I was wondering how some of you that have your HHR's two toned have it done. Is the door jam painted? Were the windows, door handles and all the molding removed? Also did you paint the underside of the hood to match.

To me two toning is a huge job (attention to detail) along with the complete clearing of the entire car after painting the top. Then you have the depth issues with re-clearing so even tho the bumpers have nothing to do with two toning they will need to be re-cleared also to achieve the same depth.

So the work involved doing it correctly is no different than doing a complete color change.

Anyone have pic's of their door jams?

 

It all comes down to how much you want to spend really. I just had the top of mine painted and a pinstripe placed on the separation. My painter wrapped the color around the edge of the doors and about 1/4 of an inch on the inside edge. You see just a taste of color on the inside of the doors and hood. It was enough to hide any hint of white from the outside when everything is closed up. When it is open it looks fine in my opinion.

I have seen a two tone that wrapped the color completely around and into the door panels like a full on show car but you are talking way more disassembly and cost involved.

As far as disassembly, the grill, mirrors, beauty bar and window moulding were removed. Somehow he was able to leave the rear window in place and it looks great. The antenna was masked off. My painter has been in business for at least 30 years and he kinows a few tricks.

So in the end I had it painted, the rear wiper shaved and the hand painted pinstipes done for 1k out the door and I think it was a pretty good deal. I am sure a panel is easier than a sedan, so a sedan will surely be more cash. The color made a huge difference though and I really like how it turned out.

I say go for it!

 

Car looks great, it's just a huge job and all to everything. I think some on here wouldn't like the stripe at the paint line. 1k is a great price for what you got. I was looking into what it would cost me to do it with jamming and clearing the entire car and I'm into 1500 in materials and that doesn't include pulling the glass out. This job at a body shop would probably be 5 or 6k.

 

actually got a quote today for doing the two tone on mine. this includes door jambs, rear jamb, removal and replacement of glass and reclearing. using dupont chromapremier...1-1.5 weeks and does not include my "ding" on the liftgate. grand total of $2K

if i just did the job with no jambs i am looking at $1K

 

this is an I-Car certified shop, do collision, but majority of their work is custom paintjobs. 37 years in the same spot and done business with them before.

 

Probably doesn't include disassembly of entire car and and re-clear entire car no lines. What about the underside of the hood that should be painted also. That is the correct way.

 

Doing a real two tone make-over is a big job to get every detail and lines. Most will probably settle for the line and stripe on the paint line, which really isn't a bad thing but just a short-cut to save money.

 

this is reclearing the entire car. bumpers seperate from car, all lights pulled, trim, mirrors, etc... not underhood though. i have owned 10 cars in my day and had 5 of those done at this shop. the competition is also pretty stiff down here compared to other cities. south texas is much like socal as far as custom shops, fab, paint, stereo work go. we definitley have a bigger car culture and our prices are low.

i have seen some cats up north pay $15K for a complete paint job on a tahoe. in texas $15K will get you a 20 color house of kolor job with a flawless finish.

 

im going to two- tone mine in pearl white on top and leave the factory imperial blue on the bottom, i will have it jammed and recleared. in my opinion the only way to do it is the right way, even though its a daily driver car.

 

I prefer to do the things the right way, but somethings to consider is how long are you going to keep the car? daily driver should I spend the extra money? I don't think either way is bad just doing everything is a big job.