Price of a paint job nowadays?

[bad6772]

My color is not Candy...Although one would think that its not...Its a Factory Saab Color that I Doctored up some...I added Pearl in mine.What I did and What shade of pearl...Sorry But I have to keep that to myself....I chose this color because I never seen our trucks the same shade or effect....Some are close But I can spot them very easily The pearl changed the color ALOT....And another thing to add is...I sprayed Waterbourne base versus Solvent base....The colors are awesome and IMO brighter,deeper tone and just more rich in color.... Cost wise, I have roughly 4,500 or 5,000 in everything body and paint wise...Labor wise I have done this whole project myself....And I have roughly 600 to 700 hours in it..400 or so in body work and paint.......My guess would be around 10,000 to 12,000 to have one done RIGHT....But thats a guess. If I was going to quote a job like Sweet Pea to some one....Body and paint work only....It would take more to make me do it...Hope this helps...And the link is in my signature....from start to finish....Hope this helps you out some.....

[nuke1]

this truck, not yours tony

[bad6772]

LOL......Thanks Nuke.....

[BigDan3131]

Our shop strips them to bare steel and I work every inch over till its perfect. Show paint or not, its all a matter of choice. Me personally I would tear it down too and single color inside and out with one of those hot greens. I would say 6k or less depending on whats under that paint.

[Driveway Dreams]

VW had a great bright green on the early Bugs. Sorry I do not have the color off hand. They also had a great one on the GTi in 2000 called Cosmic Green. Picture below. Just to help you open up some color options. Otherwise it sounds like you have the info you wanted.

[67slammer]

its all in what you want to pay for if you are not real concerned on how long your paint job last or how it looks go to macco, but if you are looking for a show quality paint job it will be expensive. any real bodt man will want to strip it down to bare metal so that they are not painting over some one elses body work. a nice show quality job around here is 5 grand and up. good luck with your truck i hope it turns out the way you want it. mike

[vintagesteel]

it's funny how people STILL think there are only TWO paint jobs! Maaco and show quality. There are a WHOLE bunch in between.

[Driveway Dreams]

Oh, how true a point that is.

[turp mcspray]

Originally Posted by vintagesteel

it's funny how people STILL think there are only TWO paint jobs! Maaco and show quality. There are a WHOLE bunch in between.

I thought there was only one. Show quality!LOL!!!

[bad6772]

Do it right or just leave it alone.IMO...90% of a paint job is prep....you dont have to spend a fortune but you also get what you pay for...

[woodman13]

You are looking at $1500 in shaving and another $1500 in color change for jams and intierior and $3000 for outside...so what is that like $6000 to make it look like the green one.

An alternative would be shave the lights and handles your self for $500 (door pops and small welder) and have just the door jams painted and go with black interior and paint the inside with a rattle can in black or flat black. Then take it to a good Macco like place for the candy green for $1500-2000. Shop around and talk to the painter, not just the guy at the counter who is a salesman. You would still be around $2500-$3000 total. Go with a different color and you could be done for $1500-2000 total.

[woodman13]

When I say Macco like place...I mean a place that turns out cars and doesn't have 20 unfinished projects sitting in the shop/parking lot. Lots of shops do good work, but take 3-6 months to get it done. Macco is a fast/economical place and they will get you on the road in 7-10 days depending on how busy they are.

I also like Peachtree(i think that is what it is called) Macco (shop around and find a good one, they are not all the same). Also look to your local tech school for some good custom work by young up and coming painters who would die to paint something like your truck.

Just my .02

[Blitz]

I hope that when it's THAT time for me I can get a new car quality paint job. It doesn't NEED to be 100% perfect but I definitely DON'T want a Bubba-Jim's Backyard Bargain Bucket-n-Brush special either.

Ideally, I'd love to learn to do it myself.

[Blitz]

So did the answers bring you any closer to a conclusion?

[DeanLittle]

Wonder how much a paint job like this is?

http://www.hardlifestyle.com/heatwav...p_car_vid.html

[wwotr]

Originally Posted by Blitz

So did the answers bring you any closer to a conclusion?

Well I'm looking for my Truck to be a "Daily Driver" and put it in about 2-8 local shows a year.

What I DO want (in a perfect world) is:
1)All the Clip/Moulding holes filled.
2)Inside of Cab painted (yes the tanks behind the seat).
3)Doors, Tailgate, Hood painted seperatley.
4)Jams Painted.

It will all be the same color, but I may want to add a single colored pinstripe.

Ideally I'd like to not pay more than $6K.
I think if I look hard enough, that it can be done.

If not, then I may have to lower my sights in numbers 1-4 above.

Roger
"RATIKLE"

[Iforgotmypassword]

Here's my rant for the day.
People like to brag that they spent $6000 on a sound system, and $8000 on wheels and tires, and $1500 to do all the bodywork and paint.
That's why almost no shops will even look at anything other then collision work.
Most guys will shop around until they find the cheapest price, then cry about the job they got, and how long it took.
Really, what the hell did they expect?
There.Done.

