you race it, and ill take a bunch of photos..im saving for a new camera soon...

i really like that raked paint, sloping down.
i ask myself, is the black/blue combo signalling all the bruising your gonna do on the track...(in time only "hopefully")

it really gives the car a raked look..even when its level.

and can i help put on the stickers... Question

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wazzu70 · Joined: 26 Jul 2005 Posts: 838 Location: Issaquah, WA

Looks good Tom. Man we have a lot of themed cars up here. By the time I have the resources to build one there wont be any cool cars left to copy! Tic-Tac? Ugh I could just imagine repainting after a love tap or worse....ick.
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-Nick

1984 BMW 325e
1991 BMW 325i
1976 Honda CB400F Super Sport
"The bitterness of poor quality is remembered long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten"

Tom Olsson · Posted: Mon Apr 17, 2006 2:50 pm Post subject:

Yup, the Tic Tac car was a close second on the list. It was the front-runner until someone came up with, "Hey, you'll be Tic Tac Tom!", and that pretty much killed it. I'll get my fresh breath from Listerine instead!
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07 335i, 91 318is, 87 325is race car #55 Pro-3

ANF06 · Joined: 19 Mar 2002 Posts: 409 Location: Ft. Lauderdale, FL

I like that. When complete it will look the part!
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88' 325i
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