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Tony Nadalin
2018 SOVREN Big Bore Champion
2015 SCCA Oregon Region VP3 Champion
2012 ICSCC ITE Class Champion
FFR MkII Challenge Car, Spec Racer, Street Legal, SCCA, ICSCC and NASA Racing
818R Build in progress
Race Car > "Wrap It"
Street Car > "Paint It"
***SOLD!!! - NASA ST2 FFR#48 Gen3 Type65 Coupe R, Street legal.***
***SOLD!!! - NASA ST2 FFR#48 Challenge Car rolling chassis, Street legal.***
http://johngeorgeracing.com
What is your goal? My street car shows how use on rough roads is hard on the thin body panels of the 818, so I wouldn't invest much on paint... within 2500 miles I've had more than a dozen areas that either cracked or popped off the gel coat. And with 4 1/2 inches of ground clearance you will get some nasty road bumps stressing the body.
I haven't had much luck getting "invisible" gel coat repairs so I'd go for dip as investment is lower and it's easy to remove and reapply. Wraps can cost as much as a medium range paint job. The clear with pearls over red on my old Miata gets rave reviews everywhere and cost me $350 for everything along with a full day in the garage.
Dan
818S #17 Picked up 8/1/13 First start 11/1/13 Go Kart 3/28/14
Leave it gel coat, especially on a race car.
I plasti-dipped a track motorcycle - used the 'professional' sprayer and did 5 coats. It looked pretty good to start, but did not hold up well. It adheres well overall, but chips/tears very easily. It was peeling off the bottom after about 3 events. It was pretty difficult to remove. It came off in sheets, just as you expect, but it was tough going. If you don't apply enough coats, it could see it being a nightmare to remove. I think pulling it off of a car would probably take the better part of a day, maybe two. I don't think I'll use it for anything exterior. Hopefully I'll find something to use it for, since I have all the equipment now.
I had it painted relatively inexpensively (I asked the painter not to spend too much time on the prep work since they were track fairings.), and I put some 3m clear film on the areas subject to abuse. It looks awesome, and that clear film is probably the most durable stuff you can put on a car.
If I wrap my 818R, I think it would be smart to somehow have a seam or parting line to separate the areas that get the most abuse (front bumper and behind the wheels), so those sections can be easily re-wrapped after they get nasty. A cheap paint job and the 3M film is a great option too. It takes a hell of a rock to get through the 3M stuff - not sure how it compares to the bare wrapping materials.
Last edited by Zach34; 01-19-2017 at 03:13 PM.
5 coats isn't thick enough for an easy peel, you need at least 8-9. I have a friend who has done his Miata 3 times over the last 7 years, peel entire car in 1-2 hrs. Comes off in big sheets
Vinyl takes a long time to do a good job and the materials are expensive. Get it done by someone and expect to pay $3000 plus.
I'd leave it gel coat for a racer and use vinyl stickers for accents, like I did with my street car. In white it's dirty after driving 50 feet anyways!
Dan
818S #17 Picked up 8/1/13 First start 11/1/13 Go Kart 3/28/14
I suggest wrapping it yourself. Once you've acquired the skills, it'll be easy enough to redo after any repairs. It will fade over time, but if it no longer matches when replacing a section do a colour change for a few hundred dollars and a few days work.
Adam _____ Instagram @PopesProjects____ YouTube Channel
818 SRX - #91
Arrived 01/02/2014
First Start 10/31/2016
First Drive 05/22/2017
Registered 10/25/2019 BRAP818
So it looks like to wrap the car it will take over 100' to be safe, so good quality wrap (3M, Avery, Oracal, etc.) would be around $800-1,000), plus time and some inexpensive tools. Paint would be about $4000 for a OK to Good quality.
As far as a track car goes I have my challenge car painted and it's been painted 2 times now along with a new shell. The car runs mostly vintage now so people expect it to look somewhat good, so that will always be paint and that means touch ups every once in a while. The challenge car along with the coupe just don't seem to lend themselves to wrap.
The 818 seems like a car that should either remain in gelcoat or be wrapped since it actually has panels (not a 1 piece body). I have seen 1 painted 818R and 1 wrapped 818R, I'm leaning towards the wrapped version, mainly because if I have to replace body panels on the 818R and that seems far easier to wrap than find a painter and then color match. I figure I can get 6-8 years out of a wrap and about 5 years out of a paint.
Now the color, I am leaning to a matte type wrap.
Tony Nadalin
2018 SOVREN Big Bore Champion
2015 SCCA Oregon Region VP3 Champion
2012 ICSCC ITE Class Champion
FFR MkII Challenge Car, Spec Racer, Street Legal, SCCA, ICSCC and NASA Racing
818R Build in progress
Automotive paints are not all created equal with respect to durability. Two-part urethanes are EXTREMELY durable and should be good for 15-20 years. Do the body work yourself, pick a nice color from the Imron or Jet Glo color chart, find an aircraft painting facility and negotiate with them to fit you in between jobs. Trust me, they don't like dead time and they usually have excellent painters because that industry demands perfection every day. I'd guess one could get a killer paint job for far less than $4000.
My Jet Glo paint shrugged off 240 mph hard-shelled beetles and 100 mph runway pebbles for 8 years with almost no visible damage.
No matter what I put on the front is hit with rocks so nothing will stand up to that. I agree that some paints are better than others and the application/prep makes a big difference. The cost is right around 4K for a good non-show quality paint job, so about 2x the cost of a good wrap. I have never had a wrap before so I don't know much about the durability other than I can replace it very easily when I need to.
Tony Nadalin
2018 SOVREN Big Bore Champion
2015 SCCA Oregon Region VP3 Champion
2012 ICSCC ITE Class Champion
FFR MkII Challenge Car, Spec Racer, Street Legal, SCCA, ICSCC and NASA Racing
818R Build in progress
Here's a high quality wrap after 3 years
iih6jgp.jpg
Owner/builder - AEM Intakes 818R #85
For a race car- I agree that gel coat is a great "first" option. Both duct tape, and stock pigment match it pretty well...
I could never dream of spending $4K on a race car paint job. While I love the showroom look of the guys that did spend on such things (they often also have a semi/transporter and a crew- not an open trailer!) I just don't see the value for me. A race car will get hammered, damaged, smashed, etc. The cars/bikes I did paint, were as suggested above- stock Imron colors for easy repairs, etc. I did them myself with a vintage spray gun in a friends spray booth/parking lot, and the results were quite good and very durable. I used helicopter tape on leading edges/impact areas. Maybe the fact that I always did separate parts/panels made it too easy, but I'm a bit surprised not to hear more DIY paint stories of 818's. Kudos to those of you DIY wrapping, that stuff does look nice!