paint question

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ddettloff

ddettloff

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Ok so my 67 cuda is ready for paint and my skills with a paint gun are less than stellar has been 5 years since last painted.
I took car to 3 shops for quotes to spray from bare metal body straight so they are not doing body work quotes range from min 5k to 8500.
The paint is urethane primer and paint 1 coat paint 2 clear coats.
I realize I live in a state where getting high is legal but what the hell are they smoking are these prices out of line just to shoot paint.
 
ddettloff said:
Ok so my 67 cuda is ready for paint and my skills with a paint gun are less than stellar has been 5 years since last painted.
I took car to 3 shops for quotes to spray from bare metal body straight so they are not doing body work quotes range from min 5k to 8500.
The paint is urethane primer and paint 1 coat paint 2 clear coats.
I realize I live in a state where getting high is legal but what the hell are they smoking are these prices out of line just to shoot paint.
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ddettloff,


(1) You didn't say who was supplying the paint. Depending on the color it could get very costly.

(2) Who is going to block sand the urethane primer before the top coat process.

(3) What level of finish are you looking for? Door jambs, under-hood, and under deck-lid? Cut and buff after topcoat? Show car or just a driver?

(4) What is the average door rate in your city?

(5) They may see bodywork needed that you don't see and are building it in the price.

(6) A lot of shops don't want to do "scratch and paint jobs" so they bid high to discourage the work.

I paint for a hobby now and wouldn't consider a job for under $5K and that just for upscale driver quality paintwork and no bodywork.
 
Is your car already bare metal, or do you expect the shop to strip it?
If your car is already stripped, at bare metal than it will need body work to make it straight.
Paint is expensive so I do not think their quotes are out of line.
I know if I had to pay somebody to do my duster it would be 2x of what you were quoted.
 
I am supplying paint.
I would do the block sanding after primer
door jambs under hood and trunk do not need painted as the color is the same
I drive my cars like this, beat them, break them, repeat process so the paint does not need to be show quality just look good.
I dont know what door rate is have not heard that term used.
the body shops all said no additional body work was needed .
My question more genneralized is that seems like alot for labor and was curious as to what kind of cost others have seen for this type of work.
 
Sounds like your car is bare metal now if I am reading your post right.So they need to prime and block and prime and block and block before paint.If you use high quality material it can add up quick.I have spent over $1000.00 on 3 gallons of primer.I am using a high grade of Sikkens and its not cheap.Sandpaper and other supplies add up quick too.Luckily I have a Uncle who has painted cars for 30 years.


Jim
 
ddettloff said:
Ok so my 67 cuda is ready for paint and my skills with a paint gun are less than stellar has been 5 years since last painted.
I took car to 3 shops for quotes to spray from bare metal body straight so they are not doing body work quotes range from min 5k to 8500.
The paint is urethane primer and paint 1 coat paint 2 clear coats.
I realize I live in a state where getting high is legal but what the hell are they smoking are these prices out of line just to shoot paint.
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Wow guys! My first thought was to totally agree with your last sentence, but it's been since the early 80's since i ran a supply store or sprayed anything. Costs were even rising back then with the popularity of urethanes, but i guess now days with current labor rates and many more regulations, it's gone up more then i thought. Still seems like big bucks for a regulation job to me. Thanks for enlightening me on the current situation guys. I think instead of applying for these crap jobs available, i just need to dust off the ol' Binks #7 and make some real cash.....lol :D.
 
We took a 69 Charger, in primer, and block sanded to a local body shop. Owner was Mopar guy. $5k, and perfect. (we had done bay and jambs, under hood and trunk.)
 
OldmanRick said:
Wow guys! My first thought was to totally agree with your last sentence, but it's been since the early 80's since i ran a supply store or sprayed anything. Costs were even rising back then with the popularity of urethanes, but i guess now days with current labor rates and many more regulations, it's gone up more then i thought. Still seems like big bucks for a regulation job to me. Thanks for enlightening me on the current situation guys. I think instead of applying for these crap jobs available, i just need to dust off the ol' Binks #7 and make some real cash.....lol :D.
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Binks #7 is a kick *** gun.

