Need a Painter.. Bay Area, CA

[John510]

Im looking for an excellent bodyguy/painter to finish my car up. I live in Hayward, CA but am willing to travel if the work is excellent.

Or if I get a good enough deal I dont mind shipping it out.

[Young Gun]

http://www.bestofshowcoachworks.com/

[Steve1968LS2]

To be honest.. ship it down here to Best Of Show Coachworks in San Marcos. They do excelent paint work.

www.bestofshowcoachworks.com

Although I'm sure there are some top notch shops up in your area. Sometimes the problem is getting in.

[Steve1968LS2]

http://www.bestofshowcoachworks.com/

DOH! guess you beat me to it.. lol

[John510]

Steve I remember reading an old post from you saying your paint work was around 31K. Thats WAY more then I was looking to spend. My bodywork is 90% done just really need it sprayed and since its black I want it perfect.

[MrQuick]

John, Try Dino's in San Carlos. He does a lot of custom work and he's reasonable. Dino's Auto Body Shop (650) 610-8928 1531 Old County Rd, San Carlos 8-18K range

[Steve1968LS2]

Steve I remember reading an old post from you saying your paint work was around 31K. Thats WAY more then I was looking to spend. My bodywork is 90% done just really need it sprayed and since its black I want it perfect.

No, that's what it cost State Farm to fix my car after thier client ran into me on the freeway.

Paint jobs vary based on what's needed and what the customer wants. Can you spend $30k on a paint job? yea, but most fall way under that. Most of the money for any paint job lies in two areas: prep work and materials. I would say most full paint jobs run in the $9k to $20k range. They charge $75 and hour which is less than many shops and more than a few.

You can easily spend two to three thousand on materials. More if you want the really fancy PPG (vibrance) or HOK paint.

Another area of a paint job that people overlook, and that can get expensive is the color sanding and buffing process. Penny has well over 60 hours of sanding, buffing, sanding, and more buffing in her.

Anyways, find a good shop and beware of low bidders that will give you work below what you want. Also beware of shops that give a low bid to get your car and then slowly bleed you with "upcharges" and comments involving "oh, that price I gave you didn't include THAT" nonsense.

I like BOS because they are very good, easy to work with and more importantly honest. Notice that I didn't say they were cheap. lol

[72Z/28]

No, that's what it cost State Farm to fix my car after thier client ran into me on the freeway.

Paint jobs vary based on what's needed and what the customer wants. Can you spend $30k on a paint job? yea, but most fall way under that. Most of the money for any paint job lies in two areas: prep work and materials. I would say most full paint jobs run in the $9k to $20k range. They charge $75 and hour which is less than many shops and more than a few.

You can easily spend two to three thousand on materials. More if you want the really fancy PPG (vibrance) or HOK paint.

Another area of a paint job that people overlook, and that can get expensive is the color sanding and buffing process. Penny has well over 60 hours of sanding, buffing, sanding, and more buffing in her.

Anyways, find a good shop and beware of low bidders that will give you work below what you want. Also beware of shops that give a low bid to get your car and then slowly bleed you with "upcharges" and comments involving "oh, that price I gave you didn't include THAT" nonsense.

I like BOS because they are very good, easy to work with and more importantly honest. Notice that I didn't say they were cheap. lol

Steve you're 100% right, cutting corners will make you spend more money later.

Either do it right at the first time, or don't do it at all.

[NOPANTS-68]

I just had Ken Pike at Street Rod Painter paint my Factory Five Cobra two months ago. My car is black with black stripes. As a body shop manager I can say he did a killer job and was very resonable. My shop is a large production shop so we stick with collision work and he specializes in FFR cars so it was a no brainer. He also painted my buddy's 67 GT500 Shelby and it is spot on. He's in Yuba City about 45 mins out of Sacramento. He's hungry so you may be able to strike a deal there. linky: http://www.streetrodpainter.com/

[John510]

I think Im going to try Johns Auto Body. he painted Matts classic bowties camaro and it came out awesome.

[rich_fbodySS]

Trent at Bay Area Customs in Santa Clara does really nice work.
He did the body & paint work on my 72 Camaro SS when it got hit last year. It came out looking even better than before the accident.
After seeing the work he did on my car , all of my friends are planning to bring their cars to him for paint.

http://www.bayareacustoms.com/


-Rich-

[sik68]

I don't know first hand, but Dell Autobody gets a lot of praise:

http://www.dellauto.com/

[StRacerDuke]

Oh boy...

My bodywork is 90% done just really need it sprayed and since its black I want it perfect.

There are plenty of good painters in the Bay Area, you just have to ask around. The guys over at Try-Valley auto body in Livermore do side work on custom/hotrods. You can also get a quote from Leonard's shop over at Dominator Hot Rods. Not sure if Top of the Hill race cars is still around but they are local too.

Expect to pay at least 7-12K for something that can compete at a car show if you really do have 90% of it done (Assuming you are a body guy and have done a few jobs before). If you are much lower than that you probably will be in paint jail for longer than you want. I think your most difficult issue you will have is getting someone to stand behind their work for the 90% you already did. Most people will probably not want to risk it and take it down to metal.

Post before & after pictures for us.