Pulling a Michael Jackson (Black to white paint job)

[DRP967]

http://site.icbmotorsport.com/Wheels/EDM_CTR_04_Reari.jpg

http://ep.yimg.com/ca/I/yhst-1408381693991_2141_10195885

Whats up guys, my EP3 is currently nighthawk black pearl. Im thinking about doing a color change from black to white...nighthawk to champ white to be precise. Now here are my questions and concerns. So far ive taken the car to one body shop and they told me that going black to white is difficult since its going "dark to light". Not sure what they mean by this because i assume the car will have to be stripped down to bare metal anyways? Also granted i dont go to Maaco...will this paint job be as durable and look just like factory? My budget is $1000-3000. Now i know you get what you pay for but whats a decent paint job cost nowadays? Also i want to leave the door jambs/hatch/engine bay black...just paint the exterior champ white. What can i expect in a good paint job? Im also concerned about overspray...i heard that a good paint is 90% prep so masking and what not need to be top notch. Also how many coats does a good paint job normally have and whats the difference between all the stages of paint ie. stage 1/stage 2/etc. Anyone who has had their car repainted please chime in with input/experience.

[NL 1]

Car will not be stripped down to bare metal most likely just where major body work if any....i would not recommend leaving the jambs and hatch jambs black it will look very tacky. Now the engine bay will look fine as long as they paint just the fender lip under the hood and no over spray anywhere else.......1stg is where the color and clear is together ( worst route u can take).....2 stg is the base coat which is the color and 2 nd part would be the clear coat usually reffered as base coat clear coat. 3 stg is like the candy colors where it takes a base coat a candy coat and then the clear sum factory jobs are like this also called tri coats .....and u can expect to pay at least 2g and up for a job I have paid 800 for a job most ive paid is almost 4500.... But the best thing u can do is go around shops and look at work at cars they r finishing up there pay attention to orange peel - lil bumps in the paint like the outside of an orange, look for runs, overspray on things that shouldn't be painted....and be sure ur job includes wet sanding and buffing the finish it will make it smooth like glass.

[DRP967]

Thanks a bunch for the input, if im not mistaken dont all paint jobs have orange peel? I noticed a lot of factory paint ie. Toyota/Nissan/Honda/Ford/etc have orange peel, this can be removed when aftermarket paint is applied? Sounds like i will need a 2 stage paint job. And yeah overspray...thats a tell tale sigh of carelessness/bad prep i would assume.

[PatrickJamesYu]

Ehh orange peel is a natural effect that happens to paint due to its thick pigment and gravity.
It's viewed an imperfection.

Most oem paints don't
Except for certain areas
I notices the panels that are closer to facing the ground has it most.
But they really should have severe orange peel anywhere, especially flat panels

[NL 1]

a good wetsand and buff will resolve the orange peel. like i said look at cars that are just being finished up and if you are satisfied with the way it looks then start talkn' business.

[gamma6]

My car wen from black to white done by the previous owner... Idk how long its been but they didnt take it to bare metal, on some spots the paint is peeling and black shows

[PatrickJamesYu]

Hit up MannyKid15

http://www.ephatch.com/forum/showthread.php?53520-Need-Paint-In-So-Cal...Hit-Me-Up/page2