[n2ogpsj462]

for a daily driver your out of your mind to pay that. get someone good to do the body then roll it over to macco.

[Jeff Walker]

The thing is a lot of people just don't realize how many hours it takes to do decent paint and bodywork. If the car has any rust that needs to be taken car of or any body panels that are fairly rough you can hit the 160-200 hour mark pretty quickly. So you take that and multiply that by whatever the shop rate is which will usually be at LEAST 30$/hr and then add the dollars that the primer, paint, sandpaper and all the other materials cost and you get near that 10K mark faster than you want to!!

Yes it sounds ridiculous, but then so does pay 30K for a decent mid level new car, so what's a person to do....

[blackbird455]

It’s all in the eye of the beholder. I have heard a lot of guys talking about what a deal they got on the paint job and how the paint turned out so nice and most of the time they are full of it. A nice paint job takes time. If you want to scare the crap out of a body shop tell them you want a nice paint job with NO orange peel, runs or nibs in the paint any where. Then watch the price go up. Tell the shop all you want is a nice "driver" paint job and then don't ever look at it too close and you might be happy. Most of us want a show quality paint job for a driver price. Some times it happens but not often. I would say for the most part if you pay 2-3K more for a paint job over the bargain buddy shops and that money goes to labor to make it better it would be worth it for sure. If it just goes in the shops pocket as extra profit because you look like an easy mark then you got hosed. The problem is finding the shop that will treat you right in the long run. It’s hard to get a handle on it. One guy thinks the shop hosed him and the next is very happy. Go look a buddy’s car and you think it looks like crap and he thinks its great. Look at the next one and the guy is not happy but you can't find much wrong with it. The biggest thing is educate your self and stop in a lot at the shop. If you don't like what you see tell them and if they don't seem to want to make it right get you car the heck out. Trust the guy on the second or third car he dose not the first.

[Juliano]

House of Color custom paint and all the chemicals that goes with it = $3,233.00 for a buddies hotrod.

[Mook]

Sweetjudge, I was thinking of going with the original Vendro green and I am trying to decide if I was going to replace the black vinyl roof or just paint it green too? You guys make a good point about shopping around. Tim when do you think you will be getting started?

[goatman55]

I learned to do paint and bodywork because I couldn't afford to pay someone to do it right. After I built a few cars, people started seeking me out to paint theirs. I quit bidding jobs because I was losing my ass when I would hit rust or shotty previous bodywork. You can easily get 10 grand into a car by the time you disassemble it, strip the paint, prep work, paint, reassembly, and labor.
I always work time + materials, and I have found that I get better quality cars to work on because the owners know what they have. The only way I would bid a paint job is if the customer brought me a car in bare metal. The price shoppers tend to be the pickiest on final inspection. A couple of years back the "borker" stated that he wanted his car to be metal finished. His biggest problem was that his car was a rusted out pile of crap. Last I heard they were involved in a lawsuit because of cost overruns, go figure.
I've gotten to the point where I hate painting. I will only paint a car for someone if I build the whole car. The variety makes doing this more interesting. Now when people ask if I will paint their car, I throw out a huge number, hoping they will go elsewhere. The only good thing I can say about painting is it put me through college.

Dave

[matrix]

I got my first car, a 1972 buick skylark in 1984. It had the usual rust in the quarters and fenders. I pop riveted some metal in, bondo, sanded it down and then some spray can primer. I then sanded the rest of the car down and filled a few dings. Dropped it off at Earl Scheibs for $99 and was happy as heck. Came out pretty good by what my standards were then. Anyway that is how I got started. Ive progressed pretty good over the last 23 years.

There was also a few years in the 90s when I didnt have anyplace to work and had to farm out my paint work. I was never satisfied with the quality of work I got for the money I paid. This got me back even more into doing my own work. At my house now I built a shop specifically with a paint booth. I also used to like to go to a body shop and act as if I didnt know much and listen to the line of bull they would try to feed me. This would at least let me know to move onto a different shop. I think some good advice is to learn as much as you can even if you are not going to do the work yourself so you can at least get a feel for if the shop is straight up or not. And walk the lot and look at the recently done cars to get a feel for their quality.

[PaulatFast]

10k is alot of money! 3-4k would get you a very nice paint job at my shop. What 10k would get you, I don't know, I've never had a customer that wanted a 10k paint job. We've done 8-10k in body reconstruction and covered it with a 3k paint job a time or two.

[Mook]

PaulaFast, I'm not no way an expert on body-work....my guess is that my car is not in that bad of shape rust wise. Hopefully Matrix will be able to see the car this week and let you guys know from a more experienced person!

