I’m looking for someone who can do a decent job of and has experience in body work and painting of D series Citroens. Wanting a quality back to bare metal job. Should panels be left on car or painted separately? What sort of money would l need to spend? Looking for someone in Melbourne, thanks....
Paint/body shop recommendations for Citroen D series in Melbourne
- Thread starter Dfocused
- Start date
Given how easy it is, the panels should all be taken off so that whole of each panel an be painted. There is a lot of exposed body work in the engine bay and front doors that will be difficult to paint with the panels on the car. This has the downside of potentially totally messing up the panel alignment. If the roof is watertight and your're reasonably confident the cant rail is good then leave it in place.
For a bare metal respray figure about $10,000 and pray they don't find any rust or dodgy repairs when all the paint comes off.
For a bare metal respray figure about $10,000 and pray they don't find any rust or dodgy repairs when all the paint comes off.
too expensive! Better buy ar compressor + spray gun, watch you tube DIY!
Depending on the model and the real condition of the subject, if you're doing none of the dismantling and prep work, $30k+ for professional work.
As far as I know, nobody with specific D experience offers such a service in Melbourne.
Last paint job (2014?), on sedan panels ( including roof ) delivered to the painter in a stripped, repaired, prepped and etch primed condition, was $10k.
Nearly $1500 for the paint & materials separately.
The initial alignment of the panels and final assembly, plus alignment was completed by me. YMMV depending on input.
This wasn't my first go round on a D, with a Safari completed earlier. There might be the odd post here.
As far as I know, nobody with specific D experience offers such a service in Melbourne.
Last paint job (2014?), on sedan panels ( including roof ) delivered to the painter in a stripped, repaired, prepped and etch primed condition, was $10k.
Nearly $1500 for the paint & materials separately.
The initial alignment of the panels and final assembly, plus alignment was completed by me. YMMV depending on input.
This wasn't my first go round on a D, with a Safari completed earlier. There might be the odd post here.
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Your going to be doing a LOT of learning. I would suggest *not* as a first attempt. Unless you just want a tidy daily driver (as opposed to a perfect finish). In this case, you're looking at hundreds of hours labour (but only if you "sort of" know what you are doing...).
You really cannot paint in a modern housing suburb with microscopic sized house blocks. Certainly I would never paint in a "shared" garage under the house roof. They are incredibly toxic coatings and you don't want family or neighbours breathing them.
seeya
Shane L.
My guy Paul in Melton has done a few D's so he knows what he is doing. Lots of his cars have gone on to be show winners so his standards are well above the average but as for price. Start at 10k and go from there.
When we did my 403 a couple of years ago an assessor came in to assess another job. He looked at the 403 and said.
I can see you've painted it but I can't tell you've painted it.
Paul said thankyou that's the exact finish we were going for.
He's doing my R8 Gordini now and the quality is way above my expectations. He says his job is the easy bit, I've got the job of making the rest of it look as good as the paint.
When we did my 403 a couple of years ago an assessor came in to assess another job. He looked at the 403 and said.
I can see you've painted it but I can't tell you've painted it.
Paul said thankyou that's the exact finish we were going for.
He's doing my R8 Gordini now and the quality is way above my expectations. He says his job is the easy bit, I've got the job of making the rest of it look as good as the paint.
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Given the age of the car and the number of potential rust spots in a D, you should wear strong underwear and be braced for a surprise. In any car of that age there are always nasty surprises once one removes panels. Advantage of the D is that it is easy to remove panels. Mine was a bit scary when I started doing that though. I unfortunately hadn't the space at the time to go on with it so found him a better home.
My 404 (bare metal. Lotsa rust work, including some ingenious fabrication ) and 240Z ( respray of good rust-free car ), also son's Mini and other son's Zed ( ground up from box of bits and crashed shell ) have been done by Rob Laughton of Zed restoration factory, now in Seaford.
All have been top jobs at a very fair price and he is very good to deal with. You will have the issues of his being a one man show and being busy, but he is excellent at keeping one in the loop and offering choices ( 'you can do it the cheap way or the proper way. Think about it" ) He has all of the old skills in abundance, the only caveat being that I don't know how much aluminium work he has under his belt.
He may not want to commit to the job, in fairness to existing customers, but would be worth trying as he is utterly honest and reliable, with very good skills and would tell you straight up if unable/not interested/too busy.
Rob Laughton
Zed Restoration factory
25 Milne Ave
'Seaford
0418869933
Good luck and best wishes
Andrew
My 404 (bare metal. Lotsa rust work, including some ingenious fabrication ) and 240Z ( respray of good rust-free car ), also son's Mini and other son's Zed ( ground up from box of bits and crashed shell ) have been done by Rob Laughton of Zed restoration factory, now in Seaford.
