Repaint or let it unmolested?

[SCD]

I have a1987 GN with 67,000 miles. I bought it in 1988.

It is unmolested other than the fuel injectors and computer chip.

Everything is original and perfect condition. It saw the rain 3 times in its life, it is garage kept.

The paint is very shiny but is has small cracks all over the hood roof and trunk. It look great form 10 feet.

It was never raced and always pampered.

Do you think a new paint job will make it more valuable?

Is it worth putting $10-12 K into it?

Thanks

Steve

 

[~JM~]

Only original once.

Maybe a high end detail shop could bring it around.

 

[Mr. Michael]

Do you have an exit strategy with it? Plans to sell? You have had it since nearly new. Do what pleases you.

I have no problem painting it. My 55k mile two owner 1987 has been painted & its minty.

 

[TTA308]

It will not be cost effective to paint it in regards to what it would sell for, might even bring more as is...

 

[Sagecoach]

Those cracks in the paint are lacquer checking from the paint not expanding and contracting with temperature fluctuations ,.I owned a music store for 23 years and it was common on vintage guitars. I think that 1987 was the last year that Buick used lacquer. According to my research, you can't buff them out .
How bad is the paint on the rest of the car? I had the same problem on my 87 gn hood and trunk.. It had t-tops so the roof was good . I had the trunk repainted with clear coat/base coat years ago. Think it was about $300 back then. I had the hood repainted about a year ago for $450. Don't know what top would cost. You couldn't tell the difference on the newly painted panels and the original paint on my car.
My point/suggestion is that if the rest of the paint is good (as mine was) you could probably get the 3 items painted for around 2000-$2500, and avoid the 12 grand for painting the whole car.

 

[Chuck Leeper]

A repaint done right, is no longer $10K.
The entire car has to be stripped to bare metal to get rid of the old primer.
Body working materials have skyrocketed nearly double, in the last 2 yrs.

 

[HotAirWH1]

My take, if your going to keep the car until you die, paint it. If your going to sell the car down the road, leave it.

 

[SCD]

i thank the fourm for the guidence and info.
I decided to polish the car withTurtle wax Ceramic Acrylic Black Polish
it hid the the checks ,they were filled with a white residue and it masked them.
i am satisfied with the looks now and just going to add it to my estate.
i am pushing 70 and don't know how many turbo boost and 2nd gear fish tails i can stand any more.
thanks
steve

 

[granitestategn]

I bought mine new in 87 and the paint on my car is checked really bad. I have been looking at a repaint but as Chuck said, the cost to do it is much higher today. My car rolled over 100k and it was a daily driver for 5 years and the paint shows it. I went to the Detroit Autorama and there were 5 or 6 GN's in the show and all but one was a repaint. The original one still looked pretty good if you didn't stick your nose right up to it. I appreciate that the owner left the original paint on it and got it looking pretty damn good. My car has a couple of creases in the rocker and lower door panel from a mishap 20+ years ago. My plan is to find a good body man to either do PDR to it, if possible. If not, pull the dent out and repaint with the chip guard. Some of my wheel well trim needs to be touched up and the rockers should be touched up. It got sandblasted driving it through the first winter I owned it up in northern NY. I hated to drive it in the winter but my car payments wouldn't allow me to buy a winter beater until the second year I owned it. I also purchased the tools an materials to try to do a minor paint restoration this year. Time will tell how it turns out.

 

[Mr.Spool]

I have a1987 GN with 67,000 miles. I bought it in 1988.

It is unmolested other than the fuel injectors and computer chip.

Everything is original and perfect condition. It saw the rain 3 times in its life, it is garage kept.

The paint is very shiny but is has small cracks all over the hood roof and trunk. It look great form 10 feet.

It was never raced and always pampered.

Do you think a new paint job will make it more valuable?

Is it worth putting $10-12 K into it?

Thanks

Steve

Ahh yes
It is very valuable either way
It's up to you to do a paint job.
If you plan on selling it see what you get without repainting it.

 

[Chuck Leeper]

"Is it worth putting $10-12 K into it?"
Considering the cracks aka, "chicken tracks", are into the primer, to do it correctly, the car will have to be stripped to bare metal. Failed lacquer paint is not "skin deep".
Sadly, at today's labor and materials costs $10K is an "iffy" price.
Example: Even here in "Hicksville, USA, a shop that would do it RIGHT is 75-100/hr.
As for the value... Many were repainted by the dealers for various reasons including contaminated colors.

 

[RobertJ]

I have those same marks on my original paint. I was too cheap to get the car repainted decades ago and I still am. It always seemed like every other one I'd seen had been repainted.

 

[erikelvis]

Original is nice but I’m all about that fresh paint.

 

[john saleeby]

You'll spend $20K for a repaint done right.

 

[Chuck Leeper]

You'll spend $20K for a repaint done right.

For sure.
Even down here in the boonies a good job, AFTER the body work, priming, blocking is done, is at least $10K.