To paint, or not repaint, that is the question. (Classic race car dilemma.)

The way she sits now.  For those that don't know, it's a 90 Celica GTS that was driven in the 1990 Toyota Pro / Celebrity Grand Prix of Long Beach by Dwight Yoakam.  He didn't crash it, I ended up buying it last year.

Someone did a bit of work to replace the interior that had been stripped out (ie bought a whole car for the interior).  I just had some brake work done last month.  New tires.  And just replaced the shoulder belts that were from 1997, maybe eventually I'll add the lap belts.

But as you can see, the paint has seen better days.  I DO NOT care about the white, it's not terrible and I like showing a few signs of use.  But the color graphics of 1990 are pretty faded, especially the hood.  I've been planning to leave it alone and say it has a patina.  But part of me wants the graphics back.

A different car, but the paint is in much better shape.

What would you do?  Leave it "original", or repaint the graphics to original colors?

Jerry said:

The way she sits now.  For those that don't know, it's a 90 Celica GTS that was driven in the 1990 Toyota Pro / Celebrity Grand Prix of Long Beach by Dwight Yoakam.  He didn't crash it, I ended up buying it last year.

Someone did a bit of work to replace the interior that had been stripped out (ie bought a whole car for the interior).  I just had some brake work done last month.  New tires.  And just replaced the shoulder belts that were from 1997, maybe eventually I'll add the lap belts.

But as you can see, the paint has seen better days.  I DO NOT care about the white, it's not terrible and I like showing a few signs of use.  But the color graphics of 1990 are pretty faded, especially the hood.  I've been planning to leave it alone and say it has a patina.  But part of me wants the graphics back.

A different car, but the paint is in much better shape.

What would you do?  Leave it "original", or repaint the graphics to original colors?

I'd cover it in some good wax and put on some vinyl to recreate the graphics.

In reply to Jerry :

If the patina was caused by on track racing, keeping it would mean something.

If the patina was cause by years and years of abusive storage, that means something else.

(remember, I have posted before that I don't get the allure of patina when it's the result of really poor storage as opposed to the vehicle being used.   Abuse isn't the same as using.)

My vote is leave the car.

My Datsun is scruffy as it gets; yet I've had more than one person say they really like the patina. My car has been raced every year since 1989.

If you are someone who can't bear to show up at the track with a car that is anything less than immaculate then by all means clean it up.

wvumtnbkr said:

I'd cover it in some good wax and put on some vinyl to recreate the graphics.

I tend to agree with wrapping rather than repainting.  One thing to be careful of, though, is that removing said wrap in the future might pull off the old sponsor stickers with it.  I dunno if those are important to you or not, but just something to keep in mind.

I'd leave it alone, but maybe do a wrap on the hood if you're looking to restore the colors there. Patina on race cars is cool. 

I have no intention of touching the white, repaint or wrap.  It's actually in decent shape, especially for 35 years of likely sitting in the sun (it lived in CA for a very long time from what I've found online from old sale posts).

I'm pretty sure the fade is from said CA sun exposure, not racing.  But I know it was raced after the big one, from an old for-sale ad.  Probably why the interior was gutted.

If the fade was like the sides, I wouldn't even consider it.  But that hood is almost non-existent.  I don;t plan to race it, besides an AX or two, maybe a Mid-OH trip someday for fun.  But it's definitely (to me) a "collector's item" and I plan to take it to various C&C's and probably a show or two.

I might think about the vinyl idea, might be tricky with the shadow effect underneath.  Wonder how close I could match colors, they aren't primary colors.

I'm neutral. I don't think it really matters either way, do whatever makes you happy. Something that helps me is imagining being at your next event with it repainted and not repainted, and ignoring any kind of provenance/value, go with whichever makes you feel better.

I'm a little less neutral about that fender though. That I think would be worth finding a good PDR tech to sort it out. 

I've got a buddy that has a sign shop and does race car wraps. With the computer graphics, he can match almost anything. He also cut to shape so you don't have to wrap the whole hood. Not saying to use him, because logistics would be crazy. A good local sign shop that does wraps, especially race car wraps, should be able to replicate what was originally on the car. 

