Here's my '83 ready for paint. I removed everything that was bolted on, except the wings behind the passenger door that I talked about in another thread. I removed the sunroof, but I think for very little benefit. I showed it to the local shop who will be doing the work, he said leave it out. The RR door has already been painted and replaced thanks to another forum member.

One thing to consider even if you aren't going for a paint job is to remove all the trim and clean the accumulated dirt that tends to hold moisture. If you already have a rust-free car, this will keep it that way a lot longer.

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The last photo show the deflector that I talked about in another thread.

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Here is the finished product. I had a local body shop do it in Dupont Chroma Premier BC/CC in the original Astral Silver. Several forum members helped me with a replacement RR door and several new wheels. Needless to say, this car is garaged and doesn't have to be driven in bad weather.

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Wow! That came out nice!

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1987 300TD 311,000M Stolen. Presumed destroyed

Not a stupid ideal really. Doing it yourself can save enough money to aquire a compressor and gun. After that you have the equipment left to spray anything pretty well you want to. For the rest of your life if you take care of the equipment. Available auto paint off of ebay in many pre mixed colors is better than non auto paint and is pretty reasonable as well. Some of their colors may even be your paint code. changing a color properly is a lot more work asu are aware.

Try to use an automotive grade paint as they have better uv resistance or are formulated to last longer. Painting a car is not rocket science with a little practice and reading. Prep work is where the work, skill and knowledge needed is more evident and far more demanding to me at least.