Paint work revive/touch up/whatever

Hi folks,

First real post here, so go gentle...

I'm imminently buying a 1998 Defender. It is in urgent need of a new rear door and either new rear quarters or at least some tactical plating. Obviously the door will need painting. The rest of the body is generally OK, but there are chips, primer touch-ups, dull lacquer, etc.

I was wondering if I decent body shop would be able to "touch up" all the areas that need it and then "restore" the paint using polish and sealant or whatever they do so that I'll have a uniform finish without the expense of a full respray. I've seen detailing companies offering "paint correction" and such like, but they normally seem to be dealing with vehicles that already look OK to my eyes...

Ultimately if it needs a full respray then that's an expense for another day, but as somebody with no experience of such things I was keen to know if an acceptable result can be achieved without going the whole hog?

The 'detailing world' forum is a good site to visit for info on everything from washing to full paint corrections.

Respray... many on ere have done a reasonable job with the right paint and a brush or small roller.

You can polish out faults in the paint and fill the chips. It's a lot of work to get a good result if it's in poor condition. You could learn what to do on detailing world and youtube. Then have a go yerself.