$7000 paint job

as I get older I think a little more bout the other ( younger) guy. the subject for my rambling here is body?paint work on a car that , lets say, shouldn't (OR need not) be treated to a typical ( for some people) a $6-7000 paint job.

what's my credentials for talking bout this. nothing more than a lot of you guys that, like me, have played with these cars off and on since maybe mid 80's. ( computes to 30 years. ) maybe older than the audience i'm targeting. i', NO bodyman. can I weld, fabricate patch panels, use cut off wheels, flap discs, torch,paint equipment, D A's, sandpaper, longboards, understand modern primers and paints, etc. yes. expert... NO!\ I quit painting wayyyy back cause I can't stand the isocyanides, but I have found some Ca stuff that is low volatility and doesn't bother me. be nice to have fresh air suit, but.....i'm back doing my paint/bodywork on my litle herd of early A cars. I wouldn't pay $6000 for paint work if I had it....
back decades ago, I had 3 different excellent bodymen at various times do some cars for me, and I learned some basics from them.


I was at a local bodyman ( pro) other day. ( NO insurance work, resto only) yea he's a chevy guy. we were talking bout these $7000 paint jobs and laughing.... this guy can build engines, he makes his own upholstery, do as good bodywork as anyone.... he agrees we are in a "low wage" area, but really!!!!!like he says, ANYONE CAN learn to do this if they want...

I read every day on here where JOE SMOE wants to buy this A body project and make it nice... he has no big garage or unlimited budget for air compressor, tools and supplies.... but the desire to have a presentable car. he's not t he guy that has the desire and disposable income to send his 318 duster to the shop and spend the $7000 for body/paint work, on a car when drivable is work WAYyyy less than what he got in it.... well that's fine..... yea parts and materials are high, BUT the labor in that $7000 job is WAYyyyy high!!!!

where i'm going here, is there is such a need for these younger guys, ( and many of us OLDER guys, TOO!), to find a group of 2 or 3 guys in your area, and pool knowledge and resources ( tools and knowledge). its great for me to have enough stuff to do my own work, ( barely!).... but look at the benefits of working together.... not just learning shills from each other, but the friendships started (many times last for life), but the interest and passion that's created for our hobby. why is FABO so popular? because it gives us people with the same PASSION to spend time together, if it is the net!??

now some will chime in and say: " I can't do the quality of work I want. "
I say "BS!" yea there is a learning curve, BUT if ya got 1 guy in the group that has some skill here, your learning curve won't be bad. ya just need some knowledge and practice. and i'll tell ya what, I've never seen a bodyman THAT is a car guy,,,, that won't give advice and info. it takes me maybe 4 times longer to get a panel nice as a real bodyman, but I CAN do it if I put in the time. sometimes ,, I DON"T want to put in the time. I like drivers, not into taking MY car to a car show, so that is my level of expectation. i'm working on an original black car, it will be pretty staright when I paint it.

i'm sure there are guys out there now doing what I;m talking about,...... and maybe they can chime in.....

I paid way more than $7000.00. And it burns my *** to think about it.

I think I have about $500 into my paint job. Is it perfect, nope!!! Not at all. But I did it and Im proud of it! I didnt have the money to pay someone to do it and my brother who has built a few cars in his time had all the equipment. He guided me thru the process. It was great. We spent hours in his garage sanding, prepping and all the good stuff that goes with it. Yep my car has flaws all over it, but I've gotten compliments on it also. Makes me feel good that I did it myself. Just cost me the paint and many many many hours.

Ours was almost 10k. But that was top, bottom, inside and out. Was right around 4k in materials. Damn near 400 hours of labor...he did not get rich off of me...

Well- if you have a ten dollar horse no need to have a forty dollar saddle.Same with cars,you may just love your car or truck but you really need to understand economics.Not in it for the money just for the love of the machines????BS!!! I have never seen a guy take 7000 less for his car than he put into it and was happy about it!!!You can do the body work and have Maaco spray it and maybe it will be presentable but don't expect a 10000 job for 500 that's where the problem is.

I did mine at home, in my 16x20 garage. It's base / clear, and I have about $1300-$1400 in it, and that includes, paint, primer, clear, body filler, sand paper, air powered longboard sander, etc.