My personal choice is a Sharpe 775 with yellow, blue and red tips.
 
ddettloff said:
I am supplying paint.
I would do the block sanding after primer
door jambs under hood and trunk do not need painted as the color is the same
I drive my cars like this, beat them, break them, repeat process so the paint does not need to be show quality just look good.
I dont know what door rate is have not heard that term used.
the body shops all said no additional body work was needed .
My question more genneralized is that seems like alot for labor and was curious as to what kind of cost others have seen for this type of work.
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ddettlof,

Door rate means the same as hourly rate. Terminology differs from location to location.

Perhaps if you went with a 2k monocoat instead of BC/CC it might be a bit cheaper. I wouldn't suggest changing primers though.

I would check around some more and see if you can find a cheaper paint shop.

Maybe one of the FABO members could help you out. Put the word out you're looking for someone (with talent) to squirt your car.

IMHO $5k sounds about right for what you just described.

Good luck
 
ddettloff said:
Ok so my 67 cuda is ready for paint and my skills with a paint gun are less than stellar has been 5 years since last painted.
I took car to 3 shops for quotes to spray from bare metal body straight so they are not doing body work quotes range from min 5k to 8500.
The paint is urethane primer and paint 1 coat paint 2 clear coats.
I realize I live in a state where getting high is legal but what the hell are they smoking are these prices out of line just to shoot paint.
Click to expand...

Are you expecting a warranty?
 
Oldmanmopar said:
Better Get Maco
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Probably the best reply here.

The OP needs to remember that if a shop paints a car, that shop's name is forever tied to that car.

People will ask...... Who painted your car? You will tell them.

A complete paint job is a representation of the shops quality. That's one reason they charge so much. It doesn't matter how straight YOU (the car owner) thinks the car is, the car needs to be up to the business owners standards when it leaves.

I 100% guarantee that if I was painting your car you would not be doing ANY of the blocking.

I wouldn't even think about painting someone's car for under $10,000.
 
And prices like that is why this hobby ain't hardly for working men anymore.
 
if you drive your car like you stole it, beat on it, throw car parts in the back....I got a One-Day paint job 10 years ago and it still looks pretty good! That was before CA went to water colors.....$10K for paint, wow..good for you for getting that much for a job.
 
Dana said:
And prices like that is why this hobby ain't hardly for working men anymore.
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you got that right, I couldn't agree more with that statement I looked into getting mine shot the way I wanted it and they were crazy prices 8k for a 66 dart??? I don't think so. even done I don't think the car will be worth more than 8k tops if that. now if some one wanted to pay me that for it I'd probably tell them I want to drive it first then I'd sell it so I could do another one!
I didn't want the super exensive PPG paint. even though you do get good paint I just can't seem to wrap my head around a grand for cool vanilla paint and some clear for PPG and the price for a red or a metalic just goes up from there. yeah I went cheaper and shot a couple of coats of nason paint+hardener for 150.00 and 150 for the clear+hardener, 14.99 for gold pearl(from paintwithpearl) and I had some intercoat clear that I had used to paint my 75 goldwing and cover some decals before I cleared it . I used almost a gallon of hi-build and a quart of white sealer. another 100.00 or so. did it come out show car quality? nope not quite it's close though. but I wasn't looking for that I wanted a nice solid color with a little bling added to offset the solid color and I plan on driving the heck out of the car. show would take another coat or 2 of clear and flattening it out completely.
what took the longest was the prep and blocking, painting was a snap but the prep sucked big time. I probably have 100+ hours in sanding/blocking and just generally straightening up the car in order to shoot 2 coats of color ,2 intercoat with pearl and 2 coats of clear. (minus the oops's that occurred) so yeah I've got 3 grand in it if you give me 20.00 an hour for blocking. and the cost of the paint and primer. I've seen some great 3k jobs and some lousy 10k jobs. in a production shop they have to make money so the price is gonna be about double what I have into mine. can't fault em for that and if you can't shoot it yourself then you'll have to pay the piper and he's playing high! 10k for an abody in paint is just crazy in my opinion unless it's a 1 of 1 and very much a wanted type of car. our a's are not that rare yet. E bodies yep A's nope. I'd say 6k tops on a good paint job with no body work at all and it in hibuild but them blocking it to get ready to paint. then your so far underwater on the car that you'll have to eat a bunch of it just to sell the car. if it's a forever car that your going to keep then spend the money.


but that just my opinion and it's probably different than everyone else.
 
