Hello, All:

So it's been an ongoing situation w/getting my hood repainted. The car was in an accident before I purchased it, the hood was damaged and received a poor paint job. Anyways, it needs to be repainted.

The max I'm willing to spend is $300.

I got an estimate at a local paint shop and they told me it'd cost $500. I ran across something interesting on Ebay and wanted to get your opinions.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/NEW-PAINTED-HOOD-95-96-97-98-99-NISSAN-SENTRA-200SX-200_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ33646QQihZ014QQitem Z330093163868QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW

That company sells brand new 200sx hoods. You can also get them pre-painted. I found out this place is only 2 hours away from me, so I could essentially just drive my car up there and get my hood replaced for about $300. I'm not really sure how good the paint job would be on the hood or if it would match the age of my paint since they'd just paint it using the "Aztec Red" Nissan paint code.

So I'm wondering what you guys think of this idea?? Has anyone by chance bought anything from this company or know someone who did? Also, if you guys have any other ideas let me know!

-G

If theres nothing wrong with your current hood besides the paint, just repaint it. it shouldnt be more than $150 to repaint a hood. Save yourself $150.$500 to paint a hood is highway robbery.

If theres nothing wrong with your current hood besides the paint, just repaint it. it shouldnt be more than $150 to repaint a hood. Save yourself $150.$500 to paint a hood is highway robbery.

The clearcoat is peeling off and in some places it's down to the metal. The hood needs to be sanded down and repainted. As far as dents the hood is fine.

http://img177.imageshack.us/img177/1310/picture045largehg3.jpg

wet sand it your self, and take it to get sprayed, shouldnt be more then 150 dollars bro.

stratton.

wet sand it your self, and take it to get sprayed, shouldnt be more then 150 dollars bro.

stratton.

hmmmm, I've never wet sanded anything before. How hard would it be to do and how long would it take me??

Wet sanding isn't that hard, and the good thing is that even if you mess up the paint; you are still planning on getting it painted. Wet sanding involves very small grit (high #'s not low numbers), so it just takes the very top layer off.

Before spending the cash, I would try to wet sand it for the heck of it, buff it, and see what you think. $10 for sand paper, water, and you can borrow my buffer.

Josh

They're probably going to want you to wet or dry 400 grit. Than scuff it up good with a red scotch brite pad.

I've rethought wet sanding because there are spots on the hood that are down to the metal. I think I'd have to prep the hood by stripping all the paint off. Correct me if I'm wrong.

I was thinking of taking it to Maaco and getting an estimate. Doing work on only the hood can't be that bad. They paint whole cars for $300. I'm looking for factory quality, stock paint job. I'm only painting the hood and the rest of my car has factory paint that's 11 years old, so I don't need anything too crazy. I want something that's going to match the rest of the car and last as long as the rest of the paint.

-G

$500? Jeez. My friend got his front bumper and hoodscoop on his old 2.5rs painted rallysport blue for around only $150. It came out real good too.

yes I'd say if it is to the metal wet sand with 400 and take it to em to paint... shouldnt cost that much. Wet sanding with 400 should be able to get to the metal easily without gouging out the paint work. use a sanding block though. you dont want it to be noticably wavy. You shouldnt have to strip the whole hood. But you can if you want to. but it might cost more for them to use the bare metal etching primer.. I dunno they may use that anyway. If you did 90% prep it I'd paint it for 100$ plus you buy the paint.. I'd say a about 25$ for single stage and 50-70 bucks would cover it if you wanted color and clear. its just a hood shouldnt take alot of paint. Just sucks cause red is a lil more pricey then most paint.

Looking at the estimate this is basically what it says:

$133 for paint materials
3 x $52 "Strip Hood" - Repair Hours = $156
4.1 x $52 "Refinish" - Replace Hours = $213
__________
$502

There is also the word "Two-Stage" on here. I guess that means it's a better paint job or something. I'm such a n00b.

yes I'd say if it is to the metal wet sand with 400 and take it to em to paint... shouldnt cost that much. Wet sanding with 400 should be able to get to the metal easily without gouging out the paint work. use a sanding block though. you dont want it to be noticably wavy. You shouldnt have to strip the whole hood. But you can if you want to. but it might cost more for them to use the bare metal etching primer.. I dunno they may use that anyway. If you did 90% prep it I'd paint it for 100$ plus you buy the paint.. I'd say a about 25$ for single stage and 50-70 bucks would cover it if you wanted color and clear. its just a hood shouldnt take alot of paint. Just sucks cause red is a lil more pricey then most paint.

Sounds too complicated for a n00b like me. I'd probably mess it up and have to pay even more $.

Here's a picture I took today of the car. It got much worse versus the previous picture taken a few months ago:

http://img62.imageshack.us/img62/3589/picture219largejn8.jpg

-G

ok well im my book that body shop charging $500 is out of their mind.

I would either shop around and get quotes from a few places OR I would just try to find someone on the forum parting out a car like that and buy their hood. Ive seen hood sell for less than $100 on this forum.

For $500 I would rather get a CF hood.

ok well im my book that body shop charging $500 is out of their mind.

I would either shop around and get quotes from a few places OR I would just try to find someone on the forum parting out a car like that and buy their hood. Ive seen hood sell for less than $100 on this forum.

For $500 I would rather get a CF hood.

:biggthump shoot I think you can get A CF hood for a b14 for around 300-375. And then if you get tired of it I'm sure there will be plenty off people who would trade plus cash :D

exactly. You can hold on to the stock hood for winter or something.

IMO it makes no sense spending $500 for a stock piece.

I don't like CF hoods because of the contrast in colors. I know they make red CF hoods, but I'm not sure how that'd look either.

That ebay site I posted sells brand new painted 200sx hoods for $300.

I think the big guy himself had a terrible experience with a pre-painted bodypart:

http://www.sr20forum.com/showthread.php?t=107907

I think the big guy himself had a terrible experience with a pre-painted bodypart:

http://www.sr20forum.com/showthread.php?t=107907

hmmm, well what are my options guys?

- I don't want a CF hood
- I got $300 to work with
- Preparing the car myself isn't a real option

I guess that leaves finding a place to prep and paint the hood for $300. How should I go about finding a place that does good work for $300? I guess just drive around to a bunch of different auto body shops? Can I just call them and get an estimate?

I don't like CF hoods because of the contrast in colors. I know they make red CF hoods, but I'm not sure how that'd look either.

That ebay site I posted sells brand new painted 200sx hoods for $300.

That ebay site is $425 after shipping.

That ebay site is $425 after shipping.

Ya, but I live close enough to go pick it up so there would be no shipping charge.

I'm thinking against it though, due to the problems the other member had w/paint color not matching and low quality.

If your close enough, that shouldn't be an issue then...contact them and work something out outside of ebay.