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Repainting 95 AA Yellow to Arles Blue

5K views 36 replies 19 participants last post by  mikeslandrover 
#1 ·
Anyone have any comments or suggestions? How much is involved? How difficult is it to remove everything that needs to be primed and painted? Should I strip the yellow or paint over it?

Thanks in advance.
Hunter
 
#4 · (Edited)
Sell it. someone out there will pay very good money for an AA yellow LR. You've really got to strip the vehicle down completely to get the paint in all the right places. Think of the work just to get all the components off of the bulkhead (fire wall)and then sanding all those nooks and cranies.
It's got to be done to look right. just doing the outside won't cut it - you'll knock huge amounts off of it's value.
That's why my **** brown 90 is still that colour :)
 

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#5 ·
You should remove every panel and the associated trim to paint it completely - in and out. As to the bulkhead, well, that's your option but you'll be sick of seeing that yellow if you don't do that as well.

Now, to remove the old paint you can do it yourself easily, cost effectively (?) and completely using baking soda. Just blast it off. It leaves the metal perfect for primer. Forget sanding!

As long as you're removing so much you may as well take everything off and treat the frame.

In the end I would just sell it and buy another, although finding a blue one is tough. Did they make blue in 94-95???
 
#8 ·
Why would you want to paint over a yellow one? I really wanted a AA 90 when I was shopping a few years ago but didn't want to pay what seemed to be a premium on them. I got Conniston Green instead which I almost painted G4 orange last year but to do it right took way to much work. If you're going to do it right you have to strip the truck all the way down to the bulkhead, don't just paint it over.
 
#11 ·
First thanks for all the feedback. I am repainting because I could not find a 95 Arles Blue ST. I believe in 95 they where only available as a SW. 97's - all auto. I thought about buying a blue SW but was advised not to try and convert it to a ST.....hard to find all the hardware to do it etc. So I bought the yellow with plans to paint it as an easier solution? Looks like I will be doing the complete disassembly. Arthur can you tell me more about the baking soda thing? I will post my progress on this project. Thanks again
 
#12 ·
It's your truck and you can do whatever you want but I STRONGLY recommend against this. The Yellow is the most saught after model and the most valuable by at least a few G's. Sell it, and buy a white one that is 5 grand cheaper, take the 5 grand and get the best paint job on earth. It is truely a shame to ruin a yellow D. Its just my opinion, but in my mind, its like buying a Ferrari and putting a bumper on it from a 1978 Pacer wagon.
 
#13 ·
Buckon37s said:
It's your truck and you can do whatever you want but I STRONGLY recommend against this. The Yellow is the most saught after model and the most valuable by at least a few G's. Sell it, and buy a white one that is 5 grand cheaper, take the 5 grand and get the best paint job on earth. It is truely a shame to ruin a yellow D. Its just my opinion, but in my mind, its like buying a Ferrari and putting a bumper on it from a 1978 Pacer wagon.
Heck, I'll trade you my green one to do with as you please. Please don't destroy a yellow. :( There is a premium for yellow and Buck's suggestion is right on. That said, it's your truck to do with as you please. Good luck with the strip down if you do go that route.
 
#14 ·
Why not Buy an Arles 94 and change the tail lights and marker lights like those on a 95? Other then the year thats the only real differance between the 2 as long as it has the the R380 tranns. I would think this would be by far the easiest way to go as it is very little work to change out the marker lights.
 
#15 ·
Mike Hippert said:
Why not Buy an Arles 94 and change the tail lights and marker lights like those on a 95? Other then the year thats the only real differance between the 2 as long as it has the the R380 tranns. I would think this would be by far the easiest way to go as it is very little work to change out the marker lights.
The 95 has land rover printed on the steering wheel, door pockets, front door mechanism to keep the doors open, and rear tail gate lock. But wait, how would you know this stuff. Do you even know what door is :grin
 
#17 · (Edited)
Adding to the chorus, changing colors is a bad idea. With any car, you can run into issues with things like insurance and title. With a cult vehicle having only 7000 (or so) counterparts in the US, you will take a hit in value. Given you already own the most valuable color, you will be diminishing value twofold.

From reading your posts, you will a) be doing a lot of this yourself and b) are not very experienced in this particular area. I can never understand why some sink $25k plus in a specialty vehicle and then shade-tree mechanic the thing. Who is really going to want to buy this later if you need to sell one day? Taking apart a vehicle should only be done with care, caution, and necessity, as they frequently never go back together the same when lacking real experience and using back yard tools and techniques. This may be fine for an old beater 4x4, but more than likely you will seriously regret it on your Defender.

You're not the same guy who wanted to drop in a chevy v-6 in place of the rover v-8 are you?
 
#18 ·
I painted my truck and I had to break it down into slamm pieces. Unless you are planning an entire rebuild don't do it. IT will then turn into a can of worms and you will also have to replace tons of other crap. Like everyone elso says, look for a different color. Actually what is the difference. Its a D. they are all cool.
 
#19 ·
Hunter, in the end it is YOUR truck and you can do whatever you wish with it. That being said, I wouldn't go for a new paint job. To do the job right would involve stripping the truck down to the frame. Perhaps a good option if you were doing a frame up restoration, but not a good option if you want to have it available to drive and enjoy. In the end it is your decision how much mony or time you are willing to invest.

I agree with Randy. Its a D. they are all cool.

