Appearance & Detailing - Peeling clear coat, rust spots, and more

Ok, so I got my T/A about 3 weeks ago and I'm making a project out of her. The more I do, the more of a perfectionist I'm becoming. It's all black, and I did the VHT Niteshades mod yesterday, came out alright.


So, onto the paint, I've got about 2 or 3 deep circular scratches with rust inside of them on the hood, and a few other major deformations in the clear coat, almost look like someone tried to boil the paint. I've got a deep scratch on both doors, and other imperfections all over the car, including about a 1/4 of the front bumper's clear coat peeled. None of this can be fully repaired in my garage. So my question to y'all is, would you go ahead and get a full paint job, or live with it? Of course money is the only limiting factor.

I don't have any pics because I'm not with the car atm, but it's easily noticable if you're within 10 feet of the car, and the clear coat problem could be seen across town lol.


So, if you had this car, bone stock besides a lid and a cat back, would you halt all other mods to save up for the big bite on the paint job, or as long as it's loud and fast, would you be happy?

Wait until you have the manority of the big mods done...IE hood/spoiler etc... And any engine work. I can't tell you how many times I have seen people get a paint job, then want a different hood or they pull the engine right afterwards...

Those can only be answerered by you. Me. I could not live with it so I would paint it with the quickness.

wait till u at least have all yhe body mods done that ur going to want..like unvmyss said..youll save money in the long run....or just Satin Black that biatch i.e hot rod flatz would look sick

Yea I'm thinking about going with the WS.6 hood, and saving for paint, just wanted to get some outside opinions. I doubt I'll be pulling the motor in the near future unless she dies on me..

I voted to paint it because I'm more into looking good at the car shows than going to the track. I take pride in how my car looks and I would want to preserve it. The longer you wait the worse the clearcoat will flake off.

finish all the mechanical stuff first and then paint the whole car when its 100% done.

also paint the whole car and not just one spot at a time or one panel. in the long run it will be cheaper.

Don't feel bad. I have a blue car, a bunch of scuffs and scratches, and a black hood. I want paint, but I want it to go faster more. So boltons/ cam comes first

We always put looks last, it can look like crap but if it hauls the mail we love it, and its even better when you roast a guy in a new vette in you fd up bucket

You can hear thats a nice car, or that thing is a freaking beast! You pick

My two cents again: If the car has rust spots that is an issue that just be considered with some urgency.

rust needs to be taken care of asap. regardless of how fast your car might be, you don't want pieces of your car flying off when your doing a top speed run.

But in the end it all comes down to whether you want to look good or be fast. Your choice.

My two cents again: If the car has rust spots that is an issue that just be considered with some urgency.

I do agree with this, but I wouldn't put a show car finish... As whitenrude said, flat blacking for now is a good idea!

I voted paint. I'm a big fan of having a nice paint job. Sounds like your car is in really rough shape. Paint will add some value back to it. Sadly, performance parts don't hold their value well. Normally I might say go fast parts first and then some normal appearance stuff, but paint is anything but normal. That's almost like a must, rather than a want.

I voted paint too