Paint
Job
2004-2005
When
Linda and I purchased the vette in March of 2004 it had just
completed a 4-year body-off restoration except for the paint.
Overall, the existing paint on the car was in very good shape
although it did have a few rock chips common for a car that is
actually used and enjoyed. We estimated the paint to be approx.
12-15 years old although since the car had been garage kept it was
still very nice and shined up well. The paint was in the original
Milano Maroon color and also lacquer paint which was the original
type. Although it had been repainted it looked to have been a very
good job at the time it was done.
I knew at some point that I would want to get the car repainted
again to make her look even better but we had just gotten the car
so I planned on the new paint job to be a few years down the road.
Well, that plan went out the window very quickly. At only the
second car show I went to with the vette in May of 2004 I had the
hood open to show off the engine compartment and the sun reflected
off the chrome air cleaner cover up onto the back of the hood
causing it to get very hot and it ended up blistering the paint on
the top of the hood. Over the next few months we also ended up
having a few other little "incidents" with the paint on the car so
I knew it was time to get it into the paint shop to get these areas
"touched up". I went to a number of shops to get estimates and
ideas on how much this was going to cost plus see what shop I felt
comfortable enough to trust leaving my car at. At the
recommendation of a friend I went down to see a small shop only
about 15 minutes from our house. While talking to the painter I
asked more out of curiosity than anything else how much it would be
to just repaint the entire car rather than try to touch up the
areas that needed it. Knowing what the average cost is to repaint a
Corvette, I figured a full repaint was still a few years away. When
this painter quoted me a price to redo the entire car I said yes
before he could change his mind. It was not "cheap" but it was
significantly less than I had expected and much, much less than a
few other shops quoted me.
Not only was the painter I selected very reasonable on his price,
it was also the shop I felt most comfortable leaving my car at. He
is a small shop and specializes in older Corvettes only. He doesn't
like to work on cars newer than around 1972. He has over 30 years
experience working on Corvettes. When I first walked into his shop
it was like taking a walk back in time. That day he had the
following Corvettes in his shop - a '56, a '57, a '61. a '62, a
'65, a '72, and one of the rare non-corvettes he sometimes has was
a '56 T-Bird. There were a few other older vettes also there but I
can't remember what they were. What a grouping of cars! Yep, I
think my '65 would be safe and in good hands in this shop. Another
"selling point" to me was that he is the only person in his shop.
This means that although he gets backed up with the number of cars
he has to work on, he is the only one working on them so I know
that all work is performed by him and not someone with less
experience and knowledge. His attention to detail is second to none
on every aspect of the paint job. It has taken a long time to get
the car completed but the quality of his work has exceeded every
expectation that I had and than some.
As you go through the paint job progress picture albums, you will
see the amount of work he has put into our car. What started off as
just touching up a few chips and scratches than turned into a full
new paint job also ended up turning into almost a complete rebuild
of the entire fiberglass body of the car. Once he had stripped the
old paint off we found what Linda referred to as the "archeological
discovery" of the past 40 years of the cars history and what I
refer to as 40 years of "Bubba Bodywork repairs". All of these
older repairs were removed and redone properly and every inch of
the body was gone over front to back, top to bottom to make it
perfect.
In many ways the car is now considered "over-restored" because the
body panel fit and finish far exceed the quality of what it was
when it left the factory not to mention the quality of the finish
of the new paint.
One change we did make from "original' was to use a two-stage paint
(base coat/clear coat paint) rather than using the original type
lacquer paint. We choose to go with this type of paint for two
reasons. First, the new type of paint is a bit more durable than
the older lacquer and for a "driver" car made more sense. Second,
and even more importantly, any future chips or scratches will be
easier to touch up and repair than if we went with lacquer
paint.
We dropped the car off at the paint shop in Set. 2004 and it was
completed in July of 2005.
In case anyone is interested, here is my little "plug" for the
paint shop since I was very happy with the quality of his
work:
Joe's Garage
Joe Stephano
303 Cassidy Dr.
Newport, DE 19804
302-993-0885