Bodywork Supplies in Canada: OEM, UAP/NAPA, Local, Warehouse Distributor, Amazon

I'm planning on doing some basic bodywork myself before turning it over to a professional for either paint or wrap. Looking for advice from fellow Canadians on the best place to source various auto body supplies for a MKIV build, such as:

• 3M Marine High Strength Repair Filler (HSRF)
• Evercoat Rage Gold Body Filler
• Sanding blocks, discs
• Degreasers / cleaners
• *LizardSkin thermal and sound coatings by Mascoat
• Other?

Do most people get these products directly from the manufacturer (OEM)? Auto chains like UAP/NAPA or PartSource? A local retailer? A warehouse distributor like PPG? Even Amazon? *Nisku Industrial Coatings is supposedly the only supplier for Lizardskin by Mascoat; are there other choices? I'm in the Edmonton area and I don't mind paying a little extra to buy local.


Thanks,

-Derek

Well you've already said that you're going use the services of a pro for painting so why not work with him as far as what is needed.

Many shops wont spray over other people's work, best to get that sorted out up front.

Your painter may have personal preferences as to what you use. Work it so you either buy through him or directly from his supplier.

I spent the winter doing exactly what your about to start.....some products are harder to get in Canada than others. If your in the north end of Edmonton, check at Lordco. ( St. Albert trail just south of 137 Ave). They carry most of everything you will need at decent prices.

Thanks for the tip. I'll see how far I can get on doing at least some of the rough work myself. If I knew for certain I would be going for traditional paint, I would learn more towards having a shop do all the prep. But, I may end-up going for a wrap for the first 5 years or so.

Some specialty paint shops quoted me upwards of (gulp) $20k for a complete paint job. WTF! Might be cheaper for me to drive the car to the US (in the future) to have it done.

I had a Fiero with a fibreglass Ferrari Dino replica body on it. I did all the bodywork and painted it. It was OK, but not as good as I wanted. I had an estimate from a shop to repaint it. They said it would be $18k-$28k depending on what they found when they started on it. ?!?!?!?! I had it wrapped for around $4k. Thinking of wrapping my 818C when it is done. The cost of bodywork and paint for a fibreglass car, in Canada anyways, seems out of proportion to the value of vehicle.

I had good success In Edmonton using Carlson Body Shop Supply and NAPA. Both had the supplies I needed.

Since I'm almost at the stage of painting or wrapping my 818C, I thought I'd add something here.

When I had my first Cobra painted I did most of the prep work myself, then took it to a good bodyshop for final prep and paint. As mentioned above, some bodyshops will not guarantee the paint if they are painting over work they did not do. If some defect shows up later you will blame them and they will blame whatever you used to prep it. So be careful with that.

Also, the bodyshop said the what took me 10 hours to do, they would do in 1 hour and probably do a better job. So it might be false economy to think you are saving money by doing a lot of prep yourself.

Rick