Hey there everyone,
A few months ago I began the daunting process of repainting my XK8 in my garage. The factory British Racing Green paint was badly oxidized and needed to be totally redone. I figured I'd make a post to announce this in case anyone had any questions. I also have two questions of my own:
1. Does anyone know how difficult it is to remove the doors? I don't want to remove them if they're more trouble than they're worth. I've heard about them sagging...
2. I've been debating as to whether or not I should remove the decals near the strut/shock tower in the engine bay. On the left side, it's an EVAP sticker, and on the right side is an A/C sticker. Would keeping these decals make the car more "original" or collectible?
I'll be sure to post some before and after photos of the paint job once complete. Although I'm doing it myself, the goal is for a better-than-factory finish.

 

WOW! Are you going to remove the interior and engine?? Changing color?
If the same color, why would the engine compartment need fresh paint, be hard enough to use a electric tooth brush with a pad on it to wax it.
As for the doors, understand you would want to remove window trim and door handles. Do you have a large enough area to hang all the different parts? Good for you. I did buy a tent for the Spit6 and did a original single stage paint. Very difficult to keep out dust. You will be going with base coat clear coat for sure and maybe not planning on painting every thing on the same day. In most cases that's fine, just watch your temperature.
Don't get in a rush, it will take you much longer than you think to get it ready. Only use a DA for cleaning off some Bondo, mostly use a 17 inch block sander in a Z pattern.
Never ever use your hands on a piece of sandpaper, always have a rubber or sponge pad between your hand and the surface of the car.
Of course, stick with one paint type for the whole process and be sure to use a couple of coats of two part poly seal before the final sanding.

 

You are a brave man to attempt this in your garage. Hope you have a lot of plastic drape available. Plan to spray lightly, and sand a lot between coats, using a sanding block.

 

Take a good look at Wayne's 1949 Triumph Roadster which he restored and painted himself. Once you see it in person, you will want Wayne to paint your car for you....

 

I’m embarking on the same task. Repaint in my garage. Lots of YouTube videos will help you. PaintSociety is a good channel that is very thorough.

you can mask over your decals. Use Xacto knife to trim the tape.

I’ve already prepped two fenders that had big dents. Now on to all the small door dings and blemishes.

here’s an example of a dent repair. Removed fender to do this. Pounded and rolled on English wheel to get it as close to smooth as possible.

It’s an Arizona car so not a spec of rust to deal with. Rather crispy paint as some of the clear coat is disintegrating.

 

You do good work. Do you do house calls???

 

Hello Arizona....

Looks like you've got yourself into it now! Your work to this point looks pretty good...After you finish all the little dents on the Doors, do you plan to "Rattle-Can" the entire Car? I certainly hope not! After all the work you will have put into the Dents and Things, I would take it to a Professional Painter for the final touch, after all it only an 2005! You could probably work a deal with someone for you to Tape it off and so on! ...I just don't see your "Rattle-Canning" the whole Ca......Anyway, it's a good looking XK8....Take care of it! Send us some Photos of the finished product!!!! By the way, why not put in a Mesh Grill while you are at it?

Billy Clyde @ Cinco Ranch....
Smile

 

Thanks for the words of encouragement. Definitely not a rattle can paint job in my future! I’ll paint it myself most likely. I’ve done a few over the years so I’m not afraid of it.

I wish I would have documented more of the work on this car along the way. It was destined for the scrap yard and I rescued it. Didn’t run but it does now! Lots of issues to resolve but it’s my hobby so I enjoy it. I paid practically nothing for the car and dragged it home and the work began. I know the original owner and a fair amount of its history so it was a gamble worth taking.

My paint plan will be to build a temporary booth in my garage and spray away. That will be this fall when it cools down a bit. It hit 114 today in Phoenix so I’m not doing much other than driving it right now. AC works so I’m happy!

Here is a couple more pictures of the right rear which also had a dent and is now fixed. A great exercise in what you can do with a dolly and slapper bar. From here it’s door dings and blocking.

 

Desertoasis

why did you spend so much effort "Pounded and rolled on English wheel to get it as close to smooth as possible" if you were going to bondo (or whatever brand you use) it anyway? I am working a dent also and do not see the point in getting it perfect before I put the filler on it.

 

You want as little bondo as possible. Excessive thickness will crack over time. Like 1/8” max or if it has to be thicker then fiberglass filled bondo could be used. Work out the dent as much as possible.

 

Definitely good work, but consider painting it now, then the temp will naturally 'bake' the paint job. Twice as tough??

 

Don't know where you could find a thinner to paint in that kind of temperature to let the paint lay down smooth. Best I have done is low 90's thinner and had to add more than was recommended at that.
Oh, good job, and like you, keep the bondo down to a skim coat.

 

Nice work!

Like you, I found that a hammer and dolly (using different shapes of each dependig on the shape/curve of the body panel) aloong with a lot of patience and time can result in a beautifully restored panel. Yes, keep the bondo down to an almost see through thickness.

Thanks for sharing the photos.

 

You are AWESOME and I dream of a day where I have the space, and the courage, to paint! But I will and I am super excited about it.

I don't know if you figured it out yet but the doors are not hard to remove. First remove the HIDDEN bolt for the door travel limiter. If that's what it's called. The small flat shaftish looking thing has a 10mm bolt that holds the thing to the body.

The door, from memory, there are 6 bolts, 13mm I believe, that can be accessed and seen IF you remove the door card, fold back the plastic and remove the speaker and door control module. No big deal. I was surprised. Rehanging it was not that bad either believe it or not...

I saw in this thread that there are 2 of y'all doing this. I wish you the best and some day someday,,, I'll be right behind ya. And yes, it's hard to say, but YouTube IS a great learning environment...

Keep the pictures coming!

 

Same exact color as mine...
Excited for you guys!