All have been top jobs at a very fair price and he is very good to deal with. You will have the issues of his being a one man show and being busy, but he is excellent at keeping one in the loop and offering choices ( 'you can do it the cheap way or the proper way. Think about it" ) He has all of the old skills in abundance, the only caveat being that I don't know how much aluminium work he has under his belt.
He may not want to commit to the job, in fairness to existing customers, but would be worth trying as he is utterly honest and reliable, with very good skills and would tell you straight up if unable/not interested/too busy.
Rob Laughton
Zed Restoration factory
25 Milne Ave
'Seaford
0418869933
Good luck and best wishes
Andrew
I haven't told them how long the queue is. Steve wants to redo the red 750 but says we're hogging the queue.
This bloke sounds like Paul in Melton except he won't give a cheaper option. If he's putting his name on it it'll be done his way.
Bodywork is very expensive and there are lots of shonks out there so go with the specialists, yes it'll be expensive but worth every cents and don't hold them to a quote.
You can't quote on it until it's been stripped and sandbalsted.
I can wholly recommend Wil Cupidon from Tropic Motors, 15 Rushdale St, Knoxfield, VIC 3180. Mb: 0417 351 261. LL: 9763 7241. He has done many cars for CCCV members including my DS23, my GSA plus other GS and DS. He is very skilled panel beater and painter all in one shop. He sticks to deadlines and is well priced. As he works on his own he has difficulty getting to the phone (when he's in the spray booth, for instance) so its best trying to call him early morning-is or in the evening.
Healy factory in Ringwood do fabulous jobs.
Just forget the work and buy one DS-23 for sale tomorrow
Just forget the work and buy one DS-23 for sale tomorrow
maybe a photo or two could raise the argument whether it needs to be done at all? Rust under front indicators, door bottoms, roof rails and back of boot lids is where the strife starts, and then in the chassis at numerous points. I'd be more focused on that then just blinging it with sassy paint job for starters. Very important it is kept in dry conditions if possible.
I would approach Healy Factory with caution, they are hardly Citroen specialists and are known to like a dollar
When Rob sez “ you can do it the cheap way or do it the proper way” he is very politely telling you that you would be insane to do it the cheap way. He has never compromised standards in my experience.
It is a difference in style, not substance
Andrew
Well Dfocused,
Lots of good advice here
The bottom line is that a D is a special car that needs care. Bare metal respray is a complex job.
Even experienced heads here don’t suggest painting it yourself ( PS good to see Richo posting again!)
Dave Rogers’ car ( the DS) has one of the best finishes I have seen so I’d endorse Tropic Motors
Have a look at Faulksy’s resto thread for some pics of panel restoration..
But I will give another vote for Paul the magician from Melton. He brought my DS back from a rear end smash - a bad way to find rusted metal !
My costs were moderated by insurance but Richo’s quote is conservative.
Good luck!
Ramon
Lots of good advice here
The bottom line is that a D is a special car that needs care. Bare metal respray is a complex job.
Even experienced heads here don’t suggest painting it yourself ( PS good to see Richo posting again!)
Dave Rogers’ car ( the DS) has one of the best finishes I have seen so I’d endorse Tropic Motors
Have a look at Faulksy’s resto thread for some pics of panel restoration..
But I will give another vote for Paul the magician from Melton. He brought my DS back from a rear end smash - a bad way to find rusted metal !
My costs were moderated by insurance but Richo’s quote is conservative.
Good luck!
Ramon
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Yes it sounds like Paul and Rob are the same. There's two way to do a job, the wrong way or their way.
Hi all
I can recommend Steve Autobody who had to repair the rear end damage on my 2CV from a low speed Toyota Prado. David Gries recommended him to me.
Steve has decades worth of experience with 2CVs and Deesees and Mercedes-Benz. I was very satisfied with his level of work and fabrication and attention to detail.
His details are as follows:
Steve Autobody
Unit 4, 1695 Centre Road
Springvale VIC 3171
0421 893 970
Regards Syd
I can recommend Steve Autobody who had to repair the rear end damage on my 2CV from a low speed Toyota Prado. David Gries recommended him to me.
Steve has decades worth of experience with 2CVs and Deesees and Mercedes-Benz. I was very satisfied with his level of work and fabrication and attention to detail.
His details are as follows:
Steve Autobody
Unit 4, 1695 Centre Road
Springvale VIC 3171
0421 893 970
Regards Syd
Thanks so much to all who responded, its great! I posted this because I’m considering buying a D that needs a paint job and needing to factor this cost into the equation, interesting discussion, also sounds like l will need to book it in well in advance, most I think l could do in current situation is remove the panels. A lot to think about,thanks all....
Good luck with your project. Remember the first rule of restoration.
What ever your budget, triple it and ad GST.