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*I have a 2002 garage kept civic. Paint fade should not be an issue.
*I am planning on getting full body kit, hood, fenders. Not yet sure how much of it will be fiberglass.
*I was planning on getting everything --installing it on my car --letting it take shape for two weeks, take it all off truck it to the body shop have them shoot it, and back on it goes.
*Is this the best way to go, or should i put in on leave it on and take it to the shop to paint it while on the car.
*I know I can just have them do everything, but if its not to difficult, I could at least install it, to save some cash. PLus I don't have to worry about them overspraying my exhaust, rims, whatever.
*And how much of a price difference would there be from just spraying the pieces, on the car and spraying, or having them do it all. What kind of price difference, how much cash could i save?
*Was wondering the best way to have this done, expert advice and experience appreciated.


Also I live in south jersey area, anyone with suggestions on a great body shop i can go to.

 
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I would said take everything to the shop and let them do it. It will cost more, but the result would be much better. and if somthing goes wrong make them fix it.

 
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I would test fit first,then take parts off then get all the parts painted fully,then put them on the car.*I don't fell it's done right unless I do it myself.

 
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I feel the same way, I can do alot of things myself and i like doing them. However I do not know the first thing about painting and would never attempt to paint something myself.

I plan on altering the fenders a bit to accommodate some side markers, but that should be easy mod.

 
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On my last car i took the body kit separately to the shop to have it painted. I was in the same situation with a garage kept car and no fading. Some shops will not paint it unless it is installed but the one I went to that painted it off of the car mismatched the tint so at certain angles the color did not match. I would personally take your car with the kit installed just so they can personally match the color.

 
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like make sure the kit fits, then take the kit off and have a body shop paint and install it.

 
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I agree have them paint and also have the car so they can compare before you have to tell them they screwed up...

 
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have it on the car... so they can blend the paint and the CC so it all matches.. and the tint that snoopbag is referin to is the flex additive that is put on bumpers. thats hard to impossible to get rid of . all honda's are like that... thats why i dont have a kit... im waiting and gonna paint the whole car, but still might come out with that color changing at different angles... its due to the fact that the bumpers and skirts are not metal. and they flex so the paint has to flex since the bumpers bend from heat, cold, fenderbenders. whatever. thats why fiberglass sucks cause it dont bend when it gets hit, it just cracks and wrinkles. i say have them put it on cause if its fiberglass, the shop is gonna have to sand it to get it to fit right. almost happens with every fiberglass kit. they never fit perfect and require alot of prep work for proper fit. urathane is supposed to fit with OEM specs so there should be no problems there .jus my 2 cents.

 
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I used to work at a body shop and what I really think you should do is this... test fit the kit... then take it him tell them to paint it and put it on... do this because they will have to match it closer if you do it that way... and they may even have to blend into your panels to get it to match... which if you are paying for it out of your pocket they wont supplement it which means they wont charge you more... and then after they paint it the can put it on and that way if it gets scratched at all they will fix it there on the spot... also when you pick up the car look over it really well and check lots of stuff or go to a shop that has a life time warranty type deal...

 
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another thing the actual reason that paint will not match is because of a few reasons... one would be the metalics in the paint... depending on how they lay out could change the color and how it looks at different angles... also the brand of paint that the shop uses... its impossible to get a dead on match so what they are going to do is blend it and create a illusion and if you want a really clean looking paint job I would recommend doing that if not... you get what you pay for... but the thing is blending something like a body kit will have you painting almost the whole car... and some shops might not do that...

 
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You really should figure out who's going to paint it and get with them about this. If you have a urethane kit and they plan on baking it dry, you are going to want to have it painted on the car, because it may lose shape when heated up. Otherwise I would test fit it and have it painted off the car. Unless you are paying a grip, most body shops are not going to blend a kit into the body. Whatever you do DO NOT put the unpainted kit on your car and drive it around for a few weeks, the only thing you are going to do is **** your painter off because he had a pretty smooth surface to prep and paint and now he's got bugs, tar and other road grime to get off of the kit first. Not to mention that if its a urethane kit, you are going to have to scrape off the foam tape (which is not fun) and replace it. As for it matching, it really depends on the color really, honda's silver is almost impossible to match because of the metallics and pearls in it. The painters technique and spray pattern can even change the color. Hell, if you have a silver civic, i'd bet $50 that your stock bumpers and mirrors are not a perfect match to your car. Now a red civic, on the other hand, is easy to match, there are no pearls, no metallics, so there are less things to match.

 
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my buddy painted my kaminari kit, I have a satin silver 2001 coupe. We took the paint code from the door sill to Sanel's (automotive retailer like VIP), they mixed up the paint perfect!!!!
I helped him do all the prep (urethane). We primed it with flexible primer, added flex agent to the paint, then cleared it! all this while it was off the car. I'm very happy with the work he did, he doesn't even do this for a living, just for kicks! All I had to pay for was the materials.

 
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I would say have it on the car. That way you can tell if they didn't get the paint right and show them. also you run no risk scrashing the paint, unlike if you have it off and painted you have to intall it and you run a chance of scraching the paint.

 
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I work at a body shop. The best way to do it is have them put the body kit on, then tell them to paint it. You dont want to risk the shop scratching the paint of your new kit while they are trying to put it on. TRUST ME. Find a good shop that knows how to fit a kit on the car and get them to paint it. Its less hassle and less time.

 
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I paint cars for a living and I have some advise for anyone who is going to have a kit painted. Test fit the kit and take it to your shop of choice. Let them tint match your car and spray the kit OFF the car for best results.
Let me know if I can answer anymore questions