I grit my teeth when people call me "their painter" A monkey could paint a car.
Paint and bodywork
- Thread starter ir3333
- Start date
-
cost about 35 G here that's a few dent's minor rust repair ,2 pack high build,undercoat base coat ,3 to 4 coats clear block & Buff very thorough does a good job also 4g for a full bead blast with fine grit no warping .
harrisonm
Well-Known Member
LMAO. I'd like to see that.
BTW, would you be willing to post a few pictures of some of the cars you have painted? I figure you probably already have, but I don't remember
I painted a couple 40 plus years ago. Results were what you would’ve expected having no experience. And yes, I would’ve gotten better if I continued. You need someone to teach you, plus, you need experience.
But you know this. Why do you say that?
EDIT: Sarcasm, I guess?
Last edited:
Its because it takes WAY more effort to do the body side of the process. Everybody knows this yet I am their painter. In the collision industry the departments are separate. Most painters can barely fix a door ding let alone replace a frame component or a quarter panel. But I got to tell you, a good painter sure does make the body end easier and vise versa. We gotta work together. I suppose there is a little jealousy in my "monkey" statement as it's a lot easier for the painter to make money than it is for the structural person.
Most of my stuff is just boring collision repair. I've been on my own for about 7 years now. Mostly deer hits. I did a couple complete restorations when I started and just finished a corvette for a friend but I turn down most of that stuff. I'll post some pics.
Totally stripped it. Had to replace one a-pillar and extensive work to the door. Of course in typical Corvett fashion it had the nose blown off of it a couple times.
Heres an old chevy we did. Guy bought it off ebay fully restored and a flatbead. That orange is the roof being stripped. Solid rust underneath it. Had to cut the cowl panels back off to make stuff fit. Total hack job. Thats a new bed from Mar-k excellent products.
I don’t know much about the business, but I do know bodywork and paint work is usually a completely different skill set. In the 80s, a body guy helped me get my 72 demon ready for paint. To his credit, he knew he wasn’t good enough to paint it. We got another guy for that. But, his body skills were excellent.
Here is a cobra replica. All hand made out of aluminum. Long story there but the thing is a real gem. I just did the body work and paint. The owner did the rest. 427 toploader the whole works. Has a Thunderbird Suoer Coupe independent rear end. I mudded it from one end to the other. There is a company in salt lake city called Kirkham Motorsports that builds cobras. The body's are made in Poland and are perfect. You cant see a seam. I saw one that was not painted. Amazing workmanship. Cant say the same for this car but still pretty impressive.
Here's another one. I didn't get very good pictures of this one.
^^^^ Real nice work.
Back about 1990, I bought a 68 427 375 hp Vette, to help do a half way resto and flip. I did learn a few things in as: the Vette guys only care about the 390 hp versions, and they can tend top be somewhat rich pricks, anything related to working on one sucks, and fiberglass in general sucks! The bad part was the seller (Vette guy) had a max wedge roller I could have bought...,cheap enough.
Back about 1990, I bought a 68 427 375 hp Vette, to help do a half way resto and flip. I did learn a few things in as: the Vette guys only care about the 390 hp versions, and they can tend top be somewhat rich pricks, anything related to working on one sucks, and fiberglass in general sucks! The bad part was the seller (Vette guy) had a max wedge roller I could have bought...,cheap enough.
Here's what I'm working on today. Lapping up gravy.
Speaking of Deer... I worked at a Porsche/Mercedes dealership and this lady brought in a 550SL we fixed it and painted it and 2 weeks later it was back again... same damage as before....most would have thought she was a bad driver... but since there was DeerShit all over the Car both times we knew she just had bad luck with deer!!!
I fixed 2 of them this year that hit a second deer before I fixed the first one. lol
After 31 years in the PDR industry, I've decided to try my hand at conventional body work. This is a deck lid that I purchased a while back. I had it stripped it down to bare metal and am filling in the low spots. The shop guys are mentoring me, but they are also getting a kick out of watching the old PDR guy do paint work.
70SwingerGuy
Long Haired Freaky Person
So funny you say that! People always used to tell me how much skill it must take to paint a car, and I always said "any trained monkey could do my job, as long as hes trained"
I would say that it depends on the damage on the car, Ive had jobs where I had WAY more hours in than the bodyman, and vice versa of course. True, in a collision shop, most painters cant, and dont want to be bothered with, fixing dents or metal, but on the other hand, Ive met very few bodymen who could handle a primer gun, let alone a complete custom paint job.
You are correct though, that everyone has to work together, cause in the end, no matter how good the bodywork is, a bad prep/paint job is gonna ruin it, and no perfect paintjob is going to fix bad bodywork either. Problem is getting everyone to work together, usually everyone is just concerned with their own hours that they are making.
