Well I spent every day this week talking to paint shops about getting my car painted. I have never seen such a line of BS in my whole life. Everything from sorry we do not do whole car paint jobs up to I will paint your car for 10K since its a collector. I mean what a load of crap. I want a paint job I do not want to mortgage my house. Its not like this is my first rodeo. I was expecting between 1500 to 3000 at the very most and I never got on bid under 3000. I have not rust, very few dings and the original paint job so all they have to do is sand and paint. I am taking the car to the shop with all the rubber off, the chrome off and any parts not needed to paint off. What should be the going price and BTW I live in south texas right below Houston. I am seriously thinking of taking it across the border to mexico and let one of the real painting artist over there do the job. Take my own paints and pay for the labor.
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Ed Walden ----------------------------------------------------------------- 1954 Ford F-100 312 Y-Block Built for speed/9"Rearend/Aerostar Front IFS 2006 Ford F-150 1972 Ford Mustang Grande Coupe 2002 Triumph Trophy 1200
Ed Walden ----------------------------------------------------------------- 1954 Ford F-100 312 Y-Block Built for speed/9"Rearend/Aerostar Front IFS 2006 Ford F-150 1972 Ford Mustang Grande Coupe 2002 Triumph Trophy 1200
I got a couple of paint shop guys on another board pizzed @ me over this same thing its ridiculous how much they want to shoot a car not redo all the body work. Iam going to paint mine myself did it for years and i agree 1500$ should get you a nice paint job paint and materials being good quality about 500$ then maybe 5 hrs labor if they take time and over kill it. So 3500$ should be a great paint job with some additional body work IMHO
I too shopped around and everyone wants top dollar for their work, I even stopped in at a local paint shop that brings out some very nice work.him because i told him my budge I tried to get some info on doing it myself from t wont allow him to work on it. I was told i cant hang a rear quarter panel as a beginner its hard (pay the guy 1,000 to weld it on) i hung the rear quarter myself didnt turn out bad either. I even asked the guy about painting my car he gave me wrong steps to foul my work up on purpose because he didnt want me doing it myself. Bottom line is if ya want a decent paint job you may want to primer and block and body putty the car and get it straight then pay someone to lay on the paint.
Ed here in CA an "inexpensive" paint job is around 6K + and in some cases you have to live the car for several months so appearently is the same everywhere.
My job prevents me from doing that. My car is a daily driver and I really do drive it every day. I keep it covered when not in the garage but since the paint is so thin I cannot polish it I can only spray wax it. I do not dare use elbow grease on it. But the point is there is less then 1 days worth of body work and that is just small dings and nothing more. Add to that the upholster wants $400 to change out the top and I am supplying the top. That is one days work for these guys and you can bet that in between glueing and applying they will be working on several other projects. Its no wonder we all wind up doing most of our own work.
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Ed Walden ----------------------------------------------------------------- 1954 Ford F-100 312 Y-Block Built for speed/9"Rearend/Aerostar Front IFS 2006 Ford F-150 1972 Ford Mustang Grande Coupe 2002 Triumph Trophy 1200
289 and my BIL owns his own paint shop and hit BIL discount was 4K. I laughed my arse off and decided the next time he needs a favor with electronics or computers I am going to charge his arse.
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Ed Walden ----------------------------------------------------------------- 1954 Ford F-100 312 Y-Block Built for speed/9"Rearend/Aerostar Front IFS 2006 Ford F-150 1972 Ford Mustang Grande Coupe 2002 Triumph Trophy 1200
You pay for what you get when it comes to paint. If your looking to pay between 1500-3000k unfortunately that going to be the price of an earl's or a one day paint and body job and you wont be happy because its a production job, not custom. If you want it to look good and done right expect to AT LEAST pay 4800-7500 for paint ONLY and have your can tied up for 4-6 months.
I live in California and though I could get away with a semi custom job for 3k, it looked like crap! Sure from 10ft it looked awsome, but when you got down to it, man it looked half ass. All in all I ended up taking my car to a custom shop and had it done right for 10k, but even at that, there were still flaws.
What ever you choose remember NOTHING IS EVER PERFECT, ESPECIALLY PAINT JOBS!!!!!!
289 and my BIL owns his own paint shop and hit BIL discount was 4K. I laughed my arse off and decided the next time he needs a favor with electronics or computers I am going to charge his arse.
4k and you BIL is going to do it! Thats a GREAT THING AND PRICE! Its family so automatically someone is going to take more pride in the job. I say go for it!!
Posts: 3143
Joined: 1/18/2007 From: Las Cruces, NM Status: offline
I have a co-worker who is part owner of a paint shop with his brother in law south of Laredo, (yea in Mexico).
