Trim delete/change color?

[rjd2]

Hi all-so I've got a few requests for advice, as I wanted to get some 2nd opinions on what I'm going to be doing on a '76 2002. I am theoretically next in line at my body and paint shop, and there's 2 main decisions I need to make. Any thoughts or opinions would be welcome. this will be a bare metal job.

 

1: side trim delete. I notice some folks restore these cars and kill off the lower side trim. I definitely want to keep the upper trim, as I love the way it looks. But I see pics of finished cars with the lower side trim deleted and I think I like how it looks. the rear "quarters" have already had the holes filled, and I've got new front fenders on, which don't have the holes drilled yet, so it'd just be sorting the door holes. There's gonna be welding involved, so I doubt it's gonna be too tough to just kill off those holes in the doors. 

 

2: paint color. the factory paint color is the light blue (alpine blue?). Engine runs fine, so I wasn't planning on pulling it and doing a FULL paint of the engine bay. I don't mind the alpine blue, i like it, but the colorado orange just....i just love it for some reason. I keep thinking about how classic that color is on this car. i'm leaning towards changing the color. end of the day, i'll be into the car for around 12-13k, cause the body definitely needs a good amount of work... probably right around what the car is gonna be worth. thoughts on color change? thanks for any thoughts!

[xr4tic]

I like the lower trim delete, and you can't go wrong with orange.  But really, it's up to you what you want to do.

 

If you do decide to change the color, you can always paint the engine bay black later.  I'll most likely paint my engine bay black over the winter, then take care of the body work afterwards.

 

Here's my Inka orange with lower trim delete (badly done by the PO unfortunately)

 

['76mintgrün'02]

My car lives in a poly-tarp car-port and I have noticed that if a door is opened against a support pole, the lower molding hits first.

For that reason, I am a fan of that trim strip.  It would probably look funny, having it on just the doors though.  Haha.

 

(That trim is sort of like having big bumpers... they actually protect the car a little bit, compared to the prettier little ones).

 

The color is up to you, of course.  I personally like Fjord Blue.  Does the pic of your engine bay show what looks like white (Chamonix) in some areas?  I am not sure why the default engine bay color is always black.  I guess that is neutral, if not making it body color.  It makes for sort of a black-hole up there, imho.  Is painting it black any easier than painting it Colorado?

[xr4tic]

6 minutes ago, '76mintgrun'02 said:

I am not sure why the default engine bay color is always black.  I guess that is neutral, if not making it body color.  It makes for sort of a black-hole up there, imho.  Is painting it black any easier than painting it Colorado?

 

Black goes with anything I guess.  As for ease of paint, I would say spray-bombing an engine bay black is far easier to do yourself than trying to color match it to the body, unless you have the proper paint gun and equipment.

 

The best would be to drop the engine now and have everything prepped/painted one color, but if you're doing it in two steps, black works.

[AceAndrew]

My two cents, take it as you will.  

 

 

Ditch the lower trim, it doesn't look good.  If you are worried about dings in the garage, get some magnetic "Door Shox" or something.

 

If you are doing a bare metal respray, remove the engine and do the color change.  If you aren't "going all the way" and keeping the engine in, don't do the color change (don't even bother on the bare metal bit either).  2002's look best in bright colors, not boring colors.

[Russell74Fjord]

if you are spending that sort of $$$, and you want to change the color, you should go all in, remove engine, basically everything, and remove all color from the exterior, at least, so  little paint chips in the future (its going to happen unfortunately, less the car never leaves the garage), the old color doesn't show through. Little specks of blues showing through an orange paint job,, no. Blue trunk and engine bay with orange car, no.

 

I've done two color changes, both Malaga to Fjord, and the second one, I took the car down to factory primer, and in spots bare metal on the outside, and very pleased that I choose to do so. The trunk, door jams, engine bay were all shot along with the car, (did not take all the color off those "interior" parts). Even then, there are traces of the old color that are present through the engine bay, that I can find, most folks don't see them.

 

If you take the lower trim off, don't lose the crease line below, and along the front fender and rear quarter, But I'd leave the trim on, (I'm more of a purist).

