Thought I'd update this thread as I'm zeroing in on options. Also, I'll post photos once the paint is done.

I left the car paint issue over the winter. I didn't have the money to get a good job done right or even an ok job. I didn't drive it at all and it was well-rested in the spring. And I saved up in the meanwhile.

The car looked about the same after the winter. I took it to the car wash yesterday to get off some tree sap and that took more of the paint off. The car was blue in its first life and then was repainted petrol green (incl. door jambs and engine bay, etc.). I've always wondered if this happened in the factory or after, but the id tag on the radiator support was lost with that early 2000s front end accident. Anyway, the blue is starting to show through in a couple of spots now.

I got a few more quotes. A really nice guy with a nice shop and 20+ years experience asked 10k for everything, repairs plus paint, plus newly polished trim. Another shop wants roughly 5k for paint and repairs. I'm going to experiment with repairing the trim using gun stock oil recommended on here some 15 years ago. If that works, I may skip trim re-finishing.

I have two more places to hear back from: 1) a body guy near a closed Chevy dealership and 2) an underground bike painter/body guy.

The 5k shop showed me their work. There was very slight orange peel in the result, so I'm going to ask about how much wetsanding they do after and whether they'd throw extra clearcoat on in case the orange peel can be buffed out. They use DuPont and were not specific about what line of paint.

Again, thank you for all the advice in the past. I appreciated it then and I appreciate it now.

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1983 300TD 240k Thistle Green Auto (Euro) [sold]
1984 300D 240k Petrol Green Auto
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