This was my first attempt at painting a car. Is it perfect, no, but its WAY better than I ever thought it would be. I spent a lot of time getting all my the bodywork just right, and a ton of time colorsanding the clear and buffing it out.
I think it looks fantastic, and I never could have afforded to send it out for a 6k - 10k paint job.
I learned a lot, it was fun, but a lot of work, but I can say I did it all myself. Will I do it again, probably not. Getting to old for that type of work, and it eats up a lot of otherwise free time.
If I ever switch cars, or add another old car to my collection, I'll buy an already finished car.
At this point in time I'd rather just pay for a nice car instead of spending all my time and effort building another one.

might i add, many community collages have paint and body classes. I'm in both paint and body at my local community collage right now and while i need more practice before i relay get started on my car, my body working skills have improved greatly.

as far as cost goes. i'm probably going to spend 2-3000 in just paint (house of kolor shimrin 2) but as long as i'm in a refinishing class i have access to a heated paint booth so the cost to paint is 0.

so i guess i'm saying if you want to paint your car your self check community collages around you for paint and body classes and e mail the instructors asking whether or not they allow students to work on projects.

This is a great post for someone like me. I've got 3 cars that need paint/body stuff, and I'm timid about it because I've never done it before. But i felt that way the first time i started wrenching on them too. I happen to work somewhere that allows me and my coworkers to pull a car in and throw it on a lift to get personal work done, and they help me learn. And now the first engine rebuild i'm doing is not in a simple A-body, but an 84 Alfa GTV6.

My coworker here does his own body and paint, but there's less free time to meet up at his place and learn that. It would be nice to find a small group and learn and teach, hell, my Cuda only cost me 1800 bucks and already doens't have much paint on it, why not start there?

My car was painted 10 years ago, just the paint was $2,000 and I bought it thru my buddies body shop at his cost

Yes I could have used cheaper paint

That is how hot Rodding survived back in the day, all the guys would get together at a shop somewhere and fix each other's cars

But we also grew up playing in the streets, we didn't have TV 24/7, internet and cell phones

I learned by being there with my dad helping out. Try and get a kid to do that.

But for those that want to learn, yes it can happen. They need to find a shop that will let them sweep the floors and do grunt work and teach them how it is done.

Or take classes at community tech school

I have done minor body work but really don't like it too much. Paid to have mine done and I'm ok with that. But $7,000 paint job is on the short side in today's market if any body work needs to be done.

Good luck to all the young guys wanting to learn skills to make the older cars beautiful again.

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I guess its all relative. Some will drop 7k plus on engine work and no think twice about it but feel ripped when having to pay that much for body/paint work. I admit, I've bought a lot of overpriced stuff for my car and been ok with it but paying $180 bucks for a repop fan shroud still kills me, even though it help solve my problem.

I also signed up for an continuing education class at the local school. I have made great progress and have great level of respect for bodymen after going through it. Ive put many hours in at home between classes and think its going to come out pretty darn good. I am going to have a painter in the booth with me when I spray though. I could get an ok paint job myself or a great one by having and expert in the booth with me. Overall we have spent about 1k on it.

The problem with doing anything other than a high end paint job is the difference of what is acceptable for the painter and what is acceptable for the customer. 2 different things. The first thing most say is it doesn't need to be perfect.

Isocyanates are still present in the activated materials and you can't smell them. low VOC applies to the solvents mostly. It's really difficult to have 100% protection as isocyanates can be absorbed directly through the skin and eyes. If your mixing it on the bench your getting exposure. For the DIY guys, read the MSDS sheets of what your being exposed to. Those half masks don't protect you. It's hard to put a value on the exposure.

GeorgeH said:

The problem with doing anything other than a high end paint job is the difference of what is acceptable for the painter and what is acceptable for the customer. 2 different things. The first thing most say is it doesn't need to be perfect.

Isocyanates are still present in the activated materials and you can't smell them. low VOC applies to the solvents mostly. It's really difficult to have 100% protection as isocyanates can be absorbed directly through the skin and eyes. If your mixing it on the bench your getting exposure. For the DIY guys, read the MSDS sheets of what your being exposed to. Those half masks don't protect you. It's hard to put a value on the exposure.

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I admit you are totally correct to point out the health hazards in spraying these primers/paints for SURE! younger people need to be aware of such.......but... at my age, something else will probably get ME!?? I use a 3M half mask, goggles, arms covered with palpate sleeves ( farm guys would laugh at that!), but yes I do see a total different in acrylic urethane mixed here in Mo and that I get out of ca. been told the Ca paint would last as long, but I can spray it without a suit. would love to have a fresh air suit.

yes body work takes, knowledge and skill. yes some people have the desposible income to pay $ 80/hr for that work. some can afford and tell themselves to buy the absolute highest priced materials. some people will spend a huge amount of money at the engine machine shop. etc etc

i'm not trying to reduce the amount of work and costs of materials it takes to get a perfect job, BUT is not magic. lots of skill and labor yes!!
costs??? yes it makes a difference IF you take it apart, makes a difference if ya take all the glass out. and WHO puts it back in...... in the quality of the end result. does a driver need to be painted with the glass out...... some yes for sure... some probably not....

