Opinions on whether to repaint or buy a new trunk lid

[Lawineer]

Okay, so my car is absolutely fine, lol.

My car does have a wing, which I generally like a lot personally. I think it's awesome and hooligan and perfectly viper. I like enough that I bought the Xtreme Supercars deck lid brace/support, coil overs to handle the downforce, splitter to balance it, etc.

I just don't care to take the car out to professional stuff with the wing because, meh. Conservative profession, and while a viper is about as subtle as cocaine induced gorilla doing fine watch repair, there's something about the wing that I don't like for that reason. Plus, without a wing (and the 2 vent hood) it's looks pretty slick and clean and less, I dont know how to say this, but maybe immature? (Plus, I'm certain it's faster without a wing- this thing needs rear downforce like it needs a gooseneck receiver)

Obviously, if I remove it, I have holes in the trunk deck.
I can have the whole trunk deck repainted. I have a great body shop that does great work. My concern is that someone who knows what they are doing can spot a repainted body panel, eve if it's the best paint job in the world. I dont want to add a "story" to an otherwise "no stories" car. I know I would walk away from a car that had the trunk lid repainted if I was looking for/paying "no accidents" prices- I dont care what the documentation is.

or I can buy another deck lid for about $1500-2000 and have that repainted. Then I keep the factory lid with the wing when/if I want to sell it. But that in and of itself seems weird: here is the factory trunk too!


Or just leave it :lol2:

[AAA96]

I totally understand where you are coming from. I love the wing as well but for the same reasons you mentioned, is why I don’t have it. I think you would be fine having the current lid repaired and repainted. Doubt you’re going to sell the car haha. If you want closer pictures of mine with the TA lip on it to convince you, let me know. I think it’s the perfect “mature” touch.

[Lawineer]

That's honestly what I was thinking- carbon TA spoiler.
I actually found a black lid for $1600 ask. Would need to add stripes, but man that makes me want to go that route...

[TA Two Oh]

$1600 solves your dilemma for a few pennies. I'd snap it up. Even if you never use it, you're buying an asset that you can always sell later.

[texasram]

The 3rd paragraph lmao. You've already added a story to the car by drilling/bracing etc. Un-doing what you have done would be the conclusion to the story. Anyway though, the TA spoiler would be a nice direction to go. Pretty sure you can recoup some from the removed wing.

[Lawineer]

The 3rd paragraph lmao. You've already added a story to the car by drilling/bracing etc. Un-doing what you have done would be the conclusion to the story. Anyway though, the TA spoiler would be a nice direction to go. Pretty sure you can recoup some from the removed wing.

I'm not sure a wing is a "story." I don't think anyone is going to see the wing and think "oh man, this car seems fishy."

I'd just keep the original deck and wing for resale. Lol, there's no point in buying a new deck, then selling the old deck and the wing (or just the wing- lol, now it's just a deck with holes in it and no wing)


Also it was on the car when I got it.

[serpent]

You selling the car already after getting DSC suspension? LOL

[Lawineer]

You selling the car already after getting DSC suspension? LOL

No, but I probably will at some point (which is why I kept the stock suspension and sway bars)

[Gen5snake]

bring it to this guy...he'll fix the whole car in under 5 minutes....with or without the music I'm sure.


https://youtu.be/bnPBFoTO6YU

[RT SERPENT]

IMHO, in years too come, I don't think a painted panel is going to matter much, unless it's a an absolute unicorn car. And even then... its all about the quality of the work.
Quite frankly, a numbers matching Superbird, Daytona, or Hemi Cuda with 100,000 miles are still considered great buys and highly sought after,
even if they are/were wrecks, as long as they are restored well.

To me a viper that has had some panels repainted to keep things pristine isn't a bad story car. It's how the owner cared and maintained it.
Just my thoughts.

[Arizona Vipers]

I'd just repaint the one you have, take pics of the holes so you can show any future buyer that it wasn't wrecked etc.
Buying on, shipping it, repainting it is a lot of money and then you still have a stories car...
BTW at one point when I was building my 2013 it had the TA aero while I was waiting for my wing and the ACR diffuser and NOTHING looks better than that setup. See attached pics

48470

48471

[Lawineer]

I'd just repaint the one you have, take pics of the holes so you can show any future buyer that it wasn't wrecked etc.
Buying on, shipping it, repainting it is a lot of money and then you still have a stories car...
BTW at one point when I was building my 2013 it had the TA aero while I was waiting for my wing and the ACR diffuser and NOTHING looks better than that setup. See attached pics

48470

48471

Wow. That looks awesome. Absolutely right- that's the best setup. TA spoiler and ACR diffuser!

