What do you guys pay for body work where you live?

-
1968FormulaS340 said:
A word of advise for you guys that talk up your wet sanded and buffed clears.

I hope they shot a bunch of clear on. That clear is the UV protection for your paint job. Once that clear gets thin the paint job is time bomb waiting to explode.

One day in the future you will walk outside and all your clear will be blowing down the street like leaves off a tree.
Click to expand...

Very little clear comes off and I haven't ever seen any cars with the clear "blown off". If you like defects and orange peel just leave it alone.
 
Took our 71 Dart to Nevada's High Desert prison in Indian Springs about 35 miles north of Vegas...

$1700.00 for labor
700.00 for paint/supplies...

the hood, trunk lid, front and rear bumpers are fiberglass...and the bumpers were painted same color as car.

they have an auto restoration shop there...with two profession paint booths..

six weeks time to get it done....March 2009...

so shop around...

They were suppose to call me back to get my 73 Duster schedule to get painted...will get call them after 1st of year...
 
I'm not a bodyman and never could muster up the courage to do any type of body/paint work on my own but recently gave it a shot and stripped a pair of Dart Sport doors down to bare metal and prepped, primed, and painted and cleared the doors and they came out really nice. Total investment 2 weekends,about $450.00 in materials. and the opportunity to know I did it myself.
 
limelite70 said:
Im lucky,i worked for a body shop for 3 years.
Learned the basics.
Now i do all my own work.

It all depends on how far you want to go ,and how smooth you want it to be.

This 70 fj6 340 swinger cost over 700.00 for materials alone.
Ppg concept single stage.

My 69 n96 rr is next.
Click to expand...

I've considered doing it myself. But then the other side of the equation is me thinking I'll be doing it for a very very long time with 3 young kids and an over-crowded workshop/garage. I'll update this post once I get my second quote......

dustermaniac said:
I'm not a bodyman and never could muster up the courage to do any type of body/paint work on my own but recently gave it a shot and stripped a pair of Dart Sport doors down to bare metal and prepped, primed, and painted and cleared the doors and they came out really nice. Total investment 2 weekends,about $450.00 in materials. and the opportunity to know I did it myself.
Click to expand...
 
There's a vocational school that does similar work in Winnipeg. A few years ago I heard there was a 2 year waiting list.

70aarcuda said:
Took our 71 Dart to Nevada's High Desert prison in Indian Springs about 35 miles north of Vegas...

$1700.00 for labor
700.00 for paint/supplies...

the hood, trunk lid, front and rear bumpers are fiberglass...and the bumpers were painted same color as car.

they have an auto restoration shop there...with two profession paint booths..

six weeks time to get it done....March 2009...

so shop around...

They were suppose to call me back to get my 73 Duster schedule to get painted...will get call them after 1st of year...
Click to expand...
 
This is all very interesting to say the least. You pretty much summed up my fears in body work - buy a "nice" car, and realize you've got a horrible cover up job. Unfortunately, our hobby is now a rich man's hobby, meaning people are flipping cars and making money so everyone is doing it.

Part of me wants a finished car. The other half wants to build it, and build it correctly. I need bags of money. :cheers:

Gryzynx said:
Pretty much a bullseye!

One of my best friends owns a body shop and we've discussed this subject many times.

I'll repeat one of the better stories he was involved in. Business partner of another friend came by with his newly aquired '70 Cuda convertible. Car looked good, but he did not like the color. Car had recently been restored and converted from a 318 to a 340 by a self proclaimed professional restorer and the price was high. New owner was a discerning buyer and had bags of money, but he was not knowledgable in the sense that he had rolled up his sleeves and aquired the experience for himself. Perfect Barrett Jackson material. My friend has a good reputation for quality work and he does not like to cut corners and he was not known for being the low bidder on his services. A price was agreed on and work started. The car did look good and as the teardown progressed, it became apparant that the restoration consisted of very well hidden patches on a very rusty shell. The news pretty much got worse with every bolt removed. Now, the owner thought that he had purchased a fully restored car and the shop owner took great pains to explain all the problems he was finding. This backfired. Initially, the Cuda owner went along with repairing the flaws, but as the price tripled from the original estimate, he became belligerant. Soon work on the car stopped and legal battles began. It was ugly and it lasted for a couple years. In the end, no one won. This was maybe 15 years ago and even in those days, the bill was around $20K.

Another time, same shop agreed to a quick respray for cheap on a car that was already in for an insurance claim. I know the paint had to be sprayed twice because of adverse reaction on the initial respray, but the shop owner made good on it. The customer didn't agree. He was expecting a show quality paint job for daily driver prices, so once again the legal battles began.

The price of materials has skyrocketed. Enamels gave way to urethanes which gave way to base/clear which gave way to water based. Fillers and primers must be compatible, or reactions result. Enviromental and health issues add to the cost of handling and spraying these paints. Labour alone will be a significant component. With wages in the $25/hr range and shop rates in the $75/hr range, 40 hours of shop time will run you $3000.00. Show quality paint jobs can run into the hundreds of hours and body work will add up as well. I'd expect $5K minimum for a basic respray these days. Add $2K for color changes/door jambs. $10K or $20K is not unheard of and may very well be a realistic price.

By the way, OP DarrenM, this happened in Winnipeg!
Click to expand...
 
1MeanA said:
Very little clear comes off and I haven't ever seen any cars with the clear "blown off". If you like defects and orange peel just leave it alone.
Click to expand...

Im not saying don't do it, what i'm saying is don't over do it or or make it part of your regular routine.
Clear can and will blow off, every time a basecoat/clearcoat paint job is is touched with an abrasive it's life is shortened. Once the clear reaches minimum thickness, UV protection is lost and it will simply fall off. Those are the facts.
 
The $30k paint and panel alignment quote I got (keep in mind, it was a "quote" by seeing photos...) was from the Chicago area.

The guy said "ballpark on a typical job like that, it runs this....". And that's all I could ask for over the phone. I just didn't know.....and was super happy to have had that time on the phone with a "rod shop".

Why get someone in Chicago to look? They are half way between me and the car, and there's lots of good shops out there. Silly me for thinking competition brings out competitive prices in this industry.






EL5DEMON340 said:
i've been thinking of taking a class at the community college, and then doing it myself. i know in the Chicago area they are going to want 20K or more.
Click to expand...
 
find out about the guy doing it and look at his previous work real hard , I sent my car to the local "King of Mopar" to be painted in his shop buy his guy and a year and a half later and 35k It starts to go back together with blems craters and now 2 years after that the paint is bubbling at the bottom of the doors , no warrentee tough crap for me his work looked good from a distance I shoiuld have got down and crawled around ,I would have seen the same short cuts and sloppy work on those cars that is on mine , my other car was quikee base clear 5 years ago for 4,500 now this week I see all the horizontal surfaces are covered with bumps like pimples ,probably the clear coat failing I think ,
 
DarrenM said:
There's a vocational school that does similar work in Winnipeg. A few years ago I heard there was a 2 year waiting list.
Click to expand...

there is a 2 yr waiting list for a complete restoration at Indian Springs..but not a paint job...
 
megajoltman said:
What paint product did he use how many coats ? Wow that's smoking cheap none of my buddies who paint for a living can touch that at even there cost for a quality paint.
Click to expand...


he used dupont base clear. 3 coats of black, and 3 coats of clear.
if you go through my for sale ad of the car on here, you will see the body work that needed to be done, and the final product.

i too, paint my own cars, usually, so when he told me that price, i knew i could not even buy the material for that. and within the next 30 days, he will be doing the scamp i have and welding in new metal where needed for 1,000.00 out the door. and honestly, his work is not 100% but has to be 90%, which is better than a local car show job. i was impressed. he aslo sanded the car to bare metal, and etched primed it, and before paint, he block sanded it

AND LIKE I SAid, the paintjob was NOT perfect. i know if i took it to any other shop near me, it would of been 3-5 k for the paint job
he had my car 13 days. he is the only one who worked on it, and it turned out awesome for the money.
 
I didn't have time to read all the replies but material costs are sky high for good materials as I as a pinstriper shop at body shops suppliers at least once a week. I painted my 64 Signet in 1990 and took this photograph this past July, this paint job is 20 years old. I used Dupont ChromaBase and colorsanded it with Meguires sandpaper and rubbed it out with Meguires #2 then #7 as I have been doing this for years, the rest of the car looks the same.
360conversion013.jpg
 
I've been doin body and paint for 30 years i can't buy the paint i use for $950.00.
I charge 5000.00 for a prep and paint. And resto's can go 40.000 + .You get what you pay for!Here's a pic of a car i built last winter
 

Attachments

  • 0427101604-01.jpg
    70.9 KB · Views: 171
340plot said:
he used dupont base clear. 3 coats of black, and 3 coats of clear.
if you go through my for sale ad of the car on here, you will see the body work that needed to be done, and the final product.

i too, paint my own cars, usually, so when he told me that price, i knew i could not even buy the material for that. and within the next 30 days, he will be doing the scamp i have and welding in new metal where needed for 1,000.00 out the door. and honestly, his work is not 100% but has to be 90%, which is better than a local car show job. i was impressed. he aslo sanded the car to bare metal, and etched primed it, and before paint, he block sanded it

AND LIKE I SAid, the paintjob was NOT perfect. i know if i took it to any other shop near me, it would of been 3-5 k for the paint job
he had my car 13 days. he is the only one who worked on it, and it turned out awesome for the money.
Click to expand...

You got a good deal that's for sure even if it was 90%er :-D

Once you add up all the paint products,sandpaper and other stuff needed man it sure gets expensive fast....
 
^^^^^^^ you are so right. here is the deal. he is a honest guy, and he told me that he had little over 700.00 in just material, and had the two primers left from last paintjob. but here where i live, there is no work at all, and alot of guys do there own specialty work for others, just to make enough profit to survive, and know you have a repeat customer. i gave him an extra 100 bucks i was so happy. btw, he had over 120 hr into it. from 6 in the morning till past 6 pm for 2 weeks straight. and he is still willing and ready to do my scamp as soon as i can swap the k-frame and rear
 
I'd love to find a private guy in Winnipeg that would be willing to do that.



340plot said:
^^^^^^^ you are so right. here is the deal. he is a honest guy, and he told me that he had little over 700.00 in just material, and had the two primers left from last paintjob. but here where i live, there is no work at all, and alot of guys do there own specialty work for others, just to make enough profit to survive, and know you have a repeat customer. i gave him an extra 100 bucks i was so happy. btw, he had over 120 hr into it. from 6 in the morning till past 6 pm for 2 weeks straight. and he is still willing and ready to do my scamp as soon as i can swap the k-frame and rear
Click to expand...
 
I do all my own paint & body work, and I'll bet I've spent at least $1500 to $2000 on materials alone to prep my dart. If I had to charge for a complete "restoration" of the body, It would probably be around $10k . If you want it done right, so that it lasts long and looks good, it takes an incredible amount of time. IMO get the best job you can afford.
 
One of my guys and myself "experimented" prepped and painted our shop truck ourselves in the old shop outback. OMG!!! I will never ever EVER do this again! Da Boss "encouraged" us to do it and he bought the supplies plus 2 cheap *** guns from Harbor Freight. Being that Tony and I are rodders don't mean we can paint! All we did was read the instructions, chingo's of Youtube videos and ton's of info from Gladwin (the paintstuff's and masking supplier). AFAIC Da Boss wasted $700 worth of paint and materials but at least all of the body panels are the same color now(!) it had blue hood and bed, cream fenders and teal cab
 
mtandrews said:
One of my guys and myself "experimented" prepped and painted our shop truck ourselves in the old shop outback. OMG!!! I will never ever EVER do this again! Da Boss "encouraged" us to do it and he bought the supplies plus 2 cheap *** guns from Harbor Freight. Being that Tony and I are rodders don't mean we can paint! All we did was read the instructions, chingo's of Youtube videos and ton's of info from Gladwin (the paintstuff's and masking supplier). AFAIC Da Boss wasted $700 worth of paint and materials but at least all of the body panels are the same color now(!) it had blue hood and bed, cream fenders and teal cab
Click to expand...

So basically, "Whether you think you can or think you can't, you are right...", unless it's painting :-D
 
I have always had to do my own. Mess it up, do it again and get it right. Screw up the paint, same thing, do it again and get it right.

Same with trannies and engine builds. With books, friends and FABO you can do anything.
 
lol. This from a guy who's line is "I don't know ****"

funny. But ya. I hear ya.



340 Dart said:
I have always had to do my own. Mess it up, do it again and get it right. Screw up the paint, same thing, do it again and get it right.

Same with trannies and engine builds. With books, friends and FABO you can do anything.
Click to expand...
 
My Dart will be the fourth rebuild I have done well more like taken a part in lol paint and bodywork wise. My buddy has been a body and paint guy for over 35 years and he has "THE GIFT" that's the only way I can describe it. He quit the biz because he did not want to do the splash, mud and run insurance jobs anymore he is a craftsman that's for sure. He does it now in his spare time one job at a time in his small shop out back for the joy of it. He has been "trying" to teach me all the tricks and tips and I must say you know you haven't block sanded enough until your hands bleed:toothy10:
 
DarrenM said:
lol. This from a guy who's line is "I don't know ****"

funny. But ya. I hear ya.
Click to expand...
I really don't know ****. Lol. I just look for the info I need then I just screw with it till it get it as good as I want it. I am blessed to have a 2 car garage and a Mopar wife. I am going to make her shoot her own engine bay on the 66. If she screws it up, we will take it off, sand it, whatever, and she can do it again till she likes the result.
I believe anyone can to any thing they truly want to do. Some stuff, it just seems, comes easier to some. I am not a great body man, but I try harder than most so I tend to get decent results anyway. Guitar is a alot of work for me also, no talent whatsoever, but I still play an hour a day.. 8)
 
He has been "trying" to teach me all the tricks and tips and I must say you know you haven't block sanded enough until your hands bleed:toothy10:
Click to expand...
You are one lucky dude. I could learn so much just watching a pro for an afternoon. 8)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top