Need advice on body & paint $$$$$

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lets say you spend 7500........ 1500 for materials (which prob dont cover everything)

leaves 6K for labor......... at 50 per hour its 120 hours......... its just not enough time for a quality job, neither you or the guy doing the work will be happy..... it wont end well.

that being said, the person/shop performing the work should know better.....beware of someone willing to work cheap, it could be like throwing money away, especially when rust starts creeping out of the nooks and crannys
I work cheep because I love to paint & I am not out to make a killing. Plus I would put my paint jobs up agents anyone.
 
all I can say is i'm glad to just be a "driver type" guy!!! no need for perfect car, no need to "win" the car show trophy, great for those that require that.....and more power to the guy that expects perfection! and doesn't mind the costs!
yes, lots of true information here. but I have seen "perfect" body work done with a lot" less to work with" than some of you guys say it requires.
like he said, why would anyone pay those kind of paint/ body work prices to do anything less than a "high end rare" car?? and if they choose to, then I guess they can afford whatever it costs???
if I wanted to have that kind of " highend paint work", I would HAVE to find straight rustfree example from back west and just pay the shippiong!!??? just me
 
Trust me, if I had the money I wouldn't be looking elsewhere
My own opinion, I think its a reasonable price. Everyone else is telling me Im insane paying that much for a paint job. I would pay that much because I know how nice it will be in the end.
Its simple, I don't have enough money left to pay what he wants so I have to get someone cheaper and hope the hell it turns out decent. I already have close to $50,000 into the car now and its not even painted, so trust me its not like Im afraid to spend money on my car. I just don't have any left


It's not about what you spend, its what you build. With all that you could have built a garage, and built the car yourself with a great outcome; It's not about anything accept time, patience and willingness to learn. Not skill, not talent, not money, not parts. All that s*it is window dressing.
 
It's not about what you spend, its what you build. With all that you could have built a garage, and built the car yourself with a great outcome; It's not about anything accept time, patience and willingness to learn. Not skill, not talent, not money, not parts. All that s*it is window dressing.

Do you know what happens when you "ASSUME"

First off, you obviously haven't read my previous comments before tossing your opinion out.
The money spent thus far has been a total of $200 paid out for labour, the rest is for new restoration parts. I built my own car thanks !

Actually no your wrong about the garage comment. My engine and trans cost more than what I spent building my own shop last year, by myself.
I have pissed around building 30-40 cars over the last 25 years where I spent just a couple G's and did it all myself, then even flipped them for profit. This is the first car I have even done that I look to professionals t handle the 2 key elements, and I'm not looking to cheap out on. Engine & Paint
Some things are just better left to pro's. If this car was just a race car or something I'm gonna beat around on the streets with I would paint it in my garage and drop in a shelf built SB
I had Mike at MRL performance build me a bad *** street motor 408 stroker, 512HP/519TQ. All in about $12,900.CAN
Now I'm going to spend just slightly more for the body and paint, now currently estimated at $14,000.CAN
That is just about the same amount for those 2 things as what I have spent entirely on the rest of the car. Keep in mind this is by choice. I could have had it painted for $2500 and rebuilt my 340 myself for about $1500
I'm going all out this time because I plan to keep this car forever to be handed down to my son who is currently 16. He will be learning the drag strip next summer with this car, throttle restricted of coarse
 
There will always be those so called "experts" out there who think they know everything, but they really know jack squat. I have been in the hobby long enough to realize that only
too well. A Quality paint job cost more than they know.
 

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There will always be those so called "experts" out there who think they know everything, but they really know jack squat. I have been in the hobby long enough to realize that only
too well. A Quality paint job cost more than they know.

AMEN

I like your plate :thumbup:
 
Do you know what happens when you "ASSUME"

Great attitude bro, keep it up, you'll go far here. Since your so savvy, maybe you can explain why this thread even take up space on FABO, 3 pages no less.

You sit and complain, and when I toss out a hardy way to deal with it, I get chastised; I didn't see where you explained how awesome you are, my bad. Guess I need to take mind reading classes online. :roll:
 
There will always be those so called "experts" out there who think they know everything, but they really know jack squat. I have been in the hobby long enough to realize that only
too well. A Quality paint job cost more than they know.

And is way more work than they will ever know!
 
Great attitude bro, keep it up, you'll go far here. Since your so savvy, maybe you can explain why this thread even take up space on FABO, 3 pages no less.

You sit and complain, and when I toss out a hardy way to deal with it, I get chastised; I didn't see where you explained how awesome you are, my bad. Guess I need to :stfu:. :crybaby:
:wack:

Someone give that guy a tissue

Thanks but my attitude is fine and I've never had a problem on FABO before. In fact it sounds like you have a problem.
Now to explain why the thread is taking up space on FABO ? I would guess its because this is the kind of things normal people discuss in a car forum. Apparently its a good topic since several have chimed in. Thankfully for the most part everyone has given good info. I do know enough however to know which ones don't have a clue. Oh and since your so easily offended, that comment isn't directed at you personally. :dink:

And was I complaining somewhere in this thread ? What have I said that now makes you feel that I'm awesome ?
Well better yet, don't bother explaining you ignorance to me because I'm done with this thread now anyway.

Thanks to everyone that shared useful input !
 
Just my opinion, but if you can get your car done for under $15k, with all you are having done. And your getting quality work, then your getting a real good price. I paid $12k. just for my paint.
 
like i said try windsor collision i took my charger there i installed the quarter skins and jambed the car out myself they did complete outer body paint for me for under 3 grand
 
This is a GREAT and honest thread!You are hearing the straight of body and paint!This is exactly why you must consider the car you are building.You say it is for the love of these machines?The absolute truth is why build a /6 car when you can build a 340-383-440-hemi and later on at least get back most of your money?Al Sheib or Maaco can paint one for $299.00 its your choice.My opinion is that he IS your friend and is telling you correctly!

