How hard to repaint boxster...the proper way.... - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

Normally you obviously should paint the engine bay, remove doors, etc. I obviously would want to do it the right way, so I guess I am wondering if you still need to paint the engine bay on the boxster? I have never seen pictures of the engine itself? Is it painted from the factory.

That is up to you. The whole frame itself is painted from the factory. although it isnt necesarily all clear coated. (much like the underside to your hood) so if you are going from... red to black then yes you will be able to tell by all those areas that may be left unpainted like some places in the engine bay.

Is your paint ruined? Accident? I'd never paint a car just to freshen it or fix chips. You can do wonders with an orbital polisher and polish/wax. And some quality touch-up paint. A decent paint job is pretty expensive. A less than great job is a travesty. A buyer will suspect major damage unless you thoroughly document the work. My advice - don't repaint unless you really need to. And stick to original color if you do need to paint.

Not a question of "how hard" but a question of "how expensive." To do it right, you need to find a good paint shop, which is probably not a high volume collision repair shop. I doubt you'd get out the door for anything less than $5k for quality work. The better question is WHY do you want to paint the whole car?

I woudl suspect that a total repaint "the right way" would be big money. My car recently had a VERY minor hit. the ONLY part that really needs to be replaced is the front left fender. My bumper cover ONLY nees paint. they are going to paint the fender, bumper cover, and blend into the surrounding areas.... JUST that minimal damage is going to be roughly $3000. keep in mind, the body shop I went to, from personal experience, and reputation, is a "high end" shop that routinely works on $$$ and exotics. I believe their prices and work quality ar eon the upper end... given the "minimal" areas they are painting and the cost...I would suspect to do the WHOLE car - would be 2-3 time sthat amount... not worth it. I agree with what anothe person said - you can probably make the car look AMAZING just by havin ga really good detail / polish job. If you have lots of rock chips - you might consider having the front end repainted or take it to a restoration place that can address the rock chips w/out a full blwon respray. then just have the sides, rear, trunk, etc all fully polished. my car is a 2000....with 75k miles...it has a substantial amount of rock chips to the hood/nose - but the sides and rear of the car look amazing still. unles you hae damage that needs to be repaired, I would htink you could accomplish what you want w/out resorting to a $10000 paint job... given how little older boxsters are worth - putting anyting substantial into a paint job seems like a bad idea. I'd opt for polishing, touch up, etc. I'm ONLY having my front end repainted because someone backed into my car and their insurance is now footing the bill. maybe you can hang out in parking lots and pray someone rams you??

You use to be able to get factory packed paint for American cars, not sure about Porsche. Me, I would replace the front skin because you will see the nicks and it is very hard to patch them. Update the look to a newer year...at least up to 2004. The hood I would touch up very carefully and buff accordingly.

I have a Father who restores 356 which would save substantial costs if we could do it ourself. Time consuming? Very. I hear what a lot of you are saying, but I don't want just a repaint, I would like to change the color to Mexico or Riviera Blue.

Its not a matter of how hard it would be to repaint your boxster, but rather its a question of how much are you willing to spend ? Depending on how high your standards are, an excellent job can cost an exorbitant amount of money. I can tell you from experience, just adding a body kit alone can run into many thousands of dollars. It all comes down to time and the number of man hours required to meet your expectations .