Panel Painting?

[Petronas]

Just want to know, I'm going to replace my bonnet, left headlight assembly (Pop up lights), left fender and front bar.

What I want to know is, do i get the panels professionally painted before or after I fit them onto the car?

And how much you guys reckon it would cost to get these panels matched and painted? (Sydney)

[aaronng]

I reckon about $500 per panel. And you'll have to do about 1/3 of the panels that you are not touching so that the colours blend in.

[b18c_crx]

yesh its prob best to paint 1st them fit after, mite even be cheaper if u take it to them to paint it and fit it ur self. the bonnet alone would cost bout 300- 500 bucks,

[Petronas]

I reckon about $500 per panel. And you'll have to do about 1/3 of the panels that you are not touching so that the colours blend in.

Sh*t... Thats not cheap is it... I really do hope the colours blend in correctly...

[Petronas]

yesh its prob best to paint 1st them fit after, mite even be cheaper if u take it to them to paint it and fit it ur self. the bonnet alone would cost bout 300- 500 bucks,

Yeah I was going to fit it myself...

Well my local mech. quoted me $1500 to get it fitted and painted so yeah...

[evilsub]

trial fit the parts, then get them paintd, then refit.

[Zilli]

the issue with you taking them there yourself is that the matching process becomes harder, they will usually tell you to bring down something like a fuel filler cover , but its better if they can see the paint on the panels around the areas that are to be painted

[quangsta]

dont they trail fit the panels (adjust what needs to be)
sand down and prep (primer etc)
then refit, then paint and blend in the adjacent panels?

[Petronas]

Damn this stuff is confusing... Yeah I did the Fuel cap thing with my civic, colour only matched around 98% and I'm a really picky person so I want perfection...

[albii]

The panels need to be sprayed on the car for blending and colour matching.
Just bringing a fuel cap is not enough to get the colour right because if it's slightly wrong it wont show untill you are looking at the whole car once it's finished.
Imho dont give the place that sprays your parts any excuses if they can't colour match it properly..bring them the whole car.
You would be surprised just how many panel beaters can't colour match properly and then do a botch job of blending.

[Petronas]

You would be surprised just how many panel beaters can't colour match properly and then do a botch job of blending.

Now this scares me... What can I do if they don't match it? I'm pretty much screwed...

Anyway I got a quote from this place near Cabra - Mates uncle... "Dragon Smash Repairs" or something like that... Only $900!? He said the bonnet and bar was repairable?... Didn't look repairable to me but he sure seems to think it is...

Do these dents and such seem repairable to you guys? (Sorry around the stupid angle and quality... dads got the camera). The Mech. said the Bonnet and Bar was repairable..
http://img184.imageshack.us/img184/2039/1007071201vw5.jpg

[Rivic]

all looks repairable just gotta weigh up prices with new or repaired parts, not sure about the headlight assembly etc.. but by looking at your colour to there gonna have to blend into ur door.. silvers/charcol mettalics etc are better to blend as there harder to match, if in doubt; blend it out :)

[NightKids]

Is $200 per panel an alright price? Because I've been quoted $200 for my bonnet & $200 for my rear bar

[b18c_crx]

just get a full respray :D

[NightKids]

Nah that's too costly and my other paint is actually pretty good for it's age. So you reckon $400 for two panels is too expensive?