Im repainting my white maxima black and i have a few questions:
Should i sand the paint down to the metal when i prime? thats what i did for the hood. Ive only started the hood so far.
- How do i remove the hood?? i painted the top but couldnt get it off to paint the bottom.
- I would like to prime it myself then take it in to be painted if its cheaper. If is is cheaper is this a good idea? would it be better to spend the extra money and have them do it?
- Does the paint contain lead? Slightly concerned because of all the dust
-Not just the hood, but how do i remove all of the peices to prime them?
Hope some of my questions can be answered.

 

Get it professionally done. Going from white to black is a major task. You'll save yourself the possible frustration and time. Yes it will cost more, but you'll be satisfied with it. And, you'll get it the way you want it with, hopefully, some sort of guarantee on the work.

Just my suggestion.
David

 

Why are you going black. Its over played. Stick with White man....

But yeah aside from that, like the poster above me said, going from white to black is a tough move. Make sure you know what your getting yourself into...

 

If you don't know how to remove the hood, then you sound seriously underabled to do a job like this.
to do a good color change, you really need to gut the car of everything.

 

Very true.Well, only if you want it to look good.
Black car with white door jambs, engine bay and trunk is going to be

 

Why black? I owned up to 2 black cars at the same time...and they are just a nightmare to maintain. Oddly the white hasn't been so difficult for me compared to black.

S

 

It's not THAT bad bro.lol.Why was it a nightmare.?

 

Its funny because I always stayed away from white cars because I knew they got dirty fast but I found out that black is just as bad as white. Swirl marks FTMFL!!!

 

lol, it was for me, cars swirled so easy, everytime the washed the car it would slowly get worst looking until the next polish and wax cycle.

S

 

Yeah, I swear everyone thinks that white is hard to maintain, I didn't have any problems with it. I know the darker colors are harder, esp in winter.

 

yea ur right, i would like to keep the hood black though. always a sucker for a black hood, black lip kit, and black spoiler. i think your right tho, ill stay white for now at least.

 

Both white and black is hard to maintain. White gets dirty eassily, and when its a really bright day out, people and you might start gettin' headakes.

And black is hard to maintain, because its black, a lil scratch or smidge WILL SHOW. I suggest you go with a color rather than black or white.

Also, if you dont know how to take off a hood of a car, then you should get a PRO to paint your car.

 

let me rephrase that, i know how, i just dont have a tool that can loosen the bolt. i broke my damn socket wrench tryin to loosen it.

 

why? it would look like your car then...lol jk

If you keep your black car maintained it is soooo worth it tho!

then buy a new socket wrench...whats so hard about that? (this time one that doesnt suck)

 

You broke your socket removing the bolt for you hood? Damn, must be torqued down good. get a brake bar and use your socket on it. Keep it square on the hood so you dont round it off. Should come off that way, use anti-seize when re-installing.

I dont know why people are bashing the Black Maxima so much. I own both, had the black first and its beautiful. When its glossy, clean, waxed, plus AE headlights, clears, and a drop its just sexy! On the other hand when I got my white maxima I started to appreciate it more, and when the clears and AE light got oin it, I'm starting to see why many love the white so much.

Either way if you want to get it black then do it, but get it professionally done, hopefully they wont charge you more for the door jams. Engine bay..mehh, unless your doing car shows, or it really bothers you, it will be fine. Especially if you dont spend much time under the hood anyway.

 

i have soooooo many flaws on my car. scratches here & there, swirls over there, chips over yonder, etc. black is undoubtably the hardest color to maintain.

IMO, silver is the perfect color...

 

actually now that the car is getting repainted, he can easily stay on top of keeping the car looking fresh (what ever color). Once its okay to wash, pressure wash, wax, etc. then he just needs to wash weekly, wax, minor detailing work and she'll keep shinning for a long time. maybe twice a year clay bar.

 

My car is painted white, so are its door jambs and engine bay.
The hood and trunk are carbon fiber.
Wouldnt look like mine.

 

CF>Painting random pieces black

 

I would have to say that sand pebble beige is the easiest color to maintain. Since it's already the color of dirt, dirt doesn't show up easily. You can't see swirls either.

 

I'm torn between staying with the white, or trying to get a color change to that sexy sexy gunmetal grey color like Dave H.

I understand color changes are very expensive yes? are we talking 1800? 2500?

 

It cost me 2k to paint my vehicle, and its just a different shade of white with a bit more pearl. I also didnt get the hood nor trunk painted so it would have cost a bit more if I had.

 

Bingo! I at first didn't like the color of my car, but due to the fact that dirt and swirl marks never show up on the paint, I have to say this is the easiest color to keep looking clean of all the cars I have owned so far.

 

also something else to think about.


Which are the safest cars? Drivers of silver-colored cars, according to the report, have a 50% less chance of being involved in an injury-causing accident than do drivers of white cars! While the results are surprising, more studies need to be performed before we all rush out and repaint or replace our vehicles.

The scientists did not explain why there was such a disparity in accident rates. Perhaps lighter colored cars are more visible, or perhaps the people who choose such cars are a self-selecting group of safe drivers.