Like others have stated before you do get what you pay for. Earl sheib want out of business and so did one day paint centers in my area. Not all Maaco's are created equal though. There are members here that have done the body work and prep and took the body to be painted at Maaco or the equivalent and it came out good. But it depends on what you spend. Also depends on the quality of the prep. There is a Maaco Shop in my area that deals with a lot of classic cars. Owners get them blasted and prepped on their own and bring it
Stripped down ready to be sprayed. He charges anywhere from 2 to 8 grand for the painting. Depends on the paints etc. And this is at a Maaco. They also do the usual cheap Crap for the junker cars and imports. Those people just want as cheap as possible and that's what they get.
 
Here is a buddy of mines nova. He had it blasted and then preped it himself. Had it all stripped down to just the body and towed it in for the paint. Had the maaco in the area paint it. He spent 6 grand on the paint for inside and out. It took a couple of months for them to do it. Again you get what you pay for.
 

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I absolutely LOVE this reply! I LOVE IT! As a guy who studied Auto Body Collision Repair and Refinishing in the early 80s I couldn't have explained it better myself. That was in the easy days of single stage paint jobs! Wet sanded polished clear coat paint jobs were unheard of back then. It was hard work then and its 10 times more complicated now with the new paint systems and just the equipment alone, the quality paint gun is $300 and up, the industrial size 2 stage air compressor needed to supply air for a modern paint gun and air tools can be $2000 at the least and up. Many people who become interested in auto restoration assume that they can go buy a Sears 5 HP compressor for $200 and be set unfortunately are very wrong. Single stage and especially the oiless cheap compressors are NOT designed to operate or supply near enough air to operate a sandblaster, HVLP paint gun, or even a budget priced DA sander. They are simply nailer, stapler, tire inflators, etc. Definitely not for the auto shop. The prices of modern base clear paints are 10 times the price of a gallon of acrylic enamel with reducer of the 80s. I hate to say as much as I am interested and love to do body and paint work I have to admit its way above me now. When I learned it at vo-tech, wet sanded, polished, glass smooth paint jobs were a thing of the future. All we had was lacquer, acrylic, or synthol (synthetic) enamels. I remember 1 gallon of paint, 1 gallon of reducer, and a pint of hardener was around $80 back then. It was exciting to walk out of the paint supply store with a box of EVERYTHING needed to do a complete a paint job was less than $200. 2 part epoxy primers weren't an option. Lacquer primer surfacer (fill primer) was the big thing. Body filler today is so much different than back then. Better materials mean better quality jobs but also mean 10 times more money. To me I feel like progression has ruined the hobby for many people such as myself. Gone are the days of doing your own body/paint work.
:???:

Thank you,great post. Exactly where I stand now. Have shot a few BC/CC paint jobs for 150 a squirt for fun,can't afford to do it with the high end equipment needed nowadays. So I stick to basic bodywork ,a bit at a time, and will finish it, with patience. FWIW: A 30 year P & B professional ,just retied(@47 ,physical ailments). He is charging, 50 an hour. He took on a crusty El Camino,nine months of straight bodywork. The car is roughed out,the worker in hand,was handed keys to a custom chopper that cost the customer 9k (and said it was cheap...) The car, isn't done yet.
 
Here is a buddy of mines nova. He had it blasted and then preped it himself. Had it all stripped down to just the body and towed it in for the paint. Had the maaco in the area paint it. He spent 6 grand on the paint for inside and out. It took a couple of months for them to do it. Again you get what you pay for.

That's gorgeous! (Again,prep and what you pay for....).
 
when "customers" become "friends", you know you must be doing something right..... both of these went home for assembly, just in the past week



 
Sounds like your friend is giving you a great price of 10k for a show quality paint job. I would ask your friend if he was willing to paint your car as a filler job and maybe set up a payment system. That is if your not on a time limit for it to be completed. My Duster was painted in 3-months. My painter and I agreed to a driver quality paint job at 9500.00
 
all these discussions are very true. yes, the top quality materials costs more than the lesser quality stuff. personally , I love looking at a car restored to better than when new. do I want that? no I want to drive my car and not worry bout a gravel peck. i'm not in the financial bracket to spend that kinds of bucks discussed here. more power to those than can afford it...

i know it's a fact what is said about equipment... compressors for instance. . Yes, that $2000 compressor is what is needed and sometimes required to run good d a's, air files, etc.... can it be done with less? yes. seen it done by more than a few shops.... and flawless work too....

i guess the reason some of us try to push the point that a driver quality (or better) job can be accomplished without the mega $ equipment and the high $$ pro..., is, well its a FACT!!!! when i say "can", that means with adequate equipment, adequate knowledge, and spending the time to get it as right as the guy wants. yes the better the materials, the longer life the paint will have, and the easier it is to do a better job with.

my guess is there are more people on this site looking to have decent body?paint work without spending the forementioned $9500 for a driver quality job???? skills are acquired with knowledge and experience... for those not able or wanting to spend those $$$, any and all info on this site will help this group!????

if given a choice, i much rather see someone learn some basic skills, use a 5 hp sears compressor( if that's all vailable) and shoot it with tractor paint,,,, than squirt it with aerosol cans... just me...
 
A picture of my 72 Duster with the driver quality paint job
 

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The major problem is that the materials are getting out of hand. :protest:

X2 I painted the engine compartment last weekend in my duster.
I used cheap summit base clear, $65 a qt plus reducers, clear etc.
I bet I have $200 in just materials for the engine compartment.

opBPFj.jpg
 
Wow! Good discussion, but scary since I need a paint job. It helps explain why cars with good paint jobs usually start at about $17k on eBay.
 
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