Yousef: Is the front door mechanism meant to keep the door open? I thought that it was designed to shatter knee-caps and crush shins. Apparently mine is malfunctioning:)
 
#20 · (Edited)
Hey Hunter,

I thought the last time we talked you had decided against painting it. It would be a shame to paint a truck that nice. But like we've discussed before it's your Defender :) . Hey, just so everybody else knows what we're talking about, this is Hunter's D-90....

http://www.defendersource.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4071


Will H.
'97 D-90 #1008
 
#21 ·
Who gives a **** about how valuable Yellow defenders are? it's your truck man, paint it whatever the hell color you want. If you paint your yellow one blue, you've just made the yellow ones that are left that more "valuable"...I'm surprised all the guys with yellow 90's aren't writing in begging you to paint it blue. paint it, man.

my truck's white. maybe I'll paint mine. Maybe black...or willow green. maybe matte black...how cool would that be? matte black with gloss black flames. maybe I'll rhino line the whole thing. or spray paint it camo. The point is, it's my truck, and it's bad ass...no matter what color it is. I don't worry about selling it. i rarely wash it, and i don't spend a lot of time worrying about it getting scratched either. i do whatever the hell i want with my truck and you should too.

when did we as a group get so caught up in how much our trucks are worth and what the resale value is gonna be like? Here's a news flash, in a couple of years it'll be legal to start importing 90's over here from the UK and when that happens the bottoms going to fall out of the US D-90 "market" anyway. (if there's a market left)

Hell, maybe I'll start importing BOAT LOADS of 90's...I'll paint them ALL AA Yellow and sell them on e-bay. I wonder what that would do to the AA Yellow market over here?
 
#22 · (Edited)
roverboy said:
Here's a news flash, in a couple of years it'll be legal to start importing 90's over here from the UK and when that happens the bottoms going to fall out of the US D-90 "market" anyway. (if there's a market left)?

Yeah, right. RHD, 1983 D90's (not Defenders) with a ton of good 'ol English rust will surely eliminate interest in 1994-97 NAS Defenders. Give me a break! Oh, and good luck finding 1983 LHD ones as good as the NAS.

There will always be a strong market for the NAS because they're the best versions available. If you want your Tdi you can convert yours now. So, there you go - the best of either world.
 
#23 ·
roverboy said:
Who gives a **** about how valuable Yellow defenders are? it's your truck man, paint it whatever the hell color you want. If you paint your yellow one blue, you've just made the yellow ones that are left that more "valuable"...I'm surprised all the guys with yellow 90's aren't writing in begging you to paint it blue. paint it, man.

my truck's white. maybe I'll paint mine. Maybe black...or willow green. maybe matte black...how cool would that be? matte black with gloss black flames. maybe I'll rhino line the whole thing. or spray paint it camo. The point is, it's my truck, and it's bad ass...no matter what color it is. I don't worry about selling it. i rarely wash it, and i don't spend a lot of time worrying about it getting scratched either. i do whatever the hell i want with my truck and you should too.

when did we as a group get so caught up in how much our trucks are worth and what the resale value is gonna be like? Here's a news flash, in a couple of years it'll be legal to start importing 90's over here from the UK and when that happens the bottoms going to fall out of the US D-90 "market" anyway. (if there's a market left)

Hell, maybe I'll start importing BOAT LOADS of 90's...I'll paint them ALL AA Yellow and sell them on e-bay. I wonder what that would do to the AA Yellow market over here?

Bro,

Go back and read the posts again, we don't care about the resale value, we only advised him it would be smarter to start with a less valuable truck, like say a WHITE one, and then paint it. Just trying to save him some money. Everything else you said was mostly accurate. carry on.
 
#24 ·
a WHITE one...LOL...good one David. I wonder how many guys with white 90's will get offended by that comment? By the way, what color is your truck? yellow? :lol

seriously, if you were dying to have a different color 90 than what you currently own, would you really consider selling your truck and trying to find another vehicle that is the color you want? who would do that knowing that a lot of what's for sale out there is high mileage and may have potentially been abused offroad or neglected on road?...with any used car, and especially with these trucks, you don't really know what you're gonna get...BUT...if you already own a truck that you've had for some time...you've driven it, you've maintained it and know the service history, you have the receipts, maybe you even named it...(I knoiw alot of us do) etc...I think that means a helluva lot. More than what Kelley Blue Book says in my opinion...

Let's say you've had an Austrailian Shepard for several years and one day you decide that you want a dog with short hair...do you sell the family dog and go adopt a Lab mix from the shelter? Hell no you don't... you take your dog to the groomers, you get him a hair cut, then take him home and play fetch. I don't know what the hell that means, but I think there's a moral in there someplace.

All I'm saying is there's nothing wrong with a guy wanting to paint his f***ing truck...After all, some people think cucumbers taste better pickled... huh? what? Our man Hunter likes pickles. More power to him.

And for the record, i happen to love my WHITE truck...even though it's actually brown most of the time...
:evilfinge
 
#25 · (Edited)
Just pointing out the pitfalls - the fact that to do a good job, and that AA yellow 90 looks like a good 'un will take a lot of time and effort so that it doesn't look like some back street blow over job. :)

Follow-up Post:

mikeslandrover said:
Sell it. someone out there will pay very good money for an AA yellow LR. You've really got to strip the vehicle down completely to get the paint in all the right places. Think of the work just to get all the components off of the bulkhead (fire wall)and then sanding all those nooks and cranies.
It's got to be done to look right. just doing the outside won't cut it - you'll knock huge amounts off of it's value.
That's why my **** brown 90 is still that colour :)

Not that my truck has much value to start with :grin
and there are some rust issues in the bulkhead top rail that are next on the list to be sorted.
Camo...... now theres an idea :grin
 
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