I figured this would be the best place to post this question. I just got my first real job out of college, so I am going to reward myself with a cosmetic restoration of my '89 GTA. I plan to strip all of the paint off of the car myself (down to bare metal) and replace all of the weatherstripping. There are only five small dings on the body, but the hood and roof is faded, and the bumpers don't quite match, but very minimal body work is needed as far as straightening goes. Also, I guess the front passenger side ground effect will have to be replaced, since it is connected to the air dam on the passenger side. My sister's dog was on a chain and ran up under my car and sheared off all of the bolts So how much money am I looking at spending? I'm going to allow about $2000 for the project, which will take place next spring. Thanks in advance.

 

what is the paint like now? as long as it's not peeling and you don't have any rust underneath, you should'nt have to go down to bare metal. weatherstripping is going to cost a few hundred bucks. go to the junkyard, you should be able to get the front side ground effect and the air dam pretty cheap. are you repainting the same color? in your $2000 budget, less the weatherstripping and other parts, you should be able to get a decent paint job. you're not going to get a show quality job, but a good paint job for a daily driver

 

Are you going to be painting the car yourself or are you bringing it to a professional? Some pros won't touch a car if they haven't done the prep work because the final paint is only as good as what its sprayed on- may want to line up a painter before you do the prep.

 

I'm planning on calling the shop that did some paint work for our family in the past. The color will be the original bright red. I plan to strip the car myself to keep costs down. I would prefer the shop to do all of the actual body work and painting. I've always been told that if I wanted a good paint job, to remove all of the factory paint (since GM paint had some quality issues in the 80's) so that there would be no adhesion problems. Other than the hood, roof, and bumpers, the paint is not bad, still shines (except for the hood and roof), but I want it all to match up and I want all of the little dings and scratches taken care of.Also, the passenger side t-top leaks a little, even though the weather strip has nothing visibly wrong with it. I'm going to go on and do this now instead of waiting until the car deteriorates anymore. After it's painted, it's only going to be a fair weather driver. I'm in the position now to get it done. I don't expect a show quality job, but I would like to have it looking new again.