I have seen two vehicles he has painted and they look damn good. One was a 2003 Monte Carlo with hail damage, and the other was a 93 Chevy Dooley that was a well worn work truck. Nice body work and a very nice finish.
I can check on prices for you if you want. I would have let this guy do the paint on the 66 but it is a long trip from here and I was a little apprehensive about sending the 66 to Mexico...
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66 Coupe I-6 Conversion, 408 Windsor, Tremec TKO 600 Wilwood fronts, SSBC Rears 9" Track Loc.
I have a co-worker who is part owner of a paint shop with his brother in law south of Laredo, (yea in Mexico).
I have seen two vehicles he has painted and they look damn good. One was a 2003 Monte Carlo with hail damage, and the other was a 93 Chevy Dooley that was a well worn work truck. Nice body work and a very nice finish.
I can check on prices for you if you want. I would have let this guy do the paint on the 66 but it is a long trip from here and I was a little apprehensive about sending the 66 to Mexico...
I wouldn't pay less than $3000 for a paint job. And that's with no body work. Good paint is almost $300 a gallon!
Yeah, you can get it cheaper, you can get anything cheaper.
I've got about 7 grand into my car just for body and paint work. And after I get done spending another 5 grand to put the car back together it will still only be worth $12,000! Oh well.
Heres what you do,go to a Body shop and find out who actually does the shooting of the paint.Talk to him about doing it for you on the side and work something out.Rent a spray booth and have it done!!It should cost you about half price if you help with it as in sanding between coats and clear,etc,Good Luck!!I have never Paid more than $2500 to have a stang painted and that included all materials!!!
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1966 Fastback/Concours Correct/Vintage Burgandy 1968 Coupe 302/C4 Auto/Toreador Red Mettalic 1968 Coupe 302/C4 Auto/Sunshine Yellow/Black
Mine will be painted this spring. I was quoted (roughly) $2500 for them to do the prep and paint. $800 for me to do the prep and they shoot, colorsand and buff. I'll probably pay materials on top of that. I'm planning on about $1,500 total since their estimate was rough. They actually suggested it would be better for me to do the prep as I would be more particular, and they told me exactly how to do it. They will get the car stripped of chrome, sanded and ready for masking. They will shoot the exterior only plus under the hood - no door jambs or trunk. I get it back a week later. I'll also pay extra for them to pick up and deliver on their truck since the car will hardly be street legal. Small town (15,000 population) in central Illinois. This shop painted part of my 2005 cranberry red Mustang last winter after it got damaged. The color match was perfect and the amount of orange peel matched the factory paint. They painted my 99 Cherokee too and it was not quite as good but still quite nice. I worked in a body shop years ago and little has changed in prep. They gave me the right instructions. Painting does not take that much time. The prep does.
I've seen some pretty good paint jobs done in a garage with a box fan at the door. You can buy PPG, Martin Senour or other brands for about $500 or $600 to prime and paint. I waited 3 mo. for a bodyshop to paint one and all the body work and primer was done, all they had to do was scuff and shoot the paint. We traded on some work so I wasn't out much. After that I decided to paint my own, bought a cheap paint booth and a good gun. All that for what one paint job costs! They want everbody to think there is some great mystery to painting a car. Thats why they came up with basecoat/clearcoat, any idiot can shoot it. Even if you get some trash in it, the cut and buff is what makes the paint job now! Of course, the body work has to be good, or paint it white!
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If it was easy, I'd be done by now! 66 V8 coupe-stock 66 FB under construction- not stock
FWIW - don't forget about the other costs that the paint shops have. Enviornmental fees, rent, machinery, payroll taxes, city permits, insurance, workmans comp, etc... There are a lot more expenses then people realize - I guess if it's that easy, everyone would be hanging a sign and setting up shop. Then again, you can do it yourself and probably pay the same amount for all the required equiptment. That's why Mexico is so cheap, they don't have to pay for all that stuff. SUPPORT YOUR COUNTRY.
My paint and body was $3800 after we called in a personal favor from knowing the guy in charge of the shop. They took all the panels off, smoothed them out, primed, 3 coats of base and 4 coats of clear (or vice versa, I forget exactly) and put it all back together, including new weatherstrip/seals/trim that we provided. It's not a perfect job, but it looks real nice and is more than fine for a daily driver. Not bad at all for a local GM dealership to turn out I think.
< Message edited by Nabster -- 1/17/2008 12:54:35 PM >
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Cost of Paint Jobs - 
RE: Cost of Paint Jobs - 