[turp mcspray]

Body and paint work is one area where you deffinitly get what you pay for. Paint job A is nicer than paint job B. It's not so much that painter A is better than painter B. Painter A probably spent more time on it than painter B. A lot of people seem to think that the $5000 job and the $30,000 job took the same amount of time to do and one guy is charging more because he is better at it. Unless he is a crook, it ain't so!
In my shop, I approach every job the same...If this was my car/truck and I am going to keep it forever, and never want to have to redo it because it is falling apart, how would I do it? Taking this approach means there a LOT of extra details that must be addressed that the average person will not see and therefor can't understand how so much time could have been spent on it. All this = more time which = more money. A couple years ago I did a 55 chevy pickup for a guy that was going to give it to his son. Therefor he wanted it as cheap as I could do it without it falling apart in a short time. I cut every corner I could without being ashamed to say I did the truck. I STILL spent 300 hours on it. Normally I would figure 400 hours on a truck. That being said He spent $15,000 on what I would consider a low end job from my shop. Yes...people think I'm crazy and high priced but NOBODY has EVER came back because their car was falling apart! I figure anybody can do an average job. I have always wanted to be the known as being the BEST guy. When some tells me they just want an average type of job I tell them, if you don't want me to the the best job that I can go somewhere else.
There are lots of different levels or grades of jobs. Body and paint is THE most time consuming part of any vehicle build, and the most noticeable. If you have $100,000 car with a turd paint job, people will see your car as a turd!
Just my view from behind the paint gun!

[wwotr]

Originally Posted by turp mcspray

Body and paint work is one area where you deffinitly get what you pay for. Paint job A is nicer than paint job B. It's not so much that painter A is better than painter B. Painter A probably spent more time on it than painter B. A lot of people seem to think that the $5000 job and the $30,000 job took the same amount of time to do and one guy is charging more because he is better at it. Unless he is a crook, it ain't so!
In my shop, I approach every job the same...If this was my car/truck and I am going to keep it forever, and never want to have to redo it because it is falling apart, how would I do it? Taking this approach means there a LOT of extra details that must be addressed that the average person will not see and therefor can't understand how so much time could have been spent on it. All this = more time which = more money. A couple years ago I did a 55 chevy pickup for a guy that was going to give it to his son. Therefor he wanted it as cheap as I could do it without it falling apart in a short time. I cut every corner I could without being ashamed to say I did the truck. I STILL spent 300 hours on it. Normally I would figure 400 hours on a truck. That being said He spent $15,000 on what I would consider a low end job from my shop. Yes...people think I'm crazy and high priced but NOBODY has EVER came back because their car was falling apart! I figure anybody can do an average job. I have always wanted to be the known as being the BEST guy. When some tells me they just want an average type of job I tell them, if you don't want me to the the best job that I can go somewhere else.
There are lots of different levels or grades of jobs. Body and paint is THE most time consuming part of any vehicle build, and the most noticeable. If you have $100,000 car with a turd paint job, people will see your car as a turd!
Just my view from behind the paint gun!

Turp,
I've got a guy who works at a local Customizing shop. "Creative Concepts".
He just finnished building a Grill (just a grill) for a Willys Coupe.
Cost $9K.
I hear what your saying.
I've got a Settlement coming and could pay well over $6K for a paint job, but whether I'm willing to do it or not is another story. I may not get a lifetime paint job for $6K, but it will also be a Daily Driver that will just be covered by a Car Cover during the Winter Months as our Garage is just big enough for my Wifes Motorcycle & mine.
I can't see dropping $20K for a paint job and have it sit out in the rain/Snow of Winter.
Just my .02 cents worth.

Roger
"RATIKLE"

[turp mcspray]

Originally Posted by wwotr

Turp,
I've got a guy who works at a local Customizing shop. "Creative Concepts".
He just finnished building a Grill (just a grill) for a Willys Coupe.
Cost $9K.
I hear what your saying.
I've got a Settlement coming and could pay well over $6K for a paint job, but whether I'm willing to do it or not is another story. I may not get a lifetime paint job for $6K, but it will also be a Daily Driver that will just be covered by a Car Cover during the Winter Months as our Garage is just big enough for my Wifes Motorcycle & mine.
I can't see dropping $20K for a paint job and have it sit out in the rain/Snow of Winter.
Just my .02 cents worth.