I'm going to put the diffuser on first with the wing and see what happens. But yeah, looks like another $5k upgrade lol.

[AAA96]

Dammit, why did you have to post those pictures. Now I want to get the diffuser. Hahaha

[Gen5snake]

What Arizona said. Take pictures...then there are no stories. You can also refer them to this post.

[Lawineer]

Well, I'm glad to see no on thinks it's a big deal.

My other fear is that it doesn't match well. I want to have an "edit undo" option. $1500 for the deck lid might be worth the anxiety. Plus I can ship it directly to the shop an hour aware and next time I see him, just grab it from him.

I was leaning heavily towards new lid. Now I'm on the fence. Eek.



This damn wing cost me a fortune and now I'm removing it!!
Splitter to balance it
And I've obviously got to get a diffuser at that point
Tractive Coilovers to handle the downforce
TA sway bars to go with the coilovers
and now I'm going to end up paying another $4-5k to remove it and replace it with a lip spoiler :lol2:

[ViperNC]

Your reasoning is exactly why I went with the TA 1 setup. I had a crack at an ACRE for a ridiculous deal, but just didn't want the big hero racer boy wing for a car that would mainly be on the street. If I was tracking more, then I would absolutely go with the big wing 10 times out of 10. I think if it were me I'd search for a rear deck lid so I had the option to go back and forth depending on usage. Its just money......

[Arizona Vipers]

Well, I'm glad to see no on thinks it's a big deal.

My other fear is that it doesn't match well. I want to have an "edit undo" option. $1500 for the deck lid might be worth the anxiety. Plus I can ship it directly to the shop an hour aware and next time I see him, just grab it from him.

I was leaning heavily towards new lid. Now I'm on the fence. Eek.



This damn wing cost me a fortune and now I'm removing it!!
Splitter to balance it
And I've obviously got to get a diffuser at that point
Tractive Coilovers to handle the downforce
TA sway bars to go with the coilovers
and now I'm going to end up paying another $4-5k to remove it and replace it with a lip spoiler :lol2:

Just leave it! It looks fine, who cares what anyone else thinks!
What spring rates did you go with on the Tractives? If you take the aero off you're gonna have to switch springs too lol.

[Lawineer]

Matched ACR spring rates. And prob a good point lol.

[BJG32]

Extremely cheap to patch and repaint. Didn’t i see you were potentially selling? Maybe a Facebook post?

[outnumbered]

If you change deck lids, have you thought about how or who will reattach to the glass? I want to replace my glass and I haven't run across anyone that has done that. I would like to know how difficult it is.

[Lawineer]

Extremely cheap to patch and repaint. Didn’t i see you were potentially selling? Maybe a Facebook post?
No, but the future. I've seen what even the slightest "story" does to resale on BaT.



If you change deck lids, have you thought about how or who will reattach to the glass? I want to replace my glass and I haven't run across anyone that has done that. I would like to know how difficult it is.

I think you basically need to get it with glass in there. I'm sure it's possible, but it's probably pretty darn hard given it's a carbon deck lid. Honestly, I'd consider getting a lexan sheet made if you can't find glass.

[Lawineer]

Randomly found a deck lid on ebay for $2800 WITH the carbon spoiler so that made that decision easy. Just going to get it sprayed to match (it's already black, just needs stripes). Excited about the change. TA brakes after this.
If I dont like it, I can sell the deck lid and the spoiler separately and make up what I paid for them and the paint work- or close to (probably about $4k all in, with shipping, crate, paint, etc).

[Mikey]

Looks like I'm ordering a diffuser

[Gen5snake]

Randomly found a deck lid on ebay for $2800 WITH the carbon spoiler so that made that decision easy. Just going to get it sprayed to match (it's already black, just needs stripes). Excited about the change. TA brakes after this.
If I dont like it, I can sell the deck lid and the spoiler separately and make up what I paid for them and the paint work- or close to (probably about $4k all in, with shipping, crate, paint, etc).

That's the perfect solution, you will like it. Post pics when you get it done.

[Lawineer]

Looks like I'm ordering a diffuser

Zero chance you'll regret it. It transforms the whole car.