Tonight, Steve, the owner of Body Works Custom Painting, came by to give me a quote for painting my car. Steve has painted a number of local show cars, and his shop is literally 15 minutes from my house.
We discussed exactly what I wanted done, he took some pictures and really studied the car to figure out how he would do the work. In particular, I wanted the blue to roll over in to the door jambs as the factory did it. It's a minor detail, and not doing it would have no external impact on the car, but I would see it every time I opened the doors which would bug me.
Steve said they'd only done a few third gens and he thought this was be a fun project.
He's supposed to email me a quote tomorrow.
I've taken the approach from the beginning that I know I will invest way more in this car than it will ever be worth. This is where that statement comes true.
While there isn't much body work to do, the effort to properly prep and paint the car is huge. I know that first hand as my dad and I did sheet metal and full paint on my first car, a '78 Z28 and another '84 Z28 I owned -- both when I was a teenager. I know the effort it takes to do it right and I know Steve and his shop do it right. Even though I'v been preparing myself for the dollars that will be involved, it'll really hit home to see the actual number on paper.