Cost of Paint and Bodywork?!

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DentalDart

DentalDart

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Is this really what a 20k paint job looks like (the grey truck)?!
Imperfections all through out where the body panels meet, paint chipping where the hood closes, not clear as glass and a babies ***?

I get that paint and body work is a skill, one which I don’t have. But for 20k at a local shop do you really get that many imperfections, especially after waiting for a year to get in? Is the guy lying about the cost of it maybe? **** my neighbor paid 3k for the same quality of a paint job at Maaco and was in and out within 2 weeks…

The orange one is for sale but tons of orange peel and I think he wants more than 25k for the car.

And people complain about the cost of dental work or a crown that lasts many many years, that you never see and use all day every day and it’s only 3-600 out of pocket costs.

At this cost I should make a plastic paint booth and buy it to do myself. I’d be pissed if I paid 20k for a paint job and had that many imperfections.

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I would expect a whole lot better quality work for that much $$. It also depends on how much metal work was needed before the paint. Some people say that a good bodyman is often not a great painter, and vice versa.
I have not had a car painted myself lately, but my brother has had few done, not sure what he paid, but This is one that was done a year or two ago.
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Granted, you can't see much in that picture, but I have seen that car up close and it is very straight and well done, black shows everything.
 
pics #2, #4, #5 look like polishing compound that wasn't washed off. It is hard to tell. Other things that it may be with my creaky old eyes, possibly poor prep and contamination if that white is a LACK of paint. That **** in the raingutter on #4 is on the bodyman before the painter if it's bondo or other hard stuff that needs to be removed with a die grinder.
That pinstriping is just painful to look at. At least the door lines up. Sorta. I'd like to see the gap all the way around.
The orange peel on the right rear quarter behind the door handle can be wet sanded out.

Neither of those jobs are worth $25,000. or even $5,000

edit:
I just noticed the lack of inner fender. That's gonna SUCK to clean the engine compartment, and rockchips on the inside of the hood? Bleh.
 
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Ottmundr said:
pics #2, #4, #5 look like polishing compound that wasn't washed off. It is hard to tell. Other things that it may be with my creaky old eyes, possibly poor prep and contamination if that white is a LACK of paint. That **** in the raingutter on #4 is on the bodyman before the painter if it's bondo or other hard stuff that needs to be removed with a die grinder.
That pinstriping is just painful to look at. At least the door lines up. Sorta. I'd like to see the gap all the way around.
The orange peel on the right rear quarter behind the door handle can be wet sanded out.

Neither of those jobs are worth $25,000. or even $5,000
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That pin striping is brutal.
 
Ottmundr said:
pics #2, #4, #5 look like polishing compound that wasn't washed off. It is hard to tell. Other things that it may be with my creaky old eyes, possibly poor prep and contamination if that white is a LACK of paint. That **** in the raingutter on #4 is on the bodyman before the painter if it's bondo or other hard stuff that needs to be removed with a die grinder.
That pinstriping is just painful to look at. At least the door lines up. Sorta. I'd like to see the gap all the way around.
The orange peel on the right rear quarter behind the door handle can be wet sanded out.

Neither of those jobs are worth $25,000. or even $5,000
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It looked like a white lack of paint and looked like some goo from the back of tape, like it just got painted over and it’s coming off.

Yeah the pinstriping was rough. Really I didn’t find to many cars at the show that I saw paint and thought “damn that’s a nice paint job…” besides the paint on the new cars lol.

I have an old shitty paint job and it would have fit right in.

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Sorry, I'm not a paint guy. Whatever was good enough back in '71 when my car was built is good enough for me. Skim coat the whole car and paint like wet glass.......You can have it. I can really respect the talent that goes into that level of work though.......I'm not knocking that.
 
@missing linc I have heard black is hard to do. This is why it is hard not knowing anyone local and trying to find a shop to do my paint. I don’t trust anyone lol. If it’s gonna look like **** I may as well be the reason it looks like **** :rofl:
 
There are suckers born every minute and combine that with folks who might not be detail oriented, a Body Shop can get sign off on a car w/o the customer raising any concern or unhappiness.

The number of cars I see driving around with a slightly different colour body panel is unreal! And most of those the owner probably didn’t even notice it’s a slightly different colour!
 
CFD244 said:
Sorry, I'm not a paint guy. Whatever was good enough back in '71 when my car was built is good enough for me. Skim coat the whole car and paint like wet glass.......You can have it. I can really respect the talent that goes into that level of work though.......I'm not knocking that.
Click to expand...

