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Just turned my Celica in - 6G Celicas Forums

Topic #69299 26 posts Started by 6G96GT
So my celica is white now and I just turned it in to receive a fresh new paint job. I chose hot rod black which is a flat black but with protectant. I'm having the front ss-III splitters installed as sell and replacing the pass-side fender. It'll be about a week's wait so I post up fresh pics when I get the car back.

This is what it is now before the paint:


I'll wait to see finished pictures, but flat black I feel should be reserved for hot rods and exotics.

1991 MR2 - T-tops - Crimson Red - Gen3 3SGTE - Lots of moneyI'm not really an asshole, but I play one on the internet.**** Photobucket
^^^ celica is both that in my heart

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I have a strange mad max taste in cars. I love the mechanical parts of it more than the actual looks. Though I love the celica look too. I didn't want to outshine my flat black rims either and I remember seeing a picture of a sporty car that had a flat type black look to it and I thought it was pretty sick!
I'm curious to see how this ill turn out. I like white Celicas quite a bit, and white or silver cars with flat black accents. I'm curious to see how the entire car will look in flat black.

"Employ your time in improving yourself by other men's writings, so that you shall gain easily what others labored hard for." -Socrates. Even Socrates told us touse the search button!2006 Aston Martin V8 Vantage.1998 Celica GT-BEAMSSwapped.2022 4Runner TRD Off Road Prenium.2021 GMC Sierra AT4.
Ok, so I talked with a few good buds about changing the color of my car and they all said it would be better to leave it the factory color than changing it drastically. They mentioned a lot about quality and getting everything right. Why would that be, I am a little concerned now about my choice especially going from white to black.

This post has been edited by 6G96GT: Sep 5, 2009 - 10:40 PM
I can't think of any "quality" reasons that would affect it, as long as you are using a good body shop. The only thing I am thinking of that would matter is how much of the car actually needs to be painted when changing to a completely different color. Obviously there is the entire exterior that needs to be painted, but on top of that they have to remove the interior to paint the door jambs, paint where the hatch closes, and everything under the hood needs to be painted as well. With any quality body shop, none of that is an issue. It's just a matter of cost.

"Employ your time in improving yourself by other men's writings, so that you shall gain easily what others labored hard for." -Socrates. Even Socrates told us touse the search button!2006 Aston Martin V8 Vantage.1998 Celica GT-BEAMSSwapped.2022 4Runner TRD Off Road Prenium.2021 GMC Sierra AT4.
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QUOTE (6G96GT @ Sep 5, 2009 - 10:39 PM) *
>Ok, so I talked with a few good buds about changing the color of my car and they all said it would be better to leave it the factory color than changing it drastically. They mentioned a lot about quality and getting everything right. Why would that be, I am a little concerned now about my choice especially going from white to black.

unless your paying 3500-5k to paint EVERYTHING (all the jambs and everything) dont change colors that drasticly.
black exterior, with white jams will look like ass everytime you open your doors, or hatch, or hood.
and a hack job on the jams looks just as bad IMO.

Former Team 5SFTE pro member ;)13.6@108MPH, 5SFTE Powered
I'm going to a local body shop called Henry's Auto Body and it has a pretty good reputation. For a complete color change they are charging $2200 with minor body work like a couple dents here and there and my pass-side door bottom corner needs rust repair. Plus they are fitting and painting my front splitters. After the last post I read, that's no where near 3500-5K. I am thinking I might just stay white after all which is disappointing because I love black cars, just don't have more than 2500 bucks.

This post has been edited by 6G96GT: Sep 6, 2009 - 8:48 AM
If you are going to stay white, I wouldn't have them paint the car at all. That's like giving up your money to get what you already have. I would have them fix the rust and do the splitters, but I wouldn't have them touch the rest of the car. There are things you can do to bring the life back to the rest of the paint if you aren't satisfied with it.

"Employ your time in improving yourself by other men's writings, so that you shall gain easily what others labored hard for." -Socrates. Even Socrates told us touse the search button!2006 Aston Martin V8 Vantage.1998 Celica GT-BEAMSSwapped.2022 4Runner TRD Off Road Prenium.2021 GMC Sierra AT4.
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QUOTE (6G96GT @ Sep 6, 2009 - 9:47 AM) *
>I'm going to a local body shop called Henry's Auto Body and it has a pretty good reputation. For a complete color change they are charging $2200 with minor body work like a couple dents here and there and my pass-side door bottom corner needs rust repair. Plus they are fitting and painting my front splitters. After the last post I read, that's no where near 3500-5K. I am thinking I might just stay white after all which is disappointing because I love black cars, just don't have more than 2500 bucks.


