Cost for a paint job
 

Okay, I understand the costs of paint have skyrocketed and labor has become unattainable. But in a topic on a different thread it was mentioned that a paint job (without body work) would cost 15k! Is that true?

If that's the case I'm out. Also, are body work labor charges the same as mechanical labor?

It may cost that much, it may be much more, it may be much less. It depends on a multitude of factors so there's no one simple answer. Chances are most cars will require at least some body work before they're ready for paint. Hourly rates will vary a lot depending on the shop as well as your location, but these days a rate in the neighborhood of $100/hour or more isn't out of the question.

We have a 76 TA at a shop,15-20K without a color change,25K with a color change.Tom

I'm paying 18k no color change. Black!!

I help someone who does body and paint at a home shop. Complete body and paint, on frame "pave over", $15-20K. Cash only.

This is just body and paint, no chrome, powder coating, etc... Includes disassembly and assembly, but client usually helps a bit too.

Sometimes the clients completely disassemble car and deliver it on a rolling cart.

Most clients have deep pockets and money isn't an issue.

Having helped him on numerous projects, the labor is incredible. Even at these prices, it sometimes doesn't seem worth it to me. And this is with no fixed overhead. Last summer we probably had 9 man hours into just fitting a deck lid on a '60 Impala.

In Dayton, OH, a "scuff, prep and paint", same color, no body work, OE quality paint job would run right at 10K at a commercial body shop. This would be tape and paint, not disassemble, paint and reassemble. This is why I won't even consider buying a car that needs extensive body and paint work anymore. There are extremely rare exceptions of course. Even at the current crazy auction and selling prices, a frame off, rotisserie restoration is a losing investment unless a very rare, numbers matching model. Especially full size cars, my favorites.

dang, I didn't realize prices have gone so high

makes me feel better about buying one already painted at least...

I'll never be in the market for a shop job. Many good DIY results to share here. I paint in my garage.

DIY

It's not rocket science but is a lot of work.

I agree it's worth learning to paint at todays prices. I've done four, and I agree it's a lot of work.

Learn to do the prep work yourself. You can buy a portable paint booth and spray it yourself or in your garage or rent a booth. Use lacquer paint. very forgiving and you can still get it at TCP global. Base clear is more difficult to do DIY. very messy on the clear part.

I went to the Hot Rod Shop near Queen Creek for mechanical work, which it turns out they do very little of. While I was there the fellow took a cursory look and gave me a very round about estimate of $35k USD plus or minus (more than likely plus).
At home in Canada I had a restorer look over my other car. With the extent of work he wanted to do I'd be looking at close to $60k CDN. At best the non desirable 2nd gen FB would be worth $20-25K.
40 years ago I dabbled in painting cars I was flipping. I found the work too tedious for my tastes. At $125/hr shop rates I am going the DIY route an try not to screw up badly.

Cheapest scuff and respray in SoCal on an already perfect body and has good adhering paint to just scuff and shoot runs $6k minimum. But any half decent paint job with trim removed, body blocked etc is minimum $13K I have been seeing. Show quality and no rust to repair $20k to $30k. Grand National Roadster type show cars cost $50k to $100k to paint - not including body work.

Probably can double these prices if replacing sheet metal and full disassembly of car.

This is why my old bondo bird is in Kuwait right now and I got a better one...

Cheaper than fixing her :(

The key to a cheap paint job is being able to do all of the work yourself and living with a paint job that won't be perfect. I don't have the money to hire someone to paint any of my cars. I do the work myself and have driver quality cars to show from it. I'm perfectly fine with that too.

If you have a garage and air compressor, you can do it. The only suggestion that I would have is to buy a high-quality paint gun and use a good quality paint. A good paint gun will make your life a whole lot easier when you go to paint. My personal favorite is an Iwata LPH 400.

