i have a 2002 x-type that is darg green. I am looking to go one shade darker on the green to almost black. any ideas?

is there anything I need to install before I get this thing painted? I was looking at a front spoiler but not sure. I did buy some wire mesh for the grille. I like the sporty look. any thoughts or suggestions?

 

bgr, not to get nosey, but what are you paying for a paint job? I do not really need an answer to that, but keep this in mind. If you are paying a shop to do the paint job, how much you pay is going to directly reflect the job that you get. Sure, a place like Maaco can paint your car for $400. Sounds like a hell of a deal until you get about 2 years into the paint job and it starts looking like hell. But then, you can also get a $10000 paint job where the shop peels all the emblems off of the car, peels the interior back some to paint into the door jams, sands and fills all the imperfects from door dings and whatnot. That paint job is going to look great for many many years and just the finish of the car is going to look dramatically better than the $400 cheapo job.

If you plan on adding anything like a boot lip, chin spoiler, pretty much anything that you can see when the car is parked, it needs to be on the car before it gets painted. Kinda like you need to make sure that the place specifically says that they are going to paint inside of the door jams. This is going to cost you more, but you will get funny looks when you open up your door and people see 2 different colors (the racing green inside the door jam and the almost black outside).

I would say that for this to be done right, you are looking at spending probably around $2000 or so as I see it. This will make the car look new again and leave you with something that will make people look at you. I would also recommend asking to see a car that they are working on in the shop to see what the paint job is going to look like. If a shop does a good paint job, when you look at the reflection in the paint, it should look exactly like a reflection in a mirror. If you see slight waves in the paint, then they are using a cheaper 1 step paint. But, it also comes down to what you can afford. If I get a car painted, I am probably going to end up spending $5000 or so, but I want that paint job that you are not sure where the body of the car starts because the paint is so smooth and deep in color.

 

paint will be 1200. base with 2 coats of clear. he has painted about 15 cars for me. awesome work. i am just not sure what body parts to add, if any.

 

bgr, as long as you like his work, then by all means go for it. Just don't cheap out as you will be paying for it later. Seen too many vehicles get trashed because someone decided to cheap on the paint.

 

I beg to differ.... I got a $600 paint job from Earl Scheib on my S13 when I had that car a few years back as a daily driver/track *****. I didn't really care to spend any more since I figured it would be ruined on the track anyway. Also it wasn't a color change, the car was already black. The paint job actually held up really well, and got a lot of compliments (it was black with metallic gold mixed in - looked awesome in sunlight). Even if the paint would not have held up, it came with a lifetime warranty. If anything started going wrong i could have taken it right back to be completely repainted for free.

I'm sure in most cases you will get a **** paint job for that amount of money, but in a few rare instances you might actually get something pretty decent. I did.

Not the greatest picture, I'd have to dig around a lot more to find better:

 

I painted a Chevy Corsica a few years ago. Color match was perfect, and the paint was only $40 for a gallon.

BUT - the lesson I learned was make sure there is a picture of a car on the can, not pictures of tractors, heavy equipment, cranes, etc.

Idiot sold me industrial equipment paint.

The other idiot (me) used it. It didn't look too bad, after I waxed it with Formica Floor Shine.

live and learn I guess.

Yes, you do indeed get what you pay for when it comes to painting a car.