body work questions

-
S

Sublime12

'70 383 Swinger
Joined
Dec 15, 2010
Messages
125
Reaction score
4
Location
Rock Springs
I bought my '70 Dart swinger about 10 years ago, I was 17. My dad and I did the body work, built a motor, rebuilt the transmission, then we had some dude paint it. The paint job wasn't very good, and you could see our body work under the paint. I always wanted to get it fixed, I kind of lost interest in the car due to the poor body work. My friend went to school for body work and now he owns a trucking company so they do body work on the side. I took him my car in March so he could fix the paint.
It took me about 6 months to get the fiberglass hood i ordered, but the car is done. He called me yesterday and I about had a heart attack.
In June I took him 2500, the car was in primer and we were waiting on the hood. He told me at that point we had about 100 hrs in the car. Yesterday, he tells me he has a total of 250 hrs in the car. It is officially a 5 digit paint job, and he hasn't totaled up materials yet. I guess my question is, how do you spend 150 hrs on the car spraying the car and wet sanding?
 

Attachments

  • IMG_0182.jpg
    96.2 KB · Views: 353
  • IMG_0183.jpg
    120.1 KB · Views: 354
  • IMG_0219.jpg
    129.3 KB · Views: 360
  • IMG_0253.jpg
    121 KB · Views: 339
If he had multiple people on it at once and they did it right then 250 hours to do it right is kind of high but not bad. Thats roughly 3 guys spending 40 hours a week each for about 2 weeks. Spread that out over several months and it doesnt sound as bad
 
250hrs on body work for a nice job ? Sounds about right. Did you guys have an agreement on price before it was started ?
 
Before he started I told him I didn't want to spend 10 grand on paint. Then when i sat down with him and gave him 2500, he told me he had about 100 hrs in it so far, which included body work and the car was in primer at that point. He said it wouldn't be much more to finish... 5k with materials, so I was planning on 6000-6500. I just dont know how you spend 150 hours spraying it with paint and wet sanding?
 
Maybe you should have agreed on a price in the beginning.Or maybe let him know in the beginning you exact budget.You both may be at fault in the communication department.But more hours in paint than bodywork and primer doesn't sound right.At this point I guess all you can do is keep your cool and try to work with him on a price.If you are real happy with the paint and body work I guess you got lucky there.He could be telling you 10K and the bodywork and paint could of been done poorly.

Jim
 
Just because it was in primer doesnt mean it was ready for paint. If he roughed in the body work then primed it, he still needed to block it. Depending on how good is rough work was (mines not that great LOL) and how picky he is he could have blocked the car out 4 or 5 times. Then sealer, paint, clear, cut and buff and reassembly.
250hrs is only 30, 8hr days. That works out to about $40hr which is half of what I charge just to detail a car.

I sat down and figured out what I would have to charge to do a good quality paint job for someone on the side and I cant see charging less than 7-8K with materials.
 
Body work = time, and lots of block sanding. Not enough block sanding, and body work will show thru the paint. body work is time consuming, doing things, over and over till its straight and right.

barracudadave67
 
Like mentioned above, being in primer isn't even close to being ready for paint.

Have you ever blocked out a car?
Have you ever wet-sanded and polished a car?

It all takes a butt load of time.
 
Are you happy with the job?
If so, the price is pretty good for what you got.
I would pay the man and be happy.
 
Dartnut said:
Are you happy with the job?
.
Click to expand...

Most important question from Dartnut.

The time involved doesn't seem outrageous. But, for an "officially 5 digit paint job" the glass and all panels should have been pulled. It's hard to tell from the pics, but did they disassemble the front clip for paint?
 
AdamR said:
Just because it was in primer doesnt mean it was ready for paint. If he roughed in the body work then primed it, he still needed to block it. Depending on how good is rough work was (mines not that great LOL) and how picky he is he could have blocked the car out 4 or 5 times. Then sealer, paint, clear, cut and buff and reassembly.
250hrs is only 30, 8hr days. That works out to about $40hr which is half of what I charge just to detail a car.

I sat down and figured out what I would have to charge to do a good quality paint job for someone on the side and I cant see charging less than 7-8K with materials.
Click to expand...

This is true and a good body man will prime and block until all imperfections

are out. You should have a nice straight car when hes done, unlike mine done in black a poor job, black is very unforegiving.
 
i blocked and primed my 72 demon project 3 times. and spent three days sanding and polishing. it s very time consuming.
we just finished a 57 chevy convert at work. the body work was done when we got it.
we blocked it.
painted it.
flat sand and polished it.
put the mouldings on it.
8500.00.

your dart looks like it turned out nice. i don t agree with the way the shop handled the bill and not at least letting you know where it was heading. but i believe they probably do have that much time in your dart. it looks nice from the pics you posted.
 
Yeah I paid him. I was just in shock over the price. The paint looks show quality. I couldn't bring it home today because it was pouring rain. I'll start a restoration thread as soon as I get it back. I restored and recovered the seats in white while it was gone, and i'm looking forward to installing them!
 
Posts like this are the reason why I do all my own work, this what you get when someone else does the work for you, fairly. Expect to pay for a lot of time. In good body work think of days like seconds, weeks like minutes, and months like hours, when it comes to what I like to call the "body work time warp". You get perspective when you think like that.

You got out cheap brah. Pay the man and move on. Next time, either do it yourself, or be firm on what your budget ceiling is in and stick to it.
 
if its straight as an arrow, and you love it.. then mission accomplished..
you have a great car!!
 
it takes many hours to get it smooth.
materials possibly cost you close to $1000.00
 

Attachments

  • 003.jpg
    103.8 KB · Views: 202
  • 005.jpg
    73.5 KB · Views: 182
I'm happy with it. I was being a cry baby. The car looks great. He gave me a killer deal on it really. I'm no body expert so I guess I just didn't expect that kind of time. He had 270 hours in it charged me for 250 at 37 an hour because he's my friend and cost on materials. I'm excited to post more pics so you guys can tell me what you think
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top