And its always bodymen telling painters how much gravy painters have in their jobs, and painters telling bodymen the bodywork is all gravy!! haha
I paint because I have to. High dollar guns have helped my monkeys. (I'm the monkey)Tri-coats are a profit killer.So funny you say that! People always used to tell me how much skill it must take to paint a car, and I always said "any trained monkey could do my job, as long as hes trained"
I would say that it depends on the damage on the car, Ive had jobs where I had WAY more hours in than the bodyman, and vice versa of course. True, in a collision shop, most painters cant, and dont want to be bothered with, fixing dents or metal, but on the other hand, Ive met very few bodymen who could handle a primer gun, let alone a complete custom paint job.
You are correct though, that everyone has to work together, cause in the end, no matter how good the bodywork is, a bad prep/paint job is gonna ruin it, and no perfect paintjob is going to fix bad bodywork either. Problem is getting everyone to work together, usually everyone is just concerned with their own hours that they are making.
And its always bodymen telling painters how much gravy painters have in their jobs, and painters telling bodymen the bodywork is all gravy!! haha
Last edited:
70SwingerGuy
Long Haired Freaky Person
I always used nothing but high end SATA's, best Ive ever used. Oh ya, tri-coats, dont get me started! I met a painter once who said that in their shop(a dealer actually) they stopped trying to blend them, they just paint the whole side of the vehicle cause in the long run its faster and easier.
Some bumper covers could be very bad too, for instance, paint a champagne metallic on an import and the boss and the customer insist that my paint on the cover doesnt match the 1/4(which insurance did NOT allow to blend into) and no amount of trying to explain that not only are(usually) the covers not even sprayed at the same facility as the vehicle so it never matched to begin with, but since the vehicle is steel, and the cover is plastic, the metallics will lay different on the cover, making the color/flop slightly off. Not good enough Im told, so I spend an entire morning tinting and respraying trying to match it and in the end, go back to the original color I sprayed it, and blend into the damn quarter panel anyways. And the flop is STILL off due to the metallics laying different!! So much for my 2.5 to spray the cover!!
The real money is in the front desk. PARTS. That's what floats my boat. Get on board.So funny you say that! People always used to tell me how much skill it must take to paint a car, and I always said "any trained monkey could do my job, as long as hes trained"
I would say that it depends on the damage on the car, Ive had jobs where I had WAY more hours in than the bodyman, and vice versa of course. True, in a collision shop, most painters cant, and dont want to be bothered with, fixing dents or metal, but on the other hand, Ive met very few bodymen who could handle a primer gun, let alone a complete custom paint job.
You are correct though, that everyone has to work together, cause in the end, no matter how good the bodywork is, a bad prep/paint job is gonna ruin it, and no perfect paintjob is going to fix bad bodywork either. Problem is getting everyone to work together, usually everyone is just concerned with their own hours that they are making.
And its always bodymen telling painters how much gravy painters have in their jobs, and painters telling bodymen the bodywork is all gravy!! haha
I aways point out the difference to the owner before the repair. I had one person complain that it matched too well.I always used nothing but high end SATA's, best Ive ever used. Oh ya, tri-coats, dont get me started! I met a painter once who said that in their shop(a dealer actually) they stopped trying to blend them, they just paint the whole side of the vehicle cause in the long run its faster and easier.
Some bumper covers could be very bad too, for instance, paint a champagne metallic on an import and the boss and the customer insist that my paint on the cover doesnt match the 1/4(which insurance did NOT allow to blend into) and no amount of trying to explain that not only are(usually) the covers not even sprayed at the same facility as the vehicle so it never matched to begin with, but since the vehicle is steel, and the cover is plastic, the metallics will lay different on the cover, making the color/flop slightly off. Not good enough Im told, so I spend an entire morning tinting and respraying trying to match it and in the end, go back to the original color I sprayed it, and blend into the damn quarter panel anyways. And the flop is STILL off due to the metallics laying different!! So much for my 2.5 to spray the cover!!
70SwingerGuy
Long Haired Freaky Person
I never had that opportunity cause it was always the boss/front end who dealt with the customers.
Too well?? Thats hilarious!!
Pre accident condition. Cant win.
YUP, I've painted the whole side more than once, Should have conceded from the get go.I always used nothing but high end SATA's, best Ive ever used. Oh ya, tri-coats, dont get me started! I met a painter once who said that in their shop(a dealer actually) they stopped trying to blend them, they just paint the whole side of the vehicle cause in the long run its faster and easier.
Some bumper covers could be very bad too, for instance, paint a champagne metallic on an import and the boss and the customer insist that my paint on the cover doesnt match the 1/4(which insurance did NOT allow to blend into) and no amount of trying to explain that not only are(usually) the covers not even sprayed at the same facility as the vehicle so it never matched to begin with, but since the vehicle is steel, and the cover is plastic, the metallics will lay different on the cover, making the color/flop slightly off. Not good enough Im told, so I spend an entire morning tinting and respraying trying to match it and in the end, go back to the original color I sprayed it, and blend into the damn quarter panel anyways. And the flop is STILL off due to the metallics laying different!! So much for my 2.5 to spray the cover!!
70SwingerGuy
Long Haired Freaky Person
I hear that! Same with me. They have to be the absolute worst to blend.
-
Similar threads