I guess , me personally, I don't want to sink lets say $15,000 in a car that , IF I had to, or needed to, or wanted to it would lose big $$$$$. I rather be able to maybe break even..... we never know when life requires us to sell our "baby"!.
I rather have a car that runs and drives well, looks good (enough for me)..., maybe not a show quality job, that I could get my $$ out of.

I do say this. the more " said " car is worth restored, the mORE it makes sense to spend the $$$ on it to make it "perfect". yea, ya not gonna make a "silk purse out of a hog's ear"! spending $7000 on paint job on the 318 70 duster......it will be a darn pretty and expensive pig!!?? i'm not putting down that car I give as example, I love them, but if I were to spend that kind of $$$ , I personally would put into a better model. maybe a 69 m code cuda for example!!!!! yes initial costs of the project car is HIGHER, but it costs NO more for paint, engine work, interior for that car than that 70 318 duster........

not talking about anything there except $$ and cents. yes, we are in the hobby because of a passion, interest, desire, whatever..... its argued hobbies cost money... true...... just talking about ways people, young or old, rich or poor, can get their car painted for less than this insane amount of money.. just me.....

GeorgeH said:

The problem with doing anything other than a high end paint job is the difference of what is acceptable for the painter and what is acceptable for the customer. 2 different things. The first thing most say is it doesn't need to be perfect.

Isocyanates are still present in the activated materials and you can't smell them. low VOC applies to the solvents mostly. It's really difficult to have 100% protection as isocyanates can be absorbed directly through the skin and eyes. If your mixing it on the bench your getting exposure. For the DIY guys, read the MSDS sheets of what your being exposed to. Those half masks don't protect you. It's hard to put a value on the exposure.

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And that's with all the goody two shoes stuff we use now. Imagine how it was 50 years ago.

RustyRatRod said:

And that's with all the goody two shoes stuff we use now. Imagine how it was 50 years ago.

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RRR: how did us, the older generation live to be this old anyway. when we were kids, for example: there wasn't a recall for harmful toys, ie parents said " don't be having b b guns wars, it will put ya eye out"!!?? true!!! etc etc etc LOL!!!!

I just finished the frame off restoration on my 1997 Dodge Ram. I replaced the cab corners and rocker panels myself to save some money. The body shop did everything else! They had a ton of time in it! Anyway it was right around 11K for paint and body work... I've already talked with them about doing the same thing with my Duster!

Click link for Ram resto pictures
http://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/vbpicgallery.php?do=view&g=7443

A friend of mine-when we were in school-yes this was when old heck was a pup-died while he was spraying lacquer.It happened back then too but we were "bulletproof " at that time.

I do all my paint and body work and can honestly say I'm seasoned. I'd be more than happy to share my knowledge to help some local guys get their hands on a gun and teach them the proper way to get a nice paint job at their own hand. I know first hand living in norcal everything is expensive so a 7000 paint job out here is cheap. A proper job takes 100's of hours to perfect along with the cut and buff stage. People who don't understand the lengthy process"of doing it right", love to squack at the price. So put it this way, how much money do you make at your profession if you work 400 hours? Some more than others I understand but count in overhead etc, and it's not a crazy money making business doing completes. Collision repair is very profitable because it's in and out and big money.
Anyone in norcal , Sacramento, vacaville, fairfield, some Bay Area need help or advice I'm always down to help.

d5667 said:

A friend of mine-when we were in school-yes this was when old heck was a pup-died while he was spraying lacquer.It happened back then too but we were "bulletproof " at that time.

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I by NO means , am I trying to minimize the risks of spraying these materials!
proper respirators are a must, and if you are allergic to any of the chemicals as I am, yes it can kill ya.

and by NO means, am I talking negatively about anyone that sends their prize car/truck out to a shop for the work!!!! i respect the fact they can afford it and are willing to invest that $$ in that vehicle!!!..... i directly some of my thought s on this subject to younger people that want to learn to do some of this work themselves, and can't afford $80/hr bodywork....yes, its hard work and nasty..... not t rying to hurt any bodyman's livelyhood! but I think I've made my points clear, hopefully.