Roger
"RATIKLE"

I know the shop you speak of. I totally understand not wanting to drop that kind of coin on a paint job. The most dissapointing aspect of what I do is the simple fact that body and paint work is THE MOST LABOR INTENSIVE part of building a vehicle, which puts it out of reach of the common man who simply LOVES his vehicle for what it is...something to use and get enjoyment out of!
I go to car shows and try not to bend over and look at most cars too closely because I always think "this car deserves soo much better". I've been told "scott..you can't save em all" but I want to!! Most people have NO idea the work invoved in bringing back something from the dead. Everybody has seen the pics of "sweet pea", the green pickup on the site. I wonder if he kept track of his hours on that. Take his hours times the shop rate where he works see what it comes to. I'm sure everyone on here would s###!
Times change. What was an enclosed trailer, show queen 15 years ago, is now driver quality! It's gotten to the point where a guy needs a frame off resto on his daily driver to be accepted anymore!
I tried to stay out of this thread because I am very passionate about what I do and I knew if I spoke up it would turn into a book.LOL! I tell people that even if they will never paint anything themselves learn as much about the subject as you can! That way when you look for someone to hire to work on your baby, you will know the right questions to ask and hopefully they will care more about giving you a quality job than just taking your hard earned money. I could go on for days...I'm slapping myself right now!!

[Blitz]

So for those of you that know...what range is the type of paint job you see on your average new car? A car that just rolled off the lot...your average Honda, Chevy or Volkswagen. I appreciate how deep the paint looks at cars under lights in an indoor car show but to be honest, like said above, I just want something that's nice on the streets and is pretty but doesn't cost the same price as buying a car.

Turp, what are good (free knowledge) sources to learn from? Are there any books, sites, DVD's, etc. you'd recommend owning? This a skill I think is valuable to pick up.

[turp mcspray]

I would read EVERYTHING you can get your hands on! Everybody has a different way of doing the same thing. I worked for a guy back when I was like 18 or 19, every car he did he did exactly the same way. Meaning he always used the same grit sandpaper, on the same block, in the same direction,etc. Every car he did looked the same. The car he did yesterday and the car he did 10 years ago. It just boggled my mind that he never tried anything new!
Every single vehicle I do I try to find a way to do it better and faster than the one before. I have my same basic method that I adhere to but I will try different sandpaper grits or different types of sanding blocks or different buffing pads and compounds etc. Sometimes when I'm done I'll say "man that worked out great doing it that way!" other times "well that didn't work out worth a s###!" I'm forever trying to improve my skills. To me if you are totally happy with how your jobs are turning out, you're not pushing yourself hard enough. Thats just me. I'm am an annal s.o.b. when it comes to body and paint work. I DEMAND perfection from myself, but can never get it. I realize that probably makes no sense to someone else. Hell it don't make sense to me!
The bottom line is read anything you can, ask questions to anyone you can, and don't be afraid to try something new. Getting good at this is a never ending journey of experimentation.
Sorry...I really think I could go on forever when it comes to this subject. I'll slap myself again so I shut up! LOL!!

[wwotr]

Like I said, I may have to Lower my Standards.
I mean obviously its gonna cost more to take each piece off (Doors, Tailgate, Hood ect) and paint them, then I'd say "leave em' on and paint them".
If it was gonna cost X amount of Dollars to paint the inside of the Cab the same color as the outside, then I may go Black and "Rattle Can" it myself.
But I may find someone that can do a Paint Job and if it lasts for 5-7 years, then I'm happy. Its all fluid and nothing is set in stone.

If I had to "Put My Foot Down" and not change something, it would probably be, having the Interior, the same color as the Exterior.
If I found someone like Maaco, Miracle Auto ect that said they could do it for $3K-$3.5K, I'd probably do it in a Heartbeat.
I'm not talking 20 coats of Lacquer, I'm talking Dupont Paint.
I've HAD my days of being "Fastidious" about my Paint Jobs, and all I did was NOT want to drive the Vehicle for fear of screwing up the Paint!

Roger
Of coarse I can tell you whats gonna BURN through my $$ is having all the Holes filled (Braized) where the Moulding Clips used to go.
Not to mention the "Snaps" that have to be removed from the Bed were the Snap-On Tarp used to be.

;+/

Roger
"RATIKLE"

[turp mcspray]

WWOTR,
If you can find someone who does work to your liking, that is able to do it on the side in there garage for example, that would be the only way to get around the cost. I worked full time in my garage at home for 8 years and was charging $30 an hour. Right now the going rate in town is $53 an hour. I usually charge between $45 and $50 an hour. (Because I am stupid and like to make it a little more affordable for people to get their cars done) With the overhead I have now,believe it or not, I struggle to survive. All I do is resto work. I hate collision work and stay away from it, other than the ocassional friend or family job. I guess thats the price I pay for a job that I love.

[wwotr]

Yea ..I asked my Friend (the one that works at Creative Concepts),
if he'd like to make a little side money. He said he's so burnt out by doing Body Work for over 30 years, he said no way.
Then he started spouting all the California Bull**** EPA laws, Methods, Collection, Spray Booths.
BLAH...BLAH....BLAH.....



Roger
"RATIKLE"