47-59 Repop fender painting

[hogfarm]

I ended up buying a pair of repop fenders for the 54, I got a couple OEM fenders but they needed a little more work than I have time for now. So I took the fender and the wheel tubs to the body shop to get an estimate on the paint, I was shocked they wanted $1400.00 plus the cost of doing the body work on the tubs (some lines from when they were rolled). And I had the left over PPG paint from when I had the truck painted.

[mongocanfly]

ouch,,
nothing suprises me much anymore
but last week i sent a buddy to tractor supply to get 2 cans of rustoluem spray paint..
i found out after i sprayed it that it cost $15 a can...bigtime shocker

[dsraven]

are you painting them yourself then? doing the metalwork beforehand and just letting them spray? just gonna suck it up and let them do the whole thing?
sometimes hanging around the autobody paint supply place can give you a lead on a fella who does small jobs out of his own little shop. they can be cheaper because less overhead and management. a quick ask at the paint store may come up with a name too.

[mr48chev]

I sent one of my former students a PM about painting the fenders and tubs.

That was quick, he answered back and said he isn't taking on any work because of an issue with one of his eyes.

[PDW HOTRODS]

Are they front or rear fenders? What bodywork is needed? Even repop parts need work and they need to be test fit at the very least. It would be best to do bodywork with them installed. Some new parts look great until you install them and all parts to them.

[hogfarm]

Originally Posted by PDW HOTRODS

Are they front or rear fenders? What bodywork is needed? Even repop parts need work and they need to be test fit at the very least. It would be best to do bodywork with them installed. Some new parts look great until you install them and all parts to them.

My knowledge of painting is very limited. In the past I took all my car and bike stuff to a guy I could trust to do a good job, He is no longer around.SO today I went to a few more body shops in town. the prices ranged from $1400 to $450. There is a restoration shop in town that was the cheapest, but not sure of the quality. Tomorrow I will be fitting the rear fenders, I know better than just hope they fit, found out the hard way

[mr48chev]

One thing that I have found with rebop fenders or replacement fenders is that one needs to remove the coating that they have on them when they are shipped. epdm or what ever it is. Some of that doesn't work well with paint.

With any paint and body guy one needs to see actual examples of their work. I don't know if the guys at one rebuild shop here in town would just prep and shoot a pair of fenders or not but they turn a lot of wrecks in to real nice looking cars every week and run a lot of Lexis and Mercedes type cars through the shop. Use to be there were always body and paint men who did side jobs at night and on weekends. Back years ago there was always a young guy who painted at a dealership or shop in the daytime and did a couple of side job paint jobs in the evenings during the week for spending money.

[gsinon]

While $1400 may sound like a lot of money, at $60 per parlor hour that is only 23 hours of work. Not as bad when you break it down that way. Still expensive yes, but an easier pill to swallow.

As said by Mr48Chev, be really careful leaving that factory applied primer that is on there. I know of a shop that bought one of those repop 69 Camaro bodies that came in the black "e coat" primer. They sanded and primed then finished the car. Fully finished and driving. Six months later little pin head blistered formed all over the car. When it was popped you could see small rust in the middle. They had to dismantle an entire running driving hot rod and strip it to bare metal and start all over again.

Same on the aftermarket hood I put on my daughters square body. When I sanded a small area there was micro rust under the primer. I stripped it and started as a new bare metal part.