How much for quality paint?

[68protouring454]

there are bad shops out there, i have a body shop, and you have to realize that for paint to last it has to be prepped properly and if you run into rust that pin holes when sandblasting, it needs a patch, so on so forth, you can't just bondo it, it needs a fully welded patch, then body work, well you get a few rust spots around a car, that you think can be cleaned up, but then when blasting the metal has gotten so thin it just pin holes while getting rust blasted off, and i mean all the black specs too, so you have 3-4 of those around a car and theres another 20 hrs or so between patching, body work, priming etc, some guys have to realiize the cars are not as solid as they think, do not get me wrong there are plenty of hack shops, liars etc, but i for one most of the time stick to my estimate, unless there is other work not listed in estimate, then of course i have to charge more, you don't get a 2nd fry for free do ya??? however as frank said if i under estimated the work needed to be done, i always eat my time, and chalk it up to a learning experience, anyways those are my thoughts
jake

[trapin]

I have always found the prices I've gotten from painters and paint shops it little suspect. All it takes is a little elbow grease, and the right assortment of blocks to get it straight. Use good quality fillers and good quality primer and be meticulous about what your happy with and what your not. I'm not saying it's easy...on the contrary my car has been hard as hell so far. But I'm having fun.

[BRIAN]

You will find it takes a little more than that. Price out just the cost of the basecoat itself. You can easily deduct a $1000 in just materials alone.

[trapin]

OK....I can live with $1000 for materials, if I'm doing the rest myself.

I am tracking the costs of what my paint job is costing me. So far I've spent $275. That was for primer, reducer and all the filler and sand paper. I already had all the sanding blocks and the respirators. I have a slight advantage though because all my panels minus the roof and decklid are brand new and won't require much straightening that an old original panel would demand. The booth rental with gun rental will cost me $325 for the whole day (8am to 5pm). The base coat and clear coat are going to be $700 (these are the prices I was quoted). All the filters, tape, masking paper, sticks, tack cloth, degreaser is supplied by U-Paint-It. So far I'm at about $1300 for everything but I'm sure the price will fluctuate some. I don't see it going over $2000 but you never know. Even if it does go over a little...that's a huge savings over $5000-$6000.

[MuscleRodz]

Unless all those new panels are old NOS, I think you will be amazed how much staightening you will have to do if you want a really straight body.
Another trick if you have not done it yet, bolt all the panels together in final form before you start body work to get the car straight as possible.When you disassemble for paint, make sure you keep track of where every shim came from so it goes back just like it came off. Another secret, get Rogan's Cuda book. It shows how Troy's shop did all the bodywork on the car.

Mike

[trapin]

Thanks Mike, I'll check it out.

Believe it or not...all the panels on my car (with the exception of the hood) are Genuine GM body panels. They were all purchased through GM Service Parts Operations in the late 80's and 90's before they stopped production on them. They were installed in '94 and the car has sat ever since.

[gtome]

I was in the same boat as you a couple of years ago. I wanted to paint my VW Bug. All my estamates were between $6000 and $8000 for the color I wanted. NO WAY I was paying that for a bug. So, I read and read to learn as much as possible. I went out and spent $1500 on paint and primer, bought a $500 SATA digital gun, a cheaper primer gun, $300 on a good polisher, $300 on a filter/drier, another few hundred on sand paper, tape, masking paper, a long john, blocks, compounds etc. Worked my nuts off for 3 months, did it all myself, and it came out awsome!! I loved doing it, the reward was undescribable. 2 weeks later a guy was checking it out and asked who did it, I told him "I did." He proceded to offer me $1500 to paint and flame his Harley. With only $200 in materials I made $1300 profit, just enough to pay for all the tools I bought to do my car. I have since done 2 more cars and 4 more bikes. That was enough to buy a $2500 air compressor, $500 air brush and mini-compressor, and have plenty of cash in my pocket. Its super fun, and great for learning. If you keep your prices resonable, they will come. I had a guy stop by yesterday with a $400 check to have me paint a toilet seat for him....how cool is that!! In fact, I am starting to have to turn people away, or make them wait. Wish I had more time. This all came about by doing that bug myself, never know what might happen for you!!

[JoshStratton]

Do you still have that VDub? I have had 9 different ones through the last 5 years. I would love to see pics! I just sold my last 2 to complete another project.

[mikes69z]

When I hear the stories of guys being charged more money upon completion, I wonder why they just didn't get it in writing before agreeing on the contract. Then they cannot be charged the extra amount.

Kuhl,

I agree with you and it's good advice, however, I spoke to 4 body / restoration shops before I decided to go with the shop who did my work. I found that no shop I spoke to would make any commitment other than $1K for stripping, approx $1.2K for material and $3K to paint the car. They all basically said they will not know the extent of the bodywork needed until after the car is stripped and they can determine what should be done.
As a result, my job was billed weekly where I could inspect what was being done and approve / disapprove the labor hours they charged. Since they were a restoration shop, I also added on other work that increased the cost slightly. My car was also a "turnkey" paint job. I basically did nothing - dropped the car off and let them do everything soup to nuts - disassembly, stripping, body repair, prep, paint, buff, glaze, and re-assembly. It cost more, but it was right for me and the amount of time I have..

But to make a long story short, based on what I went through, I think the only "standard" price I found was for stripping and painting. Which I found to be $1K and $3K respectively at all the shops I spoke to. Everything else depends on what you ask them to do. :-)

[gtome]

I understand why no one will give a firm price. If I knew that bug was going to be in that bad of shape I wouldnt have restored it. It had one ding in the quarter panel. Appeared to be in great shape! I had to replace the lower 6" of the entire body!! Thats how deceving things can be. I also understand why they charge so much for the work. Its very tough and repetitive. I thought after I read all I could on it that it would be a breeze. I actually would just sand until my arms wouldnt work anymore, go in, and start again the next day.

[JoshStratton]

gtome, what year is that VW? A 63? Kinda hard to tell without seeing the lights and no turn signals. VERY nice color! That is the color I wanted to paint my 79 TA. What color is that? I love those 5 spokes. I had them on a ragtop I had. Have you been to http://www.airkewld.com/ ? They are trying to create a pro-touring type atmosphere for VWs....awesome stuff.

[gtome]

Kuhlryde, it is a 65. I shaved the turn signals and added 1950 pontiac tailights just to be different. The color is tangerine pearl from a 2004 special edition PT Crusier. I have been to Airkewled many times, I originally wanted to use their air ride on my car, but ended up spending too much money on everything else. So, I just lowered the rear 1 spline and put dropped spindles, and adjusters with a 4" narrowed beam up front with no shocks. That car is super fun to drive, its like a street legal go-cart. I have seen how they are stuffing 18's under bugs with performance driving in mind. Very cool!! I cant even think about driving mine like that with those 135's up front, its scary enough just getting caught in the rain!!