I got lucky(kind of)on my last car.63 tempest convert,factory black,needed some body work.My friend with 3 body shops felt sorry for me a let a couple guys work on it on weekends,preped primered ready to go.cost like $2500.Found a local shop to shoot in single stage for $1500.Came out great,when I sold the car I ended up loosing $4000.Tom

First of all what do you want? Driver quality or show. How much body work does it need? How much of the disassemble/reassembly are you willing to do? If you do the prep and the car is ready for paint one of the chain paint shops can do a very good driver quality paint job. I have had one and several friends have had good ones. Also small local shops are generally going to do a more reasonably priced job than a large production shop. Just remember that it is what's under the paint that makes the paint job.

I'm cheap and don't trust anyone, so learning to do DIY paint work was my goal early on. I figured if I screw up, I can only blame myself.

I started out painting brackets and progressed to the trunk, then primer, then paint.

It IS a ton of work. Like 95% prep work leading to the painting...then another 40-80 hours of sanding and buffing to get the dust and orange peel out.

I think I spent at least 5K on paint and primers so easy to see a shop charging 1.5-2x that.

As others have said, it won't be perfect...there will be dust, hair, bugs, runs, fisheyes, and orange peel. But in my limited experience, if you put enough paint on the panels you can fix a lot of mistakes

I have a couple guys that want to do their own restoration. They come by and pick my brain ...I give them a few pointers ..but not all the pointers.

One of them bought an inflatable spray booth...he did a lot of you tube watching. .. so he came by my shop after he sprayed his car....paid
a ton for color and clear... and asked me what happened to my spray job......

I told him... there is a expensive learning curve to spraying product

I think everyone considering painting their own car needs to have an honest self-assessment of what they consider "good enough". In my mind, I keep it simple. Earl Shieb good?, MAACO good?, crash repair body shop good?, OE quality good, Car show quality good? Those are the categories in my brain. I have painted 2 cars overall myself at my house. 68 Firebird was first at 18 years old. It was barely Earl Sheib good and I worked really hard on it. In my mid-30's I painted a 9 passenger Catalina wagon Barrier Blue lacquer. Built a wood walkway to get down the sides high enough to get the roof properly. Shot nearly 3 gallons of lacquer product. Then the sanding and buffing. Huge job. It was OE quality when finished. It took a 2nd place in a POCI convention show. I fully understand and appreciate the skill and work that goes into a restoration and quality paint job. That's the main reason I will only buy a car with good body and paint today. It takes a real artistic touch to produce great bodywork and paint. For our beloved Pontiacs, I just wouldn't want to drive one that was "Earl Sheib good", or "MAACO good". I would want it better than that. Everyone has a certain criteria they can live with. That's one reason "Rat Rods", and "Patina cars", became so popular. It was a way to make "road junk", acceptable to the car show folks.

I think labor would be the bulk of the cost. I painted the race car a couple years ago in my garage, Took me 9 months in the garage after work, Have to have close to 800hrs in it, That included quarter panels and rust repair, I was meticulous with the body work because I was thinking of painting it black, After spraying you have more hours cutting and buffing,
I can see it costing upwards of $20000, I had $5000 in materials alone and then if I had to include my labor $$$$$$.
Would not want to do it for a living.

Have to agree with the above. I have a few friends that are painters. They do "side jobs". Also, they know body shops that rent their booths. All of the body work has to be completed, and basically in finish prime. Friend prices- $400-$2000 to spray color (I supply all of the supplies), $350-$450 to rent a booth. For a driver car, I have done all of the body work and prime, and I have had a few go to MAACO- with AMAZING results! Not show quality, but much better than factory! Again, I did all of the prep work and all of the masking (this is important). I had a "driver" 72 Monte Carlo that I needed sprayed. I prepped, scuffed, and masked the car... Paint $799 for the MAACO single stage, tipped the painter $100, and the thing came out amazing! Current owner frequently tells me the compliments he gets in it every time he takes it out...

