Bonnet respray price in Cambridgeshire?

[GeneralDogsbody]

Hello everyone. I've finally been able to join the Brisokda clan, and I've put a deposit down on an 54,000 mile 07 Mk1 Fabia 'Bohemia' estate in metallic black. As I'm sure is the case with a lot of the Fabby bonnets, my one's got a fair few stone chips on it. Any suggestions on how to sort them out? Or, does anyone know of a mobile service in Cambridgeshire that would spray/repair it for a good price? Many thanks ;-)

[JWvrs25]

3 minutes ago, GeneralDogsbody said:

Hello everyone. I've finally been able to join the Brisokda clan, and I've put a deposit down on an 54,000 mile 07 Mk1 Fabia 'Bohemia' estate in metallic black. As I'm sure is the case with a lot of the Fabby bonnets, my one's got a fair few stone chips on it. Any suggestions on how to sort them out? Or, does anyone know of a mobile service in Cambridgeshire that would spray/repair it for a good price? Many thanks ;-)

You might be able to find a black bonnet from a breaker which is in decent condition

its not as if black is a difficult colour to find many VRS were black just down to luck as to whether they are in good enough condition

My silver fabia has loads of stonechips on the bonnet but the rest of the car is fine, repairing them might be slightly pointless as they will likely come back, but if you want the car to be immaculate I would definitely try breakers local to you

[GeneralDogsbody]

Thanks Claremont. Would say that it's hard to fit a new bonnet? 

[JWvrs25]

Never done it myself, probably 2 people to lift into position and just a case of doing up the bolts on the hinges (2 either side which i think are torx head)and getting bonnet aligned properly.

There's rubber stops on the front edge of the bonnet which twist to adjust the height when shut, so you just have to spend some time adjusting the position until it aligns.

I wouldn't say its a difficult panel to change, as long as you've got 2 people to lift as its quite heavy.

 

[GeneralDogsbody]

Many thanks for the help - I'll get looking for one ASAP! (Getting one in good nick might be a struggle, though......)

[JWvrs25]

No worries

Scratches arent too much of a problem as they can be polished out, just stone chips which are ones to look out for

[vRSAnt]

If you aren't a snob about it ( lets face it, its just a car, and a 10 year old one at that, but of course not without plenty of admirers), you can drizzle the paint using a touch up stick ( or even paint sprayed onto a throw away container before it dries),

 

Then use something like a pin for far more precise attention, rather than those awful touch up pen nibs they just throw too much paint which attracts more rather than less attention to the damage.

 

It may not be perfect, although with some attention with light abrasives/polish and a lot of time you could almost make it disappear. It worked for me on my 50k octy mk3 tsi vrs although you will need some patience if you have a lot of them !

Just another idea approach. But the parts will certainly be commonplace for these now so there should be a decent panel out there somewhere.

 

I've attended to far worse damage than stonechips, they really don't bother me at all.

 

[vRSAnt]

On 17/02/2017 at 17:30, clarendon462 said:

No worries

Scratches arent too much of a problem as they can be polished out, just stone chips which are ones to look out for

 

Not if they are very deep you can't, I'd take a stone chip over a deep scratch any day

[JWvrs25]

im talking about light scratches in the laquer, as opposed to paint chips which need filling and respraying

[Rooted]

Easy and cheap to watch Youtube, start with the big jobs done by the skilled workers down to how to use a touch up pen then try things out.

You are unlikely to make a mess that will cost more if a professional ends up needing to do it for you was going to cost in the first place.

This is one of the best, but plenty other professional vids are there for stone chips.

 

[GeneralDogsbody]

Thanks everyone. I was wondering if it was worth using a multi-tool (like a Dremel) that I have to sand off the larger bits of poorly-laid paint on the bonnet, and then, using a toothpick, re-apply the new paint, then polish it flat? If I use a Dremel. What sort of head would I use? (I'd mask off the bonnet first, of course!) Cheers   

[Rooted]

NO!!! 

Watch some videos, work lightly, do not hash on and use powered tool.

You just get fine sanding paper or pads if required, rust inhibitor, etch or primer, rubbing compound etc.

You learn the basics before using sanding or rubbing or polish tools /equipment.

 

Do not start all over the place, pick one spot and practice and see if you can do a decent job before doing more.

Simple preparation is all that is required, and try to make the finished job undetectable.

 

PS

Clean any wax or polish off first, use panel wipes or what ever the professionals are recommending.

Edited 19 February, 2017 by Offski

[awfabia]

Paint is around £60 per litre so expect to pay around £150 to spray a panel. I think it unlikely that a bonnet from a breakers will be much better than yours, especially as most will be off older cars than yours.

Impressed that you care enough for your car that you're thinking of sorting out the chips.

We had five Fabias in our family, so we loved them too - see my avatar, they're all there. 

[vRSAnt]

Yeah good points particularly about avoiding tools on the paintwork you will make it worse if you don't know what you are doing !

I only said about using paint pen/can with a coctal style stick or pen to apply a very small dab of paint, I never mentined tools or abrasives !

 

However if you are looking to use that stuff with car paint should be thinking about down to microns, or for harsher filling down work for specific jobs you could be using aluminium oxide in fine grade wet/dry. But you shouldn't be needing that.

 

As also mentioned accuretely you shouldn't be polishing the car (before painting) with any kind of silicone/ wax based either.

The car plants use stuff like 3M finesse-it which is safe for painting over but you could use polishes labelled silicon wax free and suitable for paining after use but also wipe clear with alcohol style wipes and dry off for perfection.

 

This is the kind of mini sanding pad I used for small sports, that backs  the trizact disks, like this.

http://www.carcolourservices.co.uk/product/3m-trizact-fine-finishing-discs-p3000-150mm-pk-15-3m50414/

 

Super fine and use before polishing remove all sorts of imperfections and flat.

Wet and dry 1000 grit does the same just far harsher/quicker leaving deeper scratches, the micron disks are so fine they can remove tar spots the same way clay bar does and just polish afterwards to remove any fine scratches.

 

I like to use different grades from the harsher to smoother to finally polish to remove all imperfections. Ideally while wet and while continuosly cleaning or wetting the wet n dry/trizact to keep the pad from clogging with paint and possibly scatching or irregularly sanding the finish.

 

All sandpapers are not the same, you wouldn't want to touch your car with any rough abrasive grades, usually !

[vRSAnt]

Sorry wrong size discs, they do all sorts obviously for various applications, I personally use more like this one to go with that small hand polishing pad ( I think the other one was for far bigger area and probably machining, I just use a supply of the hand finish ones I have been supplied for free ).

 

http://www.nonpaintstore.nl/en/non-paint/schuurpapier/polishing-discs-1/3m-50079-trizact-micro-polishing-discs-35mm-100-pieces.html

 

These may be quite expensive but as long as its similar micron/ very fine finish you could opt a cheaper non 3m substitute or use a finer wet and dry aluminium oxide on small spots ( as mentioned testing small and learning first ).

 

You remove bigger imperfections with smaller so you are putting in small scratches remember but the process of polishing finer and finer will remove most of this.