How popular are the various car colors? According to DuPont Automotive's 2003 Color Popularity Report, the top three colors (silver, white and black) account for more than 50% of new cars manufactured for North America. Here is a chart highlighting the top ten most popular car colors:
Color Percentage of New Cars
Silver 20.2% popularity of new cars painted silver
White 18.4% popularity of new cars painted white
Black 11.6% popularity of new cars painted black
Med/Dark Gray 11.5% popularity of new cars painted medium or dark gray
Light Brown 8.8% popularity of new cars painted light brown
Med/Dark Blue 8.5% popularity of new cars painted medium or dark blue
Medium Red 6.9% popularity of new cars painted medium red
Med/Dark Green 5.3% popularity of new cars painted medium or dark green
Bright Red 3.8% popularity of new cars painted bright red
Dark Red 0.9% popularity of new cars painted dark red
Source: DuPont Automotive

 

very true. i have to agree it is very easy to maintain. but i am seriously sick of pebble beigh. i have always wanted a black car but i dont want to keep up on it.

either which way i could go either way.(which i hopefully will be doing soon)

 

i think im changing my mind. Im gonna go white with black cf parts.

 

hey wats up with the car anyways dude? are u working on it?

 

I've got pebble beige metallic and it's true. Dirt is invisible and so are swirl marks.

It is the easiest to maintain.

 

white also reflects sunlight, and black absorbs, which is important in a state like FL where the bare sun is beating down on your car all day...

theres something like a 20 degree difference between white and black body panels sitting in the same sun for the same amount of time (6 hours i think it was).




but yea to the OP, i really really wouldnt bother painting your car unless you are willing to spend UPWARDS of 2k to do it....and especially if you are changing colors. on cars like ours, worth 8k at most, its just not worth it.

one of the first things i wanted to do after i got my max last year was paint it grey - until i did some research and found out what was involved in a "professional" paint job (removing front and rear windows, removing doors, removing engine...basically a complete teardown of your car)

the other side of the coin is some quickjob shop like MAACO, which just uses paper and tape to cover up areas before spraying it with a gun. i have NEVER seen a QUALITY paintjob come out of one of those places - there is always overspray on the weatherstripping/emblems/door jambs/etc.
its **** work, and once they do it, its done. you cant argue and try to not pay because they did a halfass job.

 

I once had a close friend change a car from yellow to black. He went to one of the chain painting place like macco or something like that. He paid top dollar for the best most expensive job they had to offer. 4 months later someone egged his car and it cracked right through the paint and it revealed that the car hadnt even been primed they just painted right over the yellow with the black and slowly over the course of the next year every time he washed the car more and more places the yellow would start to peek through. on top of that even though the car had never been in an accident no one would believe him because of the obvious repaint and he had a horrible time trying to sell because it wasnt the original color. the white looks just as hot as the black on a max anyway, I have black and I would have bought a white one just as fast. painting a car is extremely hard to make nice, even for professionals. its difficult to make every layer sit perfectly flat and smooth and even harder to do a thick clear coat. I have been a professional custom wood finisher for 10yrs and even I wouldnt take on a car paint.

 

Thats freakishly true, no studies needed! Here is a real life story:

My first maxima i had for barely over a year and some guy ran into me while i was turning on a green arrow! I was like the 3rd car turning too. I was hit and he was going 30-40mph. The super white paint must have distracted him or something It was just washed a few days ago prior to the accident. So i bought a silver maxima because my white one was totalled and am doing good 3+ years! Not even a dent.

Of course some people argue that silver is harder to see in the dark and fog.

But I like the look of silver. It hides that dust that collects on your car and still retains a shine. Water spotting is hard to see. White was not to bad to maintain either. But silver is easier in my opinion.

Maxima #1 of mine:

Maxima #2 of mine:

 

stick with the white.. i was about to repaint my car myself with a differen't color than ruby pearl but realizing how much work is involved and having 4 doors to repaint is just way too difficult.. i just sanded it down till it was smooth. there is no need to go down to bare metal.. thats just way too much sanding!! keep the white and add in a little cf here and there but don't copy Flava.. good luck with your decision

 

Defiantly Stay white. At night white takes the show and looks soo good. Can't beat a white car at night :O

 

I thought for a proper even layered paint job you had to sand down to the metal I have black now and I want repaint the car black with little glitters in the paint like the bmw 5 series have. I want a good job I assume down to the metal is the way to go. Someone correct me if Im wrong.

 

ha ha its called black metallic or charcoal black, every manufacture has a different name for it.. i once thought the same thing but i asked the people where i buy my auto paint from and they told me that you don't have to go down to the bare metal.. just as long as you ust the correct base coat that allows the paint to adhear to the cars body i would be fine.. so i have painted 5 cars like this and haven't had a problem yet but thats just me

 

So your saying they can paint over the existing paint? How can they do that and get an even coat?

 

Thats why you block the car. That gives a a solid even base.

 

Lost met there man, what you mean block the car?