Hi everyone,
it’s been years since I’ve posted but the ‘95 XJ6 y’all encouraged me to adopt is still going strong with only expected repairs and regular maintenance. I love this car!!

There’s a new Maaco in town so I went and chatted them up last week. I feel good about letting them paint the car and the price is right. We talked about me possibly removing trim but I have some concerns.

I recently replaced the windshield and I went through 4 different companies because the windshield gasket is discontinued and they were worried about finding that the current one was dry-rotted. I finally got it done and the guy was able to replace the old one successfully.

But now I worry about the same issue if I remove any trim before painting and that it might cause more trouble than it’s worth.

Can anyone suggest essential trim to remove that can be replaced easily? Or should I just let them mask everything and forget about it. I don’t need a show-quality paint job, just a functional one. I’m getting Maacos highest tier paint ( if you’re curious, they quoted me $2300)

thanks in advance!

(Originally posted this in the wrong place…)

 

I have an XJS, so I'm not as familiar, but based on my respray, I left the trim around the glass alone. I also left the convertible top alone. Most everything else came out as it should, and was replaced, as it should.

I would recommend removing trim around the door handles and door glass. You're always going to see that, so make sure it's right. I would also remove the trim and lights around the trunk, since you'll be seeing that as well. At that point, might as well do the front bumper? What else is there to do?

 

Thanks! That is helpful- I was mainly debating about the trim where the doors meet windows and maybe the grill. I know the rubber under the door handles will crumble- I’ll see if that is replaceable. Appreciate the response!

 

I have just had my car resprayed.
Many fittings are now getting brittle, easily damaged and hard to find so care is required to remove and refit.

• The front grille is easily removed.
• The door handles can be removed - I used new aftermarket neoprene gaskets sourced from EBay when refitting.
• The waist trims on the doors (the trim at the top edge of the door at the bottom of the window) is removed by gradually gently levering up along the length of the trim. Some forum members advised that the front doors had a screw securing the trim but I didn't have any screws on mine.This trim looks like it has an aluminium U section core which can corrode badly so you need to be very careful. Now I know where the white powder was coming from at the top of my doors all the time. I don't think new trim is available and it will be difficult to find decent replacements.The mirrors on the front doors need to be removed to get the trim off.
• Front and rear bumpers are held with only 2 bolts but the adjustable mountings on the body are prone to serious corrosion. Replacements are expensive.The stainless steel blades can be easily removed from the plastic bumpers once they are removed. They are held in place using tiny screws that may be corroded and will need to be drilled out. I replaced all of these with very small stainless steel self tapping screws when refitting. In the UK the bumpers have reflectors fitted at the sides. If yours has these note where they came from. They all look the same but have different part numbers front and back and side to side. I thought a reflector was just a reflector but apparently not.
• The trim along the trunk with the trunk release button is easily removed from inside the lid. The trim is plastic and has several pillars on the back that fit through holes on the trunk lid. These are secured using spire nuts - a thin pressed metal nut that cuts it's own thread in the plastic pillar. Be careful not to break these plastic pillars.
• The gutter trim along the edge of the roof and front windscreen can be removed in one piece by carefully and gently rolling upwards. Be careful as the core of this trim is plastic. The rear "Six Lights" (between the rear doors and rear windscreen) are bonded and the trim cannot be removed easily.
• The door bump strips can be removed to make it easiler to respray the doors. They can be painted separately and refitted.
• Similarly the plastic headlamp surround trim can be removed and painted separately.
• Rear light clusters and indicator side repeaters are easily removed.

Hope this helps.

 

How about masking the trim yourself? Did you get a line item quote from Maaco? I wanted a decent paint job on my 1989 Jeep Wrangler and they started adding 15 minutes here 30 minutes there. By the time we got to the net quote it was well over $3K.

 

V126man,
thank you that is all great information Thanks! It also reinforces my nervousness about removing certain bits. My current thinking is that I will just let them mask everything and not worry about removing the trim. I don’t need a perfect paint job and would rather see some mask lines than risk damaging something and have to spend the time and effort to repair or replace.

 

Hey redrover41- the quote actually includes masking everything and sanding. Was thinking about removing the trim to get a higher quality result but I think I’m just going to let them mask everything off because it’s not worth it to me in time and headache if something gets damaged or can’t be refit.currently the clear coat is delaminated and it looksvery worn. This car is my daily driver and Ii will be pretty happy with any decent and functional paint job. If I am wrong and I regret it I will let everyone know!

 

I was in the same boat as you. My XJS is my daily driver. The clearcoat on the trunk was in bad bad shape. There were other spots that looked like it was next...so i found someone to do a respray. For $2,000 he stripped the paint, bondo'ed up any imperfections, primed and painted using PPG Deltron paint. He did an absolutely remarkable job on the body. Spent way more time on it than I would have asked for. The paint job is decent. Not great, but it is certainly decent and functional! It certainly looks better than $2,000 should! You'll be glad you did this.

 

I am hopeful that all goes well. If Maaco finds additional work, they should contact you first. Since Maacos are franchises it depends on the local management and the skill of the paint shop folks to keep their customers happy. Yes, please get back to us if things go sideways.

 

Dropped it off today. Removing the grill and bumpers but just going to mask off the other trim. I got a good vibe off the shop. They just opened a few months ago, so everyone there is still really excited about the new business, they have a new shop and equipment and want to build a good reputation. The guy who manages the painting seemed knowledgeable. I’ve never in my life owned a new car or a used one with shiny paint. I repaired all the leather this spring , excited to see the old girl with her new paint! Thanks everyone, this helped a lot

 

would love to get a respray on my car but we don't have any cost effective options here. labour cost is just way too high on that stuff.

 

Please let us know how the paint job turned out. A few pics would be great! Thanks.

rr41
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Hi y’all
i picked the car up from Maaco yesterday and it looks great. We ended up removing only the grill, front bumper and the bonnet leaper. They masked everything else and did a great job.

It’s not perfect but they did keep it an extra day at my request to buff out a bunch of dust etc that was in the clear coat. Totally worth $2300! Looks like new till you really look close. Glad I didn’t risk removing any more of the old trim- thanks for all the advice. Now let’s see if I can attach some pics