Oh I agree to an extent. 20k is a lot of money for a paint job, it better be perfect, no?
 
DentalDart said:
@missing linc I have heard black is hard to do. This is why it is hard not knowing anyone local and trying to find a shop to do my paint. I don’t trust anyone lol. If it’s gonna look like **** I may as well be the reason it looks like **** :rofl:
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There is nothing worse than paying for a job (from someone who professes to be a pro), and getting back something no better than you could do yourself.
 
Painting cars is subjective. My painter does the Cords, Duesys, Auburns, and other concours stuff for Pebble-Beach and such. It always costs me 15-20K for my show-worthy cars. I did that work when I was younger. No way I'd do that crap now.
 
There are reasons some of us only desire a "driver" type old car!!!!

Want a perfect body/paint job. Go to the local Branson Mopar show in May and find the "show" cars with paint that suits YOU and ask who did the work. Then take YOUR car to that shop and get a bid (estimate).

Good body work ain't cheap. We all know that. The cheapest part is the materials., and those get higher all the time. Labor. Lots of labor. Like good mehanic, it ain't cheap. and body work is lots more effort!

Sometimes the owner that booats of a $20,000 paint job also boasts that his 360 turns out 1500 h.p.
 
LOL............Work like a dog on the car. The engine, the transmission, the suspension, the electrical, the brakes, the metalwork, the welding.......proud as punch about the hundreds of hours, and your accomplishments the first question they ask is.............Did you paint it yourself? Just like here when a member posts pics of a project they are working on. Regardless of the work stage...........What colour are you painting it? I guess it really is important, just not to me.
 
CFD244 said:
LOL............Work like a dog on the car. The engine, the transmission, the suspension, the electrical, the brakes, the metalwork, the welding.......proud as punch about the hundreds of hours, and your accomplishments the first question they ask is.............Did you paint it yourself? Just like here when a member posts pics of a project they are working on. Regardless of the work stage...........What colour are you painting it? I guess it really is important, just not to me.
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Red. Solid, not metallic.
Red cars go faster.
Black cars collect pollen and water spots.
Yellow darts with black bumblebee stripes also go fast.
Sub-Liime/Sassy Grass is nothing to sneeze at.
Panther Pink is wild but not for me.

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MMissile said:
Painting cars is subjective. My painter does the Cords, Duesys, Auburns, and other concours stuff for Pebble-Beach and such. It always costs me 15-20K for my show-worthy cars. I did that work when I was younger. No way I'd do that crap now.
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I don’t want a 15-20k paint job. But no way in heck would I pay 20k for a paint job that isnt perfect. It just shocked me when he said he paid that much for it.
 
Materials can easily be $5000++ Most body shops charge $100 an hour. One man for "1" 40 hour week is $4000. We are up to almost $10 grand. If there is anything more to do than sand, seal, prime, base coat, clear coat, wet sand and buff it may very well cost $20,000+ That is no metal repair or panel replacement.
 
barbee6043 said:
There are reasons some of us only desire a "driver" type old car!!!!

Want a perfect body/paint job. Go to the local Branson Mopar show in May and find the "show" cars with paint that suits YOU and ask who did the work. Then take YOUR car to that shop and get a bid (estimate).

Good body work ain't cheap. We all know that. The cheapest part is the materials., and those get higher all the time. Labor. Lots of labor. Like good mehanic, it ain't cheap. and body work is lots more effort!

Sometimes the owner that booats of a $20,000 paint job also boasts that his 360 turns out 1500 h.p.
Click to expand...

I’m going to that this year! Wonder if my old **** box can make the drive lol.

I already have a couple paint/body work guys to check out. I’m also going to ask the guy whom I bought the car from who he recommends as his cars are top notch.
 
There's a reason why I haven't painted my 66. I like leaning on it at car shows. I pull in, wipe off the bugs, shine the bumpers and the chrome and crack a beer!
 
I drive and race my cars, regardless of how much they cost. I believe it would be even dumber to invest a ton of money into a car....then let it sit.
 
Ottmundr said:
Red. Solid, not metallic.
Red cars go faster.
Black cars collect pollen and water spots.
Yellow darts with black bumblebee stripes also go fast.
Sub-Liime/Sassy Grass is nothing to sneeze at.
Panther Pink is wild but not for me.

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Click to expand...
Red paints are the most costly to purchase [pigments]. The more red it is, the higher the cost...
 
Just the side of the car... 16 grand Canuck bucks. Then I couldn't live with the "new and old" so add another 25 grand to do the rest of the car.
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