Midlife's Third Paint Job

Midlife was first painted in 1999 in northern Virginia.  When I decided to tear Midlife down to repair structural issues, I tried very hard (and successfully!) not to damage the exterior paint.  However, I found that the doors were in such sad shape, that they needed to be replaced.  I found two good doors in Oregon, stripped them down, and painted the interior sides, and mounted them on the car.  Of course, painting only the doors could have been done, but the existing paint was beginning to get tired, so I decided to repaint the car.

I found a local painter here in town, and he had a good reputation.  Unfortunately, He painted everything that could be removed from the car, and got fed up with either the car or with me, and returned the car without actually painting the unibody itself.  He asked for $1300 in advance for materials, and after most of the parts had been painted, asked for an advance of $2000, which I gave him.  A big mistake.  He essentially painted half the car, which isn't worth spit for a show-quality job...one has to done the whole car.  I took him to small claims court without success.

I searched high and low for other painters in the local area without success.  A painter located just west of Mobile, AL was recommended to me, and I went to visit him.  He's not a professional painter, but a hobbyist, and I saw three of his works: two of his cars and one of someone elses.  His price was reasonable, and the quality was very good, just what I was looking for.  We made arrangements for him to pick the car up and haul it to Alabama, where he went to work on it.

Sunday, Aug. 26, 2006, I drove out to see the car and meet the person who will do the buffing on the car.  The car had been re-assembled after painting had been completed, and the car looked excellent, considering no color sanding or buffing as yet.  Here are some pictures: