Am I wrong thinking this is high?

[minendrews68]

I was talking to a friend of mine that has a '40's model Dodge. I don't remember which Dodge, just that it was a Dodge. A good friend of his is doing the paint job. I asked him yesterday if he had gotten his car back yet and he told me in about 2 weeks. He really seemed down in the dumps talking about it. I asked him what was wrong and he proceeded to tell me the story. My friend completely stripped the body and had it down to the bare metal. The car body was off of the frame and completely bare inside and out. It needed some body work, although no rust or bad dents. That is when he told me that the price of the car so far was $50K labor and 8K in materials !! What? The guy painting it has a home made paint booth in his back yard shop! I believe you should have to pay for what you get but I've seen some of this painters work and for that kind of money WOW. The bad thing is... They aren't done yet. This is being done here in Northeast Arkansas in a guys back yard! This guy does good work just think he's out of line. The color is a orange (non candy color), just orange metallic.

Am I out of line thinking this is way to high, or what do you guys think?

[dhutton]

It depends a lot on the scope and standard of the work. The law of diminishing returns really comes into play on these jobs. More and more labor to gain smaller and smaller improvements.

$50k does seem high for paint and body.

I’ve carved out a niche doing “nice quality drivers” for guys who don’t want to spend cubic dollars and drain their 401k building SEMA level cars and don’t want to have their car in paint for years...

Don

[minendrews68]

What's worse is, so far labor is 50K materials 8K, and they're not done yet! I'm thinking (don't know for sure) that the total is going to be somewhere around 70K. I know the guy painting the car and I know the guy that owns the car, I just don't see it having a 70K paint job. To cap it off, (and not that it makes any difference and the owner didn't expect any special deals) They have been best friends for years. Go figure..

[79 Camaro]

What is the labor rate this guy is charging? 50K at $50 per hour is 1000 labor hours. At 40 hours per week that's 40 weeks! Seems very much out of line. Material costs a somewhat high. I suspect the painter is charging full retail prices to the customer but paying jobber prices from his supplier.

[minendrews68]

What is the labor rate this guy is charging? 50K at $50 per hour is 1000 labor hours. At 40 hours per week that's 40 weeks! Seems very much out of line. Material costs a somewhat high. I suspect the painter is charging full retail prices to the customer but paying jobber prices from his supplier.

you are right, labor rate per the owner is $50/hr. Owner says he doesn't work on it every day and then only 2-3 hours daily when he does.

[markaaron80]

Seems high to me. Muscle Car Metal in New Hampshire replaced almost all sheet metal in my 69 Camaro. Used NOS GM fenders($2,500) doors are original, AMD quarters, minitubbed, 1 piece floor from firewall to trunk ($3k)

Was $23k in metal work

Got 4 paint quotes

$8k. Retired guy who does paint at his shop at home with a booth, but a 1-2 year wait

$10k guy who's shop is beside his house, booth etc.. 1 year wait

$12,500 friend of mine with a paint booth at home. Paints for a body shop daily (23 years)and does side work when you can get him to(every 3-5 years)

$16k local shop, I looked at his personal SUV he painted , and had runs everywhere.LOL

Went with the $12,500 from my friend.

So I will jave $35k in paint, body AND metal replacement.

I feel like for $50k it better be a reputable custom shop giving SEMA quality work, LOL

[Interceptor5588]

So the painter started with a completely stripped blasted bare metal body and frame? And "no rust or bad dents?" I would think it's impossible for a qualified bodyman to have 1000 hours into that and not be done. Where has he spent all the time if no rust or dents? Any body mods? That would change things.

[minendrews68]

Correct, no rust, no bad body dents, the only alteration to the body was, the owner, cut the bottom of the hood by about 3" and welded it to the body. He did the work himself and it looked very good. But yeah, the body of the car wasn't bad at all. The frame wasn't touched. The body was on a rolling cart provided by the owner. I'll keep everyone updated as to the final cost.