Paint Quote - What is Reasonable?

[jabborabbo]

tutone is exactly right!!! He’s absolutely on the money!!!

[mr.mud1]

i know paint work has gone through the roof in recent years but i'd never be able to afford $20,000 or more for paint work,i've done it myself before and i guess would again.this past year i went through paint torture,having to have my 72 truck painted...twice.once in May by a guy who didn't care and it showed.$2200.00 later and $529.00 for single stage urethane and nothing else,i had a mess to deal with.the truck was apart as far as all the trim,door glass and on and on before i dropped it off.then found another man to paint it again in October,he had a horrible job on his hands fixing somebody else's screw up but did a marvelous job but another $5500.00 and almost $800.00 in paint and supplies.i almost had a miscarriage when he told me what i owed him but i'm very happy now with his work,the care he took and i now know he treated me more than fair at $60.00 an hour.my truck is going back together now and i think looks very nice.i do have a 39 Chrysler i'm going to get back to once the truck is done,i'm terrified about what that'll cost by the time i need paint but i guess it'll be going to the man who just painted my truck,it'll cost whatever it costs i guess or i'll have to it myself,one or the other?

[tutone]

Originally Posted by mr.mud1

i know paint work has gone through the roof in recent years but i'd never be able to afford $20,000 or more for paint work,i've done it myself before and i guess would again.this past year i went through paint torture,having to have my 72 truck painted...twice.once in May by a guy who didn't care and it showed.$2200.00 later and $529.00 for single stage urethane and nothing else,i had a mess to deal with.the truck was apart as far as all the trim,door glass and on and on before i dropped it off.then found another man to paint it again in October,he had a horrible job on his hands fixing somebody else's screw up but did a marvelous job but another $5500.00 and almost $800.00 in paint and supplies.i almost had a miscarriage when he told me what i owed him but i'm very happy now with his work,the care he took and i now know he treated me more than fair at $60.00 an hour.my truck is going back together now and i think looks very nice.i do have a 39 Chrysler i'm going to get back to once the truck is done,i'm terrified about what that'll cost by the time i need paint but i guess it'll be going to the man who just painted my truck,it'll cost whatever it costs i guess or i'll have to it myself,one or the other?

I know all we have is pictures to look at, but your truck looks great from here. I think also that at that price, it sounds as if you did alright on the price as well. That is more in line with what I would think a man should charge rather than 15-20K. Of course all the xtras like bodywork and "hours" of prep work add up to. Looking forward to seeing your truck ready for the road.

[mr.mud1]

Originally Posted by tutone

I know all we have is pictures to look at, but your truck looks great from here. I think also that at that price, it sounds as if you did alright on the price as well. That is more in line with what I would think a man should charge rather than 15-20K. Of course all the xtras like bodywork and "hours" of prep work add up to. Looking forward to seeing your truck ready for the road.

yes sir,thanks.i did well,no complaints from this end.the paint work from May was a disaster but this lastest fella did a marvelous job.i asked him to paint it like it was his,and he did.i did have it all apart and had done most of the blocking before it went to him,he did tell me that what i had done for him was good work and i paid for the paint and supplies myself and got a bit of a break there.all good.he certainly treated me fair.my truck will be ready by spring,can't wait to drive it again.it's been a struggle since i bought it.all the best.Greg

[67swb72klb]

Nothing is reasonable these days material costs are twice as insane as they were already and then people that did this work are getting thinned out..

[1971Stepside]

After reading the whole thread my opinion will be no different from others, but as a simple point of reference I guess. I'm in Missouri. Finding a shop that will even do a classic is tough. The ones still doing them are getting a premium and often have at least a year wait list. I have a trailer queen and my paint was easily in the 20K to 30K range after it was all said and done. I did all the rust repair prior to the taking it to the shop. It took a year to get done and there are still a couple things I am not happy with. When I do another one it will be patina or I'll spend the money on one that has already been painted. IMO, it's the worst part of a restoration project is paint and body because of the cost and timeline. Good luck.

[LS short box]

So my doc said I need to lose a little weight. So I thought why not make a little "car parts" money and lose some weight so the last few weeks I been helping out a local body shop. They are letting me do the block sanding on a couple of their resto projects. So two days a week 4 hours per day.10 AM to 2 PM.
Most folks don't have a clue what it takes to do a proper paint job. Also most folks don't understand it's not rocket science. Lot's of elbow grease before paint. But it's just that elbow grease.
The body shop owner is a car guy and I think he enjoyed coaching me thru the block sanding on my 68 C10 project. Keep in mind he is 25 years younger than I am.
Customers would come into the shop and start asking me questions and I had to say talk to the boss. Because I was older they thought I was the shop owner.
Maybe local body shop would let you trade some part time work for paint work on you project?