Recommended Paint Shops in the DMV

[mcole01]

Hello Members,

I live in Gaithersburg, Maryland and have been trying without success to find a shop to paint my Elan +2. The body is on a body cart with doors, hood, trunk and headlights removed. The interior has been stripped. Despite a good deal of searching no body shops in the vicinity are interested in painting my car. Does anyone have recommendation for a body shop in the Washington DC Metropolitan area. I'm prepared to venture into Virginia, Maryland or even Pennsylvania at a pinch.

Thanks for any help.

Mike

[pharriso]

I would look for bodyshops specialising in Corvette work...

[mcole01]

Thanks for your suggestion. I tried the Corvette route but my local Corvette restorer doesn't paint the cars he restores but sends them out to a shop. He wouldn't give me the name of the shop - told me there was a 6 - 12 month wait and the guy charges $30K. Too rich for my blood.

Mike

[cabc26b]

I will check with a friend of mine in the hobby the lives in NoVa on who does his work . In the meantime you should consider / be prepared for a decent job costing significant $$ - pre-covid you could spend upwards of 20k ..

[mcole01]

Thank you for your help.

[cabc26b]

Friend says he uses CRG in Rockville ..

[mcole01]

Thank you for the information. I'll contact them in the morning.

[Lens4]

Hi. If you have taken the car apart you will save a fortune if you remove old paint down to fibre glass most of the problems are in the old paint I stripped mine with wood chisels and back scrapers and never use water on body if it needs cleaning under arches engine bay etc do it now and get it clean Len

[mcole01]

Hi Len,

Thanks for the info. I have stripped the car back to fiberglass and made repairs where necessary. Glad I haven't used water although the wheel arches do need cleaning.

Mike

[Lens4]

Won’t be a problem washing and cleaning if you give it time to dry out I’ll put mine in spray booth a warm it up an hour or so before it gets an epoxy coating inside and out to seal it 3 coats , my shell has been dry for two years while I’ve been fitting panels etc in a warm garage , a long time but I do it for a living and enjoy doing it in spare time. Len

[alan.barker]

Then Wirebrush dry in Arches.
Alan

[lotusfan]

DMV. Department of motor vehicles?

We foreigners don’t understand.

[pharriso]

DMV. Department of motor vehicles?

We foreigners don’t understand.

I don't understand & my daughter lives in Gathersburg MD...

[gjz30075]

DC, Maryland, Virginia?

[tonyabacus]

Mike, not sure where you are in the US but it may be worth speaking to a couple of boat builders who paint and repair yachts, they may be able to point you in the right direction.

As to the cost of painting, it would seem in the UK during Covid 19 and the subsequent large increases in the cost of living, that the biggest factor in repainting a car is the paint itself. I was amazed when our local bodyshop came to give us a talk and they explain not just how much the cost of paint had risen, but also the volume of paint and materials that are needed to obtain a professional standard. Paint prices here appear to have doubled and in some other materials like laquers have risen by more than that.

I guess it is probably the same in the US. Painting fibreglass cars is expensive due to the labour required to remove old paint, which is probly also why you get some cars with several layers when rubbing down
Tony