When the finish of your car loses it's lustre, or when your finish is just plain finished, it might be time for a respray. In order to make sure your new paint sticks, instead of peels and parts that shouldn't be painted remain free, these are the steps a good automobile body shop should follow.

The main parts a body shop should remove are the front windshield and the rear window. This way they'll be no paint lines next to the rubber molding around the window. A good bodyshop will require that the windows to be removed as part of the warranty that you receive. Take a look at cars the shop has previously painted, to make sure of the quality of their work. If there are over sprays on glass, trim, or molding, it may be best to go elsewhere. After all, it's your ride, and you'll be the one living with the end result.

Sanding the car down to bare metal is good, but not essential. Body shops now use a chemical stripper that eats the paint right off of the car, but leaves the undercoating. The only parts that need to be sanded to bare metal are the bonnet, roof and boot. These are the panels that are most likely to peel later. Proper metal preparation will prevent this, and if you receive a full warranty, it will cover peeling.

If you want to paint the car a different color, then be prepared to go all the way, and remove the engine, all parts from the engine compartment, entire interior, entire boot, and a lot of other parts. The other choice is just wanting to paint the surface areas that will be seen. It will save money, but will be obvious the minute you open the bonnet. This said, a good body shop can work with your budget and still make the car look good.

If you want a bumper or front fascia painted, always remove the moldings and trim. Try reading the shop manual on the proper way to remove the item. The only type of body shop that will take the time to remove all of the moldings and trim and store them safely is a custom body shop. These shops will take apart your car completely, rebuild it and respray it whichever colour your heart desires. Custom work like graphics, pin striping, metal flake, sparkle flake, or candy. These places will charge around £2000-£4000 for a custom paint job and about £1500 for a basic paint job. The wait can be anywhere from 1-8 months. But the superior quality of the work will shine for years to come. How Loaded do you want it? Customers R334 Wide Arch Skyline in our custom built Spray booth.

Wahs's FTO full respray by us.

Customer's wide body GTO full respray by us.

Bradley's FTO full respray by us in White with Blue Pearl.

Customer's X19 Fiat full respray by us.

Customer's R334 Wide arch Skyline full respray by us