let's talk paint jobs

[TomFromStLouis]

I have a handful of spots with bubbling paint, so some metal repair is called for at the door sills and at one spot over the rear wheel. While I am at it I am tempted to deal with the chipped areas where the bonnet and boot lid both flex, so this might evolve into a complete repaint. However, the overall paint job is roughly 10 years old and still in decent shape; I do not feel (hope I am right about this) that I need to remove all the panels and start from scratch painting the scuttle or inside faces. I will keep the same Colorado Red color (give or take), so what shortcuts are available to me? Can tape and masking keep me from disassembling all the chrome and rubber bits? Can this be done successfully or will it be painfully second class looking? I expect removing the bonnet and boot lid is no problem. I think the existing paint is an older style (no clear coat), so would I have to stay with that kind of product or can I have a clear coat added after the color coat?

 

[HealeyRick]

From your description it sounds like a good body shop could do the metal repair and blend in the paint so it wouldn't be noticeable. The fact that it's a non-metallic solid color will make this easier. This would be the most inexpensive way to go. Once you start doing a full repaint, it's time to consider disassembling everything to get a first-class job.

 

[tahoe healey]

I had great success using a Hot Rod shop for a full paint job. Shops that do collision work put insurance work first to make money and therefore take a lot longer to do the job. Hot Rod shops do what YOU request as they are not responsible to what the insurance company's money dictates, no body filler and taken down to bare metal. I took off all chrome and windscreen to save them time and me money. They assigned my car a bin for anything they took off the car. They emailed me progress photo every few days so I knew the car wasn't just sitting. I was very impressed. We even played "lets make a deal" and they sent some things to the chromer at their wholesale price. I've heard horror stories about cars being at body shops for a year or more.
Consider talking to a Hot Rod shop to do the small stuff you described.