Paint/body work quote

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Longgone

Longgone

John/68 Barracuda & Dart
Joined
Jul 12, 2005
Messages
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Location
Newport News, Virginia
I took my car to a reputable body shop today and got a quote for the bodywork and paint/stripe installation. There`s nothing major to do on the car but there`s a lot of little things on most every panel of the car. The job includes blocking the entire car and doing a base coat/clear coat paint job that includes the inner trunk lid ,trunk floor ,door jambs, inner hood ,and the stripe install.......................$3500.00 Does that sound like a fair price for this work? Here`s the car basically as it is now.

68 Dart GTS.jpg
 
That seems VERY reasonable especially if they are pulling bumpers,lights, door handles, trim etc!!!!!!!!!!!! Around here that is the going rate for a bodyshop guy doing it on the side!!!!!!! Shop rate would be $5000 +
 
Sorry Fellows , I'm On The Other Side Of The Fence . I've Been Restoring Old Muscle Cars For Over 20 Year's. First Do The Math, Is He Goin' To Take It Apart , Are You? Regardless, To Make Car's Nice, The Whole Car Will Be Skim Coated In Bondo, Then It Would Be Blocked Sanded Numerous Times With Multiple Coats Of Primer. Then What Color Are You Gonna Go With,then Is It Base/clear Or Singlestage, Then Do You Want It Wet Sanded And Buffed To A Mirror Image. Sorry Man, I Don't Want To Offend Anybody, But If I Was Painting That Car For $3500. I Wouln't Make A Dime! The Cost Of The Materials Would Be $1500-$2000 If I Was Doing It. Listen "anybody Can Paint A Car" Just Pick Up A Copy Of "car Craft" Or "hot Rod". Lol, But To Make A Car Nice , It Takes Time And Money.
 
Does that include all the paint and materials?If so,they must not have much over head.Ive been restoring,painting cars for over 20 years,i can tell you that if they do really good work,there working dirt cheap.If you figured every material they have to use on the car,for instance,tape,paper,sandpaper,putty,primer,paint,etc,etc,all that is gonna run over $1000.00.So that puts them working for near nothing,because its gonna take some serious labor to block your car out at least twice,to make it suoerstraight.I bet they dont do anything but d/a it down,prime it,d/a it again and paint it.If so,you may be happy with it,if your not too picky,or painting it black.Im painting a buick lesabre for a lady now,as a side job.She bought all her paint,primer.Her car only has 2 small dents,the top panels were peeling.Im charging her 600.00 to paint the whole car,because i have left over sandpaper,tape,paper from another job i did awhile back.It wont be a show car,but i do plan to buff it out a little so it looks a little better than new for her.But see,its mostly a sand,prime,sand,paint deal.No jambs,no extras for 600.00
 
That's Really Cheap. My quote $4000 was for a strip, sand and paint with minimal body work. It's turned out to be much much more $$$, time and labor because I am super picky. Plus I've developed a better eye for looking at bodywork and details. I ended up blocking every panel myself. And will probably wetsand and buff everything too. My painter is not making any money at all on this deal. We have basically gotten a really good friendship out of the deal which is pretty cool. And I've learned a ton along the way.

This is a GTS right? The one you've been waiting for? Have it done right for sure. Or at least force yourself to do as much of the prep as possible. I'll be doing all the prep on the 68 Dart myself next time around.

Good luck with it
 
The deal is; that I`ll remove and replace all of the trim, bumpers, etc.. The car is a 68 Dart GTS with a vinyl top installed and the paint will be a two stage without buffing. They did say that I could paint the car black by the time they`re done so that gave me some confidence in their work. I looked around the shop, (it`s a family business that`s been around in the same building for three generations) and there was a wide range of cars, a 37 Dodge, 60 Cadillac, early 70`s Olds 442, and several imports from the 90`s. The few cars that had paint on them looked really good. Turn around time would be 3-4 weeks.
 
That would be some amazing work to get it turned around that fast. Wish mine was that quick LOL of course you know my story. :)
 
Whats the shop rate? Ours here in Santa Cruz is about $85-95 an hour depending on the shop.

If you figure $3500 just for labor alone at $90 an hour thats only 38.8 hours. It might or might not take someone a full work week to paint and do all the sanding. If its a good shop and they dont cut corners than thats a hell of a deal. Out here you can get a $300 paint job... you drive up they wash it scuff it and spray it!!
 
daves66valiant said:
That would be some amazing work to get it turned around that fast. Wish mine was that quick LOL of course you know my story. :)
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That`s what they say ???? Who knows, I just hope that it doesn`t end up taking as long as yours did Dave. Lol! Your car is turning out awesome though! I did see 4 guys block sanding an import as I walked their shop today, so they evidently hit these cars with all their manpower when they get going. I don`t know what to do?
 
ask for customer references maybe? look really close at the work done. get some phone numbers of customers if possible? I would do things much differently now. Ask tons of questions and really nail them down.
 
GET IT IN WRITTING, what they are going to do, how long they will take and the type of materials used.

This way if they don't do what they said you have it in writting.

my $3,500 dollar paint job turned into a nightmare and 10 years After paying him the 3,500 over several years I ended up taking it to another shop to get it finished and then more money

Had I know what I know now it would have been in writting. I have over $2,000 in supplies to paint it, so color and type matters.

Did you get a quote from Jim Bob? he told me 2 weeks, just not what 2 weeks he would get it done. He was to do just about what you said. He has several cars he has done that I have seen and yes he is good, but slow as hell and will cut corners. He kept telling me that I should paint it black so the body work done would be appreciated, if I had it would have looked like a black flag waving, the guy that finished it had alot of work to do to straighten the crappy work done by the other guy.

A good deal maybe, make sure you are both on the same page.

before and after of my 67 Dart

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BAFTDart.JPG
 
ask what the cars you saw in there ran in $$$$ range for what you see. $3500 out here for body and paint gets you a ok paint job. you have to hit around $5k + to get good results. and that's with no rust repair and no disassemble/reassemble. it's because the cost of living is quite high out here.
 
redfastback said:
ask what the cars you saw in there ran in $$$$ range for what you see. $3500 out here for body and paint gets you a ok paint job. you have to hit around $5k + to get good results. and that's with no rust repair and no disassemble/reassemble. it's because the cost of living is quite high out here.
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I know California and some of the northeastern states can be very high. We seem to be somewhere in the middle here in Va..
 
WildCat said:
GET IT IN WRITTING, what they are going to do, how long they will take and the type of materials used.

This way if they don't do what they said you have it in writting.

my $3,500 dollar paint job turned into a nightmare and 10 years After paying him the 3,500 over several years I ended up taking it to another shop to get it finished and then more money

Had I know what I know now it would have been in writting. I have over $2,000 in supplies to paint it, so color and type matters.

Did you get a quote from Jim Bob? he told me 2 weeks, just not what 2 weeks he would get it done. He was to do just about what you said. He has several cars he has done that I have seen and yes he is good, but slow as hell and will cut corners. He kept telling me that I should paint it black so the body work done would be appreciated, if I had it would have looked like a black flag waving, the guy that finished it had alot of work to do to straighten the crappy work done by the other guy.

A good deal maybe, make sure you are both on the same page.

before and after of my 67 Dart
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Wildcat it sounds like they got the mine and you got the shaft. Sorry to hear that happen to you. I will get the proposal in writing. I`ve learned from past experiences that oral contracts last about as long as a fart.
 
What color are you going with? Having the wheels done too?
C
 
I would say for a "driver" paint job thats is fair.
If I were you I would prep as much as possible.
Prepping, sanding, blocking and filling takes alot of time.
If you could cut t of that out by doing it yourself you could save a bit maybe.
I would wetsand and buff the car myself after the car is returned
from the bodyshop to save additional money.
 
clhyer said:
What color are you going with? Having the wheels done too?
C
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It`s going back to the original GG1 dark green with a horizontal white stripe. The wheels are already done.

Casey Davis said:
I would say for a "driver" paint job thats is fair.
If I were you I would prep as much as possible.
Prepping, sanding, blocking and filling takes alot of time.
If you could cut t of that out by doing it yourself you could save a bit maybe.
I would wetsand and buff the car myself after the car is returned
from the bodyshop to save additional money.
Click to expand...

I`ve done a lot of work already including taking the body to metal and replacing the right rear quarter panel. Now I need somebody to really refine all of the body lines and put some color on it.
 
Longgone, I just recently took my sons 70 Dart around for quotes. The car is in very similar shape as yours with no major areas of concern just body panel alignment issues etc. I went to two different shops both of which I was familar with and have seen thier work. The cheapest quote I got was $4,500 with me getting the holes filled with metal from removing the trim down the side of the car. That quote was to align all the body panels, block the car and paint the car sublime, trunk, jambs, engine compartment etc. In summary, I think that $3,500 is a good price providing they do all that they say they will but as others have said, get it in writing and make sure they understand what your expectations are. Good luck.
 
For blocking the entire car properly and preparing for a base/clear, then effectively doing a "color change" paint job (jambs, etc), in todays market, I'm sad to say that $3500. is a pretty good deal.

I used to do the same thing in the late 70's for around $800., and ten years later for around $1500...those days are just gone.

The material used is far greater in cost (much due to Gov't. regulations), the dollar is devalued, and the cost of living is rising pretty fast........These guys usually have a high overhead, big insurance costs, and have to actually make a living.........not to mention that properly blocking a car is done by HAND by a craftsman, and is HARD work, and tough on the joints (oi' vey, is it ever).....

And herein lies the problem.........LOTS of these shops use freshly trained youngsters, and the quality for lack of experience can really differ from place to place.........Do yourself a favor if you can........FIND some cars that the shop has previously done, and look closely at the paint and body.....THEN make your decision..............Follow a GOOD reputation, and you'll do well.

:iconbigg:
 
im in the process of painting my 67 dart at my fathers body shop ,im paying for all my own material and have already spent 1200. just on paint and supply no labor charges ,so in my opinion 3500 is a fair price for a quality job,im using basecoat and high solid clear(orange crush pearl)looks great so far ill try to take pics and post this weekend:clock:
 
$4250 was my quote from Maaco. This is a local shop that does alot of muscle cars, and reg. cars as well. I have seen there work and its good. Rotissory, maybe not, but close to show...yes.
Price includes sanding down, fix dings, weld in new trunk lip (which i supply), jams, trunk, engine bay, fixing vallance, etc. Not bad i guess.
They will also be installing the stripe and two tone the hood. all in Sublime (is there really any other color?? lol)
 
And don't just look at the cars they painted last week. Look at some that they painted a year ago and see how well the paint is holding up. Whether you can see the sanding marks where the paint has shrunk. I'll have about $12k in mine but that includes a total strip with a blaster and doing the undercarriage too.
 
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