Paint Removal

You have a great looking car. Unfortunately, there is no way to preserve the original paint. If you really want to make the car look as original as possible, strip the paint to bare metal, make any necessary repairs, and repaint. This can be a big job, and unless you have the experience and equipment to do it properly, it's worth paying a professional to do. But there are things you can do yourself to save money. If you want to make the result as original as possible, there is going to be a lot of disassembly required. You'll need to remove all the trim, bumpers, door handles, lock cylinders, door cards, weatherstripping, grille, taillights, etc. Some guys also remove all the glass. Take photos of everything, mark, bag and tag everything so you know where it goes in 6 months. After the car has been re-sprayed, it's a perfect time to replace all the weatherstripping too. A good friend of mine recently did just what I described, on a fairly rough 67 Nova. He did all the mechanical stuff himself, and paid a shop to do the bodywork and painting. After stripping and removing all the old filler out of the car, he discovered some quarter panel and floor pan rust that needed repairing, which cost extra. The finished paint job looks excellent, and there is very little plastic filler in the car. His bill was just under 13 grand, the shop had his car for not quite 4 months.