Respray lacquer or wrap

[TEO]

Just bought an 03 MK1 Yaris in preparation for niece's 17th.
I can sort the mechanicals, doesn't need much, especially on this little sewing machine.
I've never really been into spraying vehicles, done a bit with a rattle can, just small bits. On this car though lots of the lacquer is damaged & peeling off. It looks as though it was a really thick coat originally & I'm not sure if I'd ever succeed in building it up to look even passable.
Is it worth trying to repair or should I look into wrap?
Anybody have any experience of wrapping panels, this'd be my first go with wrapping. Would it show steps in the paintwork beneath? Is it expensive?
Pics to follow

 

[angellonewolf]

an 03 car cant have been much to buy ? and a car wrap prob going to cost 700 ?

id polish it and let them drive it

 

[ajlelectronics]

Wrapping will require the same level of preparation as lacquer, unless you want it to look like a fat bird's rear in Lycra.

 

[Blobber]

Let her drive it for a bit and see how many more bumps and scratches it gets

 

[tom2207]

radiator roller and a tin of Turnol .,,, if its a first car it will gather dents , old fashioned flat colors are back in style ,,, or just spray it in primer and tell folk its the Nargo Grey version ,,,, its really trendy these days , gloss primer ...

 

[jmp49]

I have been grappling with multiple cars with this issue lately & feel your pain. I went with paint and lacquer for them but at various stages I considered a wrap because I've wrapped motorbike stuff doing plastic panels on a enduro which tend to flex with abuse and crack paint, but the cost of enough materials to do a whole car isnt cheap (it was more than the paint & lacquer, because I already had the equipment mostly) and you need good prep as mentioned, plus I think it isnt as long lasting as paint. And personally, I wouldnt want a car with lots of double curvature to be my first experiment in a whole body wrap because corners and some aspects can be awkward to get looking really nice.
On the flip side, painting a whole car because the paint got sunbleached where the lacquer was missing for years when you get into it is no little job either.

The enduro still looks ok, but it has some scratches from brush and the only remedy is to redo the affected bits of the bodyset, no touching in with a paint pen and hiding it for a few years, and you dont end up with a half litre in a can to do remedial work/touch ups later on. I'm also really careful about fuel spillages round it, because never quite certain it would be as robust in this area as paint/lacquer...

 

[TEO]

Some useful stuff there thank you

 

[TEO]

an 03 car cant have been much to buy ? and a car wrap prob going to cost 700 ?

id polish it and let them drive it

Yup, basically scrap value even though it's got a few months MOT. The drivers door catch had failed & the door wouldn't open - I quite enjoyed the Dukes of Hazard style entry
No service history but sounds fine & hasn't been washed in 10yrs.... possibly longer, all for £250
£20 at the scrappy & hey presto door now works. Needs tyres but decent part worns will be fine, oil & filters... Found bnib brake pads in the wheel well. What else is there? As has been pointed out, it might well pick up the odd scuff & even if it goes pop on day 2 there's no real harm done for 350 all in.

 

[jsf55]

2 maroon pads, cheap roll of masking tape, couple of newspapers, couple of rollers in a tray with handle and a litre of epoxy and hardner and a tinter of a similar colour too save doing the shuts ?

 

[TEO]

2 maroon pads, cheap roll of masking tape, couple of newspapers, couple of rollers in a tray with handle and a litre of epoxy and hardner and a tinter of a similar colour too save doing the shuts ?

All that sounds good but also sounds as though it comes from plenty of experience, I'm well up for having a go but need to understand exactly what you've said first.
- Maroon pads? Is that like 3m woven pads or v fine abranet?
What rollers? 4" gloss?
Which epoxy, fast or slow cure?
Shuts? I'm guessing softening hard edges between good lacquer & bars paint
Which paper, sun or mirror?

Alternatively, is there a YouTube vid you'd recommend? Any other resources?
Thanks

 

[pint]

bedliner

 

[TEO]

bedliner

Please, this is a family show

 

[TEO]

bedliner

Clever though, v clever

 

[Wozzaaah]

Bear in mind that wrapping is classed as a modification, therefore it will affect the insurance. A 17 year old may not even be able to get cover on a wrapped car.

 

[jsf55]

Maroon pads from any retailer, 3M are superior, decent 4" gloss rollers or they go too mush, epoxy i always go for medium cure and roll on a warm dry day, doors shuts boot shuts, the bits that never get looked at !

 

[steveo3002]

i see wraps mentioned often like its cheap n easy way to make bodywork look new , done well its going to take as much money and hassle as a blow over , i guess you dont get the smells to upset people like painting though

all the flakey bits and chips show through it same as painting over it

 

[TEO]

Maroon pads from any retailer, 3M are superior, decent 4" gloss rollers or they go too mush, epoxy i always go for medium cure and roll on a warm dry day, doors shuts boot shuts, the bits that never get looked at !

Sorry to come back on this again, few more details needed if that's ok?
Do you use the maroons on a polisher type machine or purely manual?
Can you point me to an epoxy please?
This is really helpful, cheers

 

[TEO]

Thanks all for the input, I'm definitely persuaded against wrapping.
I'll clean & polish to see how it comes up then go from there.

 

[steveo3002]

you can use the maroon scotch pads by hand with some degreaser or warm soapy water , if you have a d.a machine you can get round ones /cut circles and use them on that too , they key without taking much paint off , you will need abrasives to feather any flakey edges

 

[steveo3002]

this brush painted job looks nice enough , plenty good enough for a old banger