If by complete color change, you mean that they'll do everything mentioned above (jambs, engine bay), then you might as well change color. I agree with Richie, paying that much to stay the same is a little pointless.

'97 ST\ Eibach \ KYB \ Kenwood \ Alpine \ Cusco \ OEM+[sold 10/18]'93 MX-5LE
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QUOTE (6G96GT @ Sep 6, 2009 - 8:47 AM) *
>I'm going to a local body shop called Henry's Auto Body and it has a pretty good reputation. For a complete color change they are charging $2200 with minor body work like a couple dents here and there and my pass-side door bottom corner needs rust repair. Plus they are fitting and painting my front splitters. After the last post I read, that's no where near 3500-5K. I am thinking I might just stay white after all which is disappointing because I love black cars, just don't have more than 2500 bucks.

for the 2200, are the going to remove the doors, hatch and hood, and jam paint everything?
if not, dont do it.
i agree with the guys above, unless the cars paint is really bad everywhere on the car, white is super easy to match once the orginal paint is brought back to life.

Former Team 5SFTE pro member ;)13.6@108MPH, 5SFTE Powered
Removal of what you listed isn't in the estimate as a labor cost so probably not. I guess that makes my decision to go original paint. Thanks for the help guys! I'll post up pics when I get the car back. Should look new!
Just came back from checking on my Celica. It looks great but I won't be able to pick it up until tomorrow afternoon. I had it painted the original color but with more gloss. The splitters are on as well and all dents and scratches are totally gone. The doors look great (no more rust) and the new fender looks very nice. The detail pin stripe is gone too (finally). I'll post up pics tomorrow!

Here's my Celica with fresh paint, new fender, and front splitters. Plus, my brother's GTS and notice my pass-side front rim is a stock replacement because I ruined my black painted one several weeks ago in a nasty curb. Will paint it thought to match the other three soon enough! I tried to get different times of sun reflection in the pics. Oh yeah, no more pin stripes anymore either.




This post has been edited by 6G96GT: Sep 9, 2009 - 5:08 PM
That's definitely white...get JDM tails!

This post has been edited by SwissFerdi: Sep 9, 2009 - 5:06 PM

'97 ST\ Eibach \ KYB \ Kenwood \ Alpine \ Cusco \ OEM+[sold 10/18]'93 MX-5LE
My brother told me the same thing. I can't find them...ok I found them, those would look nice!!

This post has been edited by 6G96GT: Sep 9, 2009 - 5:17 PM
super white....it almost hurts to look at it.
The pics don't do it justice, you should see it in the sun's full glare and I haven't even washed it or buffed it yet. This comes straight from the shop and still has a light amount of dust on it.
Looking good man. x2 on the JDM tails.

"Employ your time in improving yourself by other men's writings, so that you shall gain easily what others labored hard for." -Socrates. Even Socrates told us touse the search button!2006 Aston Martin V8 Vantage.1998 Celica GT-BEAMSSwapped.2022 4Runner TRD Off Road Prenium.2021 GMC Sierra AT4.
that looks really tight man! i've been thinking of changing my color, and im more than 90% sure i'll go white. im jealous you get to drive such a nice celica!

A work in (extremely slow) progress
Thanks guys, I love this car and I'm pretty much all done with it now. I just need to do those JDM tails, rear splitters, and webcams!
I was going to go black but after reading what some of you guys wrote in the replies, I decided to stick with the white and I am happy I did. It really would've been disappointing to me if it was painted black but little things here and there were done correctly or at all.
Quick question...should I get my celica buffed or not? Some say yes and others say no. Why? Also, now that it has been painted, what can I do to correctly maintain it's cleanliness? Is wax a good idea or no? Thanks!
A wax more or less just brings out shine...for protection, use a sealant.

'97 ST\ Eibach \ KYB \ Kenwood \ Alpine \ Cusco \ OEM+[sold 10/18]'93 MX-5LE
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QUOTE (SwissFerdi @ Sep 14, 2009 - 5:13 PM) *
>A wax more or less just brings out shine...for protection, use a sealant.


like what?