[vacca rabite]

If you do change color, and resale is important, just be aware that resale will take a hit on color change cars.  I don't personally care, but a lot of people do.

 

Zach

[xr4tic]

Judging by the pics of the engine bay, even if you're not doing a color change, it would still be worth dropping the engine and painting the engine bay, I see a lot of rust and different colors in there already.

[TobyB]

Since opinions are like Miatas, you CAN do a reasonable job of making the engine bay look pretty good without pulling the engine.

And it's possible to do with a paint gun and professional material, OR with good- quality bomb cans and careful prep.

 

However, having color changed EVERY car I've ever painted, I'm always happier when I just yard it ALL out, shoot it, and then...

replace almost everything because with nice shiny paint, putting scruffy parts back on just never makes sense.

As to color, paint it what you like, buy a sticker that matches, and keep it pretty.  THAT does the most for resale, if you even care about that sort of thing...

 

So if budget is a concern, watch your scope creep!  It'll creep far higher than you ever dreamed!

 

heh

t

 

[Mark92131]

You should e-mail the archive and find out its original color, looks like it could be Chamonix or Sahara.  Motor out, glass out, trim off, trunk respray of its original color will yield the best result at resale unless you take it down to bare metal and fully change the color to something popular (like Colorado for Roundies).  Knee trim delete looks great if done correctly, but my eye is always pulled to the waist trim on these cars.  It just doesn't look right to me when the waist trim is deleted.

 

IMHO,

 

Mark92131

[chargin]

My Inka stayed Inka with a Knee Trim delete as well as a Euro rear bumper and no front bumper with Airdam added, you can see the Bodyshop project here: https://www.facebook.com/pg/SoCal-76-980955955286136/photos/?tab=album&album_id=1166856753362721

 

 

 

All in All MANY holes welded closed 

 

 

Here is the Before:

 

 

Edited May 9, 2017 by chargin

[jrhone]

My car came with all the trim deleted. I am going to put the chrome upper trim back on. I like the knee trim delete. Color. It depends what color it is now. Yes I too am a huge fan of Colorado and if it were anything other than the blues I would consider changing. I just happen to also like the blues available in 76 both the Fjord and the Pastelblau.  You said alpine blue? Not familiar with that one.  Could be my eyes but I don't see any blue in the engine bay. Was blue the original color or just the last color it was painted?  

 

Here re is my Fjord Blue 76. 

 

Since you you are having body work done are you doing bumper swaps?  The smaller "Euro" bumper conversion leaves holes that need to be filled. Also I removed the side reflectors for a cleaner look from the front fenders and the rear quarter panels. 

 

[NYNick]

My car came black....it was originally Polaris. I pulled everything off the car, including the engine, and had it repainted Polaris. While we were at it I got rid of the front fender reflectors and the rear quarter lights. Also had the knee trim holes closed up. I contemplated a TOTAL trim delete, but opted to keep the rain gutter trim, belt trim and rocker panel trim. I'll probably do the 3M trim for the first two.

 

ROI is on returning the car back to original but if you're not into it for that much and you don't care about ROI, paint it any color that suits your fancy. It's your car. Forget the purists. It's a mass produced car, not a piece of art.

Edited May 9, 2017 by NYNick

[chargin]

1 hour ago, NYNick said:

 

My car came black....it was originally Polaris. I pulled everything off the car, including the engine, and had it repainted Polaris. While we were at it I got rid of the front fender reflectors and the rear quarter lights. Also had the knee trim holes closed up. I contemplated a TOTAL trim delete, but opted to keep the rain gutter trim, belt trim and rocker panel trim. I'll probably do the 3M trim for the first two.

 

 

Love your new look, I completely agree with keeping the Waist and rain Gutter trim. Before paint I also ran the 3M, I have seen my friend Andy use a better trim product that is closer to the OEM chrome dimensions 

 

My 3M pre-repaint  look:

 

[02Les]

5 hours ago, chargin said:

My Inka stayed Inka with a Knee Trim delete as well as a Euro rear bumper and no front bumper

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That's an odd "Euro" rear bumper. No licence plate lights in the bumper and (what looks like) front bumper over-riders!