There was a 68 Formula S fastback fish on fleabay a while ago that had just gone through a complete rotiserri restoration / paint job. All the parts there for assembling a restored fish. Thing was like a model car and it was $10K ask.

Paint is simply too high and probably I will paint my fish myself as a result.
 
View attachment Hiring a Professional.jpg


The paint and very minimal body work were the only thing I farmed out on my car. I did the majority of the sanding -- 6 paint jobs lol -- myself.

View attachment Roof sanding.jpg

It was almost $8,500 for labor and materials and it's now been 13 years since it got painted. It still looks pretty good too.

As in the old days, it's still true now. You get what you pay for.
 
This topic comes up every couple months, here is what I have to say about it:

Some of the best paint jobs come out of personal garages, why? Who cares more than us about our ride? Nobody.

I say do it yourself, but I'm that type of person: Google Poor Man's Supplied Air Respirator, get a HF purple gun, maybe some TCPGlobal base coat, clear coat so you can fix it if you make a dribble, and make it happen. $500 bones.

Or pay someone a bunch of money to do it for you, and they will charge you good, because it's a ton of work, liability, and they have to do it all from metal because they have to verify so their paint sticks. And of course they don't trust you, they are the only ones that can read a tech sheet, remember that. :D

In the end you can buy a lot of paint for the price of having some one else do it for you, and you'll have one hell of a sense of pride and accomplishment when your finished, something you just don't get when you pay someone to do it for you.
 
PoisonDart74 said:
In the end you can buy a lot of paint for the price of having some one else do it for you, and you'll have one hell of a sense of pride and accomplishment when your finished, something you just don't get when you pay someone to do it for you.
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very true statement.

You said you've painted before 5 years ago? So you're not a complete novice. It had been almost 20 for me and I did mine in the garage. Yes it took some technique practice but not a lot.
new guns, stripper, primer, paper, color - somewhere around 1500. heck at that price I could afford to re-due, but it came out very nice for a garage job and more importantly I did it myself. I now have the tools and a lot of material left to continue doing it.
 
I will put my 2 cents in here. As a shop owner of a hot rod shop/restoration/fabrication shop. 10K would be close depending on color choice. Material cost alone will run 2500-3000K for a high quality material. Painting a car is very labor intensive as others have said. Not only to get the car ready to paint but buffing a car to a show ready finish is a ton of work in itself. we estimate around 40 hours of labor to wet sand and buff. Then comes reassembly.a good weeks worth of work for final assembly. A lot of shop including mine will not paint some ones all ready prepped car. Why, Because if the cars not right and someone ask at a show who did the work. Well I get the blame. So that is representation of my shop. Also you must consider over head. If a guys painting out of his garage then his cost would be much lower than mine. Is 10K a lot of money? most certainly. Is it not in the budget for some. Yes. Is this hobby getting expensive? Yes. Do it once and do it right would be my suggestion. Check with some other car guys around your area and see who they would suggest to do the work. Don't take it to a collision shop. Thats another story in it self. Just my 2 cents. good luck with your project. Tim
 
I bought a barracuda little over a year ago and the PO had the car pretty much ready for paint the car was primered when I bought it. The car has no major dents and no rust so there is not much work needed on the body. I took it to our local body shop and he quoted me around $3500 to paint give or take about $500. He does a very good job too, he painted a couple trucks my brother restored and they still look great years later. But, you have to realize I live in rural Iowa too, so labor rates seem to always be cheaper here than in the cities.
 
My $.02 You can't expect a cheap price from a high profile shop. There's a guy near me with a little shop that does cheap paint jobs. I've seen some of his work, from a daily driver $2k car painted for $800 to a blown vette for $$$. For $3k you get a pretty darn good paint job for a car with a finished value of $5-8k. If i was to have my gtx painted would i have him do it? Not sure if i'd take that chance, but i'd have him paint the dart. Bottom line, you get what you pay for (if the shop dosen't screw you, seen that happen too) But $8-10k for a car that may only be worth a little more than that, i don't think so.
 
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