[Sparky91]

Theres not many krypton green lotus exiges out there for sale so what does everyone think about buying a white or some other color lotus and have it painted? Has anyone does this? and id so what shops would everyone recommend? im located in the Chicago Illinois area. Thanks

 

[rosscarlson]

Do some searching as there are many threads on the topic but in short changing the color of a car is very hard to do right. You have to paint all the door jams, motor bay, etc. etc. Many won't do that and it'll be obvious it was sprayed. You can also consider a full wrap which is a far more cost effective option that looks great.

Again search is your friend...

 

[luxige]

Keep in mind that if you start with a normal color and change it to Krypton Green (rather than the reverse), people will question your sanity.

I don't totally disagree with what Ross is saying, but consider that wraps are not nearly as durable as paint. I think in the long run, paint is the economical choice.

You can make the job easier on the paint shop (and save yourself a bundle of cash) by taking off all the body parts, removing any paint protection film and delivering them to the shop. They will be ready to prep with no masking (other than the mesh grills) and easy to shoot without missing the tiniest spot. Just one glitch - the rocker panels don't come off without risk of breaking them, so you'd have to deliver the whole car as well. Still, this means minimal prep time for the shop and savings for you.

If you have the garage space, the best plan would be to find a pro who also does work on the side and would bring his gear to your place. You prep the car as above, and it's all done in a few days at minimal cost. I'll be doing this in a year or two.

 

[Aedo]

Good or bad idea? Neither - it is just expensive

Cost to have a shop respray an Elise is in the $5-$10k range depending on a number of factors including colour choice, amount of surface prep required (stone chips etc), cost of shop, etc. As KG is a pretty demanding colour to spray I suspect you'd be looking to the high side not the low side of that range.

Will it devalue the car? No, but it will limit your market if/when you go to sell it as its a marmite colour (love it, hate it, or like me I love it, but would never own it ).

 

[yellow99s]

The Elise / Exige's are one of the easiest cars on the planet to paint, the only piece that gets painted on the actually car itself is the sills for gods sake, everything else is easily removed. I shot mine myself in my garage because I wanted a flat pearl white one and glossy just wouldn't do.

Before. The day I bought it:

In process:

After:

It's not 100% perfect but I don't care, I drive it a ton. Spent less than $1K with set up, fans, materials and all that. Best of luck!

 

[phy6]

The Elise / Exige's are one of the easiest cars on the planet to paint, the only piece that gets painted on the actually car itself is the sills for gods sake, everything else is easily removed. I shot mine myself in my garage because I wanted a flat pearl white one and glossy just wouldn't do.

Before. The day I bought it:

In process:

After:

It's not 100% perfect but I don't care, I drive it a ton. Spent less than $1K with set up, fans, materials and all that. Best of luck!

Wow great job!!
Did you have a background in automotive painting? How much do you think you have invested in equipment like the dryer and spray gun?

 

[Callsign_Vega]

The Elise / Exige's are one of the easiest cars on the planet to paint, the only piece that gets painted on the actually car itself is the sills for gods sake, everything else is easily removed. I shot mine myself in my garage because I wanted a flat pearl white one and glossy just wouldn't do.

It's not 100% perfect but I don't care, I drive it a ton. Spent less than $1K with set up, fans, materials and all that. Best of luck!

That white with the carbon accents looks fantastic!

 

[yellow99s]

I've dabbled in paint, mostly bicycles or clear coating carbon parts. I use cheap harbor freight spray guns (I suck at cleaning them so I just toss it every 6 months or so) and I borrowed a huge industrial water separator / filter from a friend. When I plastic lined the entire garage and put a box fan blowing through a quality furnace filter in the window it actually pressurized the room and kept dust from entering which was unexpected.