As I posted last year, I went to a local restoration shop and inquired what they would charge to paint my lemans sport. The car has one nickel size rust spot that developed under the vinyl top trim. No other rust. Told the guy that a driver's quality paint job was what I wanted. I was thinking maybe 10-12k. He came back with a quote of 25k maybe more he said. I was floored and disappointed knowing I would never pay that and therefore would never have a classic Pontiac with a nice paint job. Then I got pissed.

A few months later I pulled permits to build a garage so that I would have a suitable place to paint the car myself.

That was September 2022. I get my final inspection tomorrow. Ironically I have 25k in the detached garage same as my paint quote.

I actually appreciate the motivation the guy gave me.

I received much positivity from members on this board encouraging me to go ahead and paint it myself. Thanks for that.

Not sure how long it will take to get the car done, but plan to start working on it in a couple months.

I've read everything I can find on this board and spi forum as well. Probably watched 200 you tube videos on painting, blocking and sanding, stripping metal, etc.

What could possibly go wrong? Lol

I

If your ok without driving an old Pontiac for 5-7 years...and giving up fishing ,hunting, trapping, kids soccer games, shooting at the range, gardening, home repairs, vacations, and other life things....you should have enough spare time to finish it.

As long as you stick with it and don't lose interest you'll get it done in a year. I did mine in 6 months working nights and and on weekends and enjoyed every bit of it, I also do it for a living so it probably went faster than DIY.

Rob....what is a driver quality paint Job ?

Guys approach me with that line too..

Which means ..I want to see my face in the paint...but don’t want to pay for it...lol

If you put out Driver Quality paint work....the next door neighbor sees it and asks “ Who Did that for You “ ....then says to himself ...I ain’t going there.

It’s hard to half ass a paint job...for me anyways.

I feel I always do better than a driver quality paint job. My driver quality and the customer driver quality are 2 different jobs.

Took me about six months to complete the actual paint and body work, very little rust. Went down to bare metal. Probably 10 hours a week I averaged. Turned out great. Everyone that has seen it thinks it looks great, show quality no, better than OEM yes.

Without a doubt doable at home. Beyond me why anyone would put a $20k paint job on a $30k car. For the 95% of us that just have basic cars, not rare 100k cars, who needs 20k paint. I've got about $2.5k in materials in mine.

There is still something for everybody out there. Most of us with hobby cars have some skill level in one area or another. I agree spending 20K to paint a car worth 30K is not smart economics. But passion and nostalgia play a big role often. There are many, many really nice cars still out there that loving owners have spent way, way too much money on restoring them. Now for a variety of reasons , those owners need to sell them. There are some great buys out there on over-restored and non-popular restored cars available for half of what the owners have invested. IMO, those are the cars to buy now. No paint necessary. I think painting a car is much more difficult than a full mechanical restoration, but I have more mechanical skill than body and paint. Others may enjoy body and paint work but wouldn't touch an engine overhaul. Work to your strengths, save money and enjoy the hobby. If resale is the primary criteria, it's not a hobby anymore.

I know you make a living painting, so its kinda personal for you . I get it, but not every member here can drop 25k plus for a paint job. That's where i'm at. I'll finish the exterior start to finish in 1 -1.5 yrs maybe 2 if I change colors. I only work 18 hrs a week to make a living and I'm not much fun since I don't fish, hunt, trap, watch sports, have kids, shoot guns regularly (although I have a "few"). I do mow (gardening). I also find vacations to be a hassle. As you can see I have a lot of time to work on the car. I have to always remind myself that not all of us members here are the same or have all the same interest. The only thing many of us have in common is just our love of old cars. Specifically Pontiacs, I can appreciate that, its what I come here for.

I know you've been following Roger 1 and his GTO complete restoration as I have. I think he is about 2.5 yrs in on his and basically finished. Not bad considering he does it for fun. He is just one example.

Truth...much cheaper to buy someone's nicely restored car when they are done, than to pay to have it done.

Unfortunately I belong to the latter, mainly due to health issues and limited time. My 69 was the last resto I undertook and had to sell mid way through when I got sick.

There are some extremely nice big Pontiacs out there for sale now for reasonable money, really nicely restored stuff. I might have to pick up one of those sometime .. for like $12-15K you can buy an outstanding big car.

If I get your results, I'll be happy even if it takes me twice as much time and money. Thanks

Some things require a talent, something you can’t learn. No matter how long I try I’ll never paint like Picasso. Either you got it or you don’t. I helped a 77 year old guy paint my car. I learned very quickly I didn’t have the eye to do body and paint on any car myself that I would be happy with. If you believe you’ll be happy however it turns out go for it, nothing wrong with that. If a guy pays 20 grand to paint a 30k car and is happy with it nothing wrong with that either, in my book. For me, it’s a hobby.


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I do understand spending that kind of money on some cars. Mine for instance that I bought graduation day from high school .. and still own 45 years later. I guess one aspect of it is I don't have $20k to spend on a paint job :)

I did a frame off on my 72 vert doing everything myself within 2 1/2 years. I did have help with the engine rebuild. My paint had lots of orange peel that sanded and buffed nicely. I have about 3 grand into the paint, but it is Lamborghini orange pearl ($1600/gallon) and cleared. I did this while working full-time. I'm a hobbyist and this is my fourth time painting a car of my own. None came out perfect without a little extra work. But, the cost was worth it.

If you don't want a superior paint job, some of the Maaco shops can do an acceptable job. I ended up doing my 67 GTO myself with PPG 9300 SS black. A hell of a lot of work but it came out really nice. After 15 years I'm going to respray it this year and also my 62 Grand Prix.

Mine was painted for around $5k after years of bodywork that l did myself. I probably had another thousand or so in it from buying primer, filler, sandpaper and that sort of thing. I don't charge myself anything for labor so I'm not counting that LOL.
I can see flaws in my car but they are pretty minor and I get lots of compliments on it. The color itself was laid down by a friend who knows what he's doing and has a paint booth.
As someone stated above, I did not go cheap on the materials. I think I paid right at $1,000 for a gallon of the base coat. No hardware store sandpaper, primers or fillers, I got everything at the auto body supply store. I also talked to the employees a lot during the process.

Just got my Judge back from paint about a month ago. It was about $23k for paint/rechroming/striping and upholstery (labor - I provided legendary seat kit).

Can't recommend the place I took it to enough. Conservative Auto Body in San Diego. Phil Sanchez. He's having a hard time turning a profit so prices might go up from here but he is very skilled and very trustworthy.

not too bad considering interior too...was there much metal work?

The only car I prepped for paint was a 69 Corvette coupe.Huge PITA,had a ES blk paint job that came out great.Prep as everyone knows is the key.Tom

Well,the 76 TA we had a 15K bid a little over a year ago for a no color change is now 25K.Understand BASF just took another 7% increase!Tom

Absolutely. You would have the purchase price of the car covered just to cover the expense of having all the chrome trim, grills, headlight trim and bumpers re-chromed. If body and paint are not your strong suit or major interest, this is a good path to pursue., Plus, no paint jail to deal with for years.

If you don’t have a particularly rare or well-optioned car with no sentimental value then unloading your project car that’s in need of body and paint and buying a finished one will put you money ahead in a big way.

If you’re financially able buy a nice car before selling your project then do that and swap your drivetrain and other special parts onto it.

If your car has some kind of sentimental value and there’s no way you’d ever part with it then pay the man and have it painted, costs be damned.

2X B-man

Car was pretty clean. Needed fender heel repair and a small spot on one quarter. California car.

Great advice B-man. We are not getting any younger!

Thanks. I’ll check them out since they are only a few miles away from me. Sounds like they did all the reassembly on the car.

I’ll be honest I was strongly considering sending my TA to be painted in Mexico but it scares the **** out of me. They do have legit guys down there if you research first.

I’d only consider doing that if I was from Mexico and knew my way around. Too risky I’m thinking, body shops here north of the border are hard enough to trust already.