In reply to drock25too :

That is actually a good idea.  I hadn't considered a car wrap place only doing the graphic bits.

It looks pretty good in the photos, but that doesn't necessarily translate to how it looks in person.  The one thing I'd add is having Dwight Yoakum's name on your car makes it cooler than the Donny Osmond car.  

Interesting to hear that the TRD triangles are paint.  I would assumed they were vinyl and as such, I think the should be freshened with vinyl.  I understand that you may loose the shadowing affect via vinyl but I do not think that matters.  Sadly, you might loose concourse judging point due to the vinyl vs paint but I you find you want paint in the future, the vinyl will be removable to facilitate paint.  

With fresh vinyl, you might find that the sponsor stickers look haggered.  If so, have them replicated in custom reproduction stickers.
Are the current sponsor logos paint or sticker?      

This does seem like a fun car for shows.  You mention Mid-Ohio.  This car would be a huge hit at Mid-Ohio for Vintage racing weekend.  They hold a formal Car Corral type show but the best part of the weekend is just random, really cool cars parked in general parking.  Find a nice end of row spot in the infield and a small crowd will gather.   

In reply to John Welsh :

The sponsor decals are decals.  I think they might have been replaced at some point.  The "Dwight Yoakum" looks very new.

Now to look into the vintage weekend at Mid Ohio.

How about buying another hood, and painting it to look like the original did on day one. Keep the original hood in the garage for safekeeping. 

I'd leave it as it's a cool piece of automotive history and only original once. 

In reply to jimbob_racing :

I saw an All-Trac hood for sale last night and was tempted for a few minutes.  But not original.

In reply to Jerry :

June 20-22 Mid Ohio Vintage

$40 entry per day ($50 at the gate if you don't want to over commit.)   If like past years, mid day there is a free touring lap session.  That means access to drive your own car on the track (at slow to moderate speeds) in a long chain, parade style.  Do it. 

In reply to John Welsh :

Birthday month and drive the Celica on a racetrack (I don't care what speed, it's running BF Goodrich TAs)?  Sounds like a plan.

It'll look better with the triangles repainted. That's not patina and the triangles aren't turning into something cool, they're simply disappearing. I wouldn't use vinyl, it ages much more poorly than paint does.

Got a quote from a local wrap place.  Just under $1300 for some color shapes seems a bit high, but I don't know what full wraps cost to compare?  I'll try to find a local paint shop for a comparison.

Another place just said ballpark about $1800.  And I was mistaken, these are indeed vinyl.

My friend owns this place. He does graphics on a lot of race cars and business vehicles and random vinyl. He can make that from a picture and one reference dimension. I suspect far far less than $1,300. 
https://m.facebook.com/100028632709119/

He did that 41 for me with high quality vinyl for $4 a sticker. 

Could a good airbrush guy paint the triangles to have them blend with the aging of the white paint?

I agree with the patina from use vs patina from neglect thought - I have two race cars (miata and stock car) - and I have the same dilemma, since both are looking a little shabby these days.

For the miata, the wear and and shabbiness doesn't bother me much. The scratches and dents and dust and paint marks got there from lots of track time and autocross wins. The car has a history and I like being reminded of it when I see it. It has lots of charm, to me at least.

The stock car will be rewrapped and the interior repainted if I ever get the time to turn my attention to aethstetic upgrades. All of its wear is from sitting uncovered in a factory parking lot for several years, and it just looks run down. There's no extra charm, just signs of neglect. It doesn't endear itself to me any more because of it.

So, they're vinyl.  I think I'd start with a probably less than $200 worth of vinyl and I'd forgo the shadowing effect...just vinyl.  

Looking at the pics, it seems that, for example, the red triangle on the side is the same shape as the vinyl on the hood.  That should be easily verified.  If that's the case, working off the hood (flat surface) with some magnets, I would start with tracing paper and build a template that replicates the shape of each triangle.  Orange and yellow might be the same shape.  Red is clearly different.  

One sample of Vinyl manufacturer