Aggravated4life

I was driving around the other day and stopped in a small body shop near me,asked them about getting my car repainted but when I asked them if they had a spray booth behind the building or something,since I didnt see one, they said no they didnt have one, I walked out the door.

Went to another shop a few miles down my road and spoke to the guy there and he came outside and quoted me about 13-1500 bucks to re do the car.
They have a real nice building,spray booth and etc.
Come to find out this guy knows vettes pretty well, and worked at a GM dealer in BG,Ky for a few years as a body man/painter before going into business himself.
Told me about the vettes he did and etc.
Knows all about using the formulated SMC and etc. for fixing the small stress cracks here and there and etc.

The paint job will be to sand down the entire car,not strip it though,sealerprimer and 3 coats of color and 3 coats of clear.
To keep costs down, I told him I can bring him the car with the moldings,trim and etc all removed which ill resinstall myself when its all done.

I took a look at a truck he just fixed and he did a really good job...even I was impressed...Ive been in the auto business quite a few years and able to spot body and paint repairs right away and sometimes even find many mistakes a body shop does at times.Couldnt really tell except for the fact the paint was so shiny and "fresh" looking.

So what do you think? Good price eh? For that price I know im not getting a concours repaint but from what ive seen there it should be a really good job.

Ive been quoated 3-4,000 dollars to repsray my car at various places and never could stomache the thought spending that kind of cash on a paint job.
And some of those places didnt even have a paint booth in the shop...no paint booth, I go someplace else.I dont care how good the painter is, if its done in the open shop, it will get filled with dust trapped in the paint.

Was gonna go yellow, but decided to keep it red.(Maybe Torch red)

Good deal or not?

Kale

If i could find a shop like that, I'd do it!

Jim85IROC

My materials cost to repaint my GTA was $750 for JUST PAINT related stuff. That's not including masking materials, and any body-work related materials. My total materials cost was well over