I did a few of my cars back bout 10 years ago. I did all the patch and filler, blocking, had a friend shot the sealer and paint. saved me a bunch. turned out good.? yes.

might I make the point again, ..... a guy did in prior comments here. the satisfaction of doing a job is sometimes immeasurable. me, I get a buzz on everytime I fix the smallest problem on a car. self satisfaction. pride in work WE accomplished.

RustyRatRod said:

And that's with all the goody two shoes stuff we use now. Imagine how it was 50 years ago.

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Yeah , I know, I was thinking about the stuff I did 25 years ago when I was invincible and when it catches up.

I'm young. I have learned most of what I know from old guys that are chevy guys or ford guys with the exception of one mopar engine and trans builder. They helped me a lot with my engine rebuild and trans work. After doing all that work without a shop I decided my dart will not go into another shop while I own it. When I save up a little more money I'll go out and get the paint an other supplies and just tear into it.

Some of the old timers ignore me...most actually. The few that have taken the time to even let me walk into their shop I am extreamly grateful for. Us young guns need you old timers to show us how it's properly done and pass on your knowledge. Don't he one of those old guys that I talk to at a show or I'm a grocery store parking lot that tells me to get lost.

and let me add this: years back I had my hands on more than a few cars.
at one time I had a young guy, that worked as mechanic for highway dept. great mechanic, self taught bodyman. did excellent work. did it in small garage, no paint boot, small mig, hvlp deal, cut off wheel. as good work as you will find.... but ya know one thing, ....he did it after work and weekends. one car at a time. I KNEW how long it took him to say, put o n a pair of qtrs, truck ext., trunk and inside floor pans.

back then, we generally didn't BUY bent up cars, they took very little to smooth them out... yea they all had rust. these were 70-1- e body and 68-70 b bodies. all rusted in SAME areas. project cars in general were WAY better than nay you generally find now! people restore cars NOW that weren't even considered parts cars back in 80's, 90's...... but point is, the guy had 1 car in there at a time. no smoke........he and I knew when he gave me a price

bout how long it would take. he did the labor, I bought the sheetmetal, he furnished the materials....... I had a PRICE to do that car.... and we both knew bout how long it would take.... wasn't in apint shop jail, didn't cost $$$$$$$. NO it wasn't shot with base/clear, wet sanded, buffed and sanded and buffed. looked like new OUT of the factory circa 1970. its fine if someone wants the ultra shiny base/clear, yes i realize lots of work to get it finished. but.....


think about it..

another story... i had a guy working in my shop off and on. young guy had worked in couple of ins shops. he could do good work.... had a 440-6 challenger, staright as a string, only rust was in 1 lower rear qtr. he fabed a lower patch, car was down to bare metal, epoxied primed, painted with acrylic urethane. i mostltcompletely restore it, rebuilt engine, tranny, brakes, interior. sell it to a nice man.

couple years later i'm off in another state at a place that is a museum, (won't mention any names),,, has full time bodyman, lots of traffic. he shows me this purple challenger, yes , the one i had sold. tells me how he's doing the paint work on it... how its a total tu--! $10,000 cost for repaint.... LOL

i proceed to tell him how i understand he will strip it, how he will find NO filler, its straight, yes he has found it had a lower patch.... i tell him its none of my business but i really hate to see these people screwed! $10,000 in mid or early 90's , they wanted a base/clear job,.......$10,000 in the Midwest to paint that GOOD a car!! HA! i didn't even remember their names, just a couple that wanted a desirable car to take to some local shows....they had ben told they didn't win the trophy cause it needed base/clear job!
maybe the judge gave the price to his chevy owning cousin!?? LOL
true story...

Yes paint and bodywork is not cheap.If you use good materials that will cost you an arm and a leg too.Maybe that is why so many of us are going for the Patina look.

Spelling & grammar make the OP almost unreadable.

I am doing the famous roller/Rustoleum job on my car. A helluva a lot of work, and certainly not the $100 in materials that others have done it for, but I am truly enjoying every minute of the process.

The other problem with bodywork and paint, is these sellers who are trying to unload some beat up, rusty disassembled project car. They want big buck, and they say, "all it needs is a paint job"
They have no idea that a "paint job" will cost 7-10 thousand dollars, or for the do it yourselfer, hundreds of hours.

"but its a rare 4 door, slant6 dart", its in great shape, just needs a little work and some paint". These sellers have no clue what it costs, or how much time is involved in fixing up an old car.

I just get tired of looking for a decent car, and finding nothing but over priced junk.