[Blue'69]

I got some of the same price quotes myself last year so I decided to gather the tools a little along and by god paint my car myself. Already got the body work tools and most of the sanding stuff so I just lack a decent paint gun and I am even going to spend money on a new larger compressor before I tackle the chore. Might get it all ready to begin by this summer. After that I can just paint them as I go. Experience is the best teacher and a hell of a lot cheaper. $10,000 man, please!! If I like painting well enough I might just start taking in a few jobs to supplement my income, won't take many at those prices-huh. Good Luck

[BAD10]

To all those people out there that scoff at a 10k paint job, well, you must have no idea how much work goes in to a first class paint job. There is a big difference between an "average" job, and an excellent job, in the amount of hours that go in to it. One can easily have a couple hundred hours in a car that only needs minor bodywork and paint. Dont forget the time it takes to remove all glass, trim, bumpers, doors, etc.Here in San Diego, we get $75-$100 hour for custom/restoration work, and even the prevailing rate for production insurance labor is $44 hour. Add in materials cost, and the price ads up real quik. It takes lots of experience to make a job right, and when you have hours and hours of priming and blocking, ask yourself what you would need to be paid.

[getmygoat]

This may sound crazy, but I'm considering having my GTO painted in Mexico.. I live in San Diego, and work with some folks who live in Mexico and know some body shops there.

They specialize in insurance deals, but are willing to do my gto as well.

The advantage is they can put a lot of time into it for a small fraction of the cost of a US body shop... of course there is a quality question, and also a problem keeping the car insured while its in Mexico (its worth more than 10 bucks).

The guy I spoke to said the most I could ever possibly pay for a paint job, including stripping it down to the metal, would be $3k.

What do you think?

Fred

[Greg_B]

The Maaco in College Park reportedly does good work, but check with Joe Herberson at Lanham Auto Body. He was going to paint a car for me before I moved and is a friend.

[BAD10]

All I can say is be very careful with Mexico. I have yet to see a really nice job thats been done there, and dont forget the risk of your car being in a 3rd world country. If you live in SD, then you've heard all the nitemare stories. No doubt there must be some skilled body guys down there somewhere, and the cost of doing business must be comparatively free compared to SD............shoot, I've got thousands $$ of monthly overhead that people dont think about just to keep the doors open, but weigh the risks, and what happens if you are not happy with the work and/or warranty repairs? Tough call......personally, I wouldnt bring a car to MEX. But I know the price is alluring..........

[scott cedergren]

One way to save alot of $ is to do the body work your self then take the paint you want sprayed to macco and have them spray it. Also one way to save $ is the type of paint. Ditzler and Dupont are expensive but napa has a brand called crossfire that seems to be a very good paint and about half the price of the others. hope this helps.

[Mook]

BAD10, I can agree with that! But having such a paint job would make my blood pressure go up! I have been to car shows and heard guys make statements to the effect of " got to go!, it looks like it is going to rain!" Which is fine, their car look great!!! But the most use they get out of their cars, are the car shows or when some one visits his house. My GTO I drive everywhere, store, shows, school, work, fishing and even sometimes to no-place....just driving. 10K on paint I will be scared to drive it becouse of road chips, door dings and rain. I understand that I will never get back cash value for my car that I put in it. But for the car not to have matching numbers or be an RAMAIR IV or V, I don't feel that I should spend that much on a paint job. I am just looking for a decent paint job for my daily driver. I enjoy my car by driving it. If I had a project RAMAIR IV or an high option numbers matching GTO then I would not mind investing that much if not more in a paint job! Since the guy is out sourcing the paint job itself maybe one reason why the price may seem to be a little higher. Thanks for giving me a look at this situation from a pro's view!!


Scott, thanks......I am exploring that idea! Can't hurt to learn! The more one learns the more he can save $$$$$!

Greg I just left Lanham......but since it is 54 degrees today I will call and ride over if he is there! Thanks!

[n2ogpsj462]

if your car is a REAL 69 goat you will probably make money on it if you hold onto it the way chits going now. hell a nice driver brings 15k. 10 grand is cheap for a show quality paint job i dont think anyone in this hobby will deny that BUT you said you want to DRIVE the car. what happens when you parked somewhere and someone opens a door and chips or scratches your paint? do you really think the blonde in the audi her dad bought her is paying attention while opening her door? (personal experience)
find someone good to do the body work and make sure they dont DA the panels. the bastard who did mine , came highly recommended for bodywork on the side, DA'd my entire car and now it waves at people driving down the street. you should really pickout all the straight panels and handsand it yourself and leave the actual bodywork to someone. i paid 900 in body and 850 for macco to basecoat and triple clear my car. (my friend knew the painter it went in as an enamel/signature job but came out with an 1800 case/clear paint job) only crappy body work i recieved was mainly the doors which were super stright prior to being DA'd

[tom s]

if you strip a car to bare metal and plan a BC/CC paint job,the car will be painted and preped 4 times.That is why it gets expensive to take one down.Scrath and shoot jobs are WAY cheaper.I have paid as high as 11K and as low as $1500 for paint jobs and you CAN see the diff.JMHO,Tom

[Mook]

tom s - the difference between 11k and 1k will mostlikley be seen! I was hoping for a price somewhere in the middle. 5k to 6k seemed reasonable at first!!

[tom s]

if you dont take to bare metal in sure 3-5 is in the cards.My local guy does a scratch and shoot for $2-3K BUT it is a year wait to get a car in.The nice thing is,it is a small shop and if the car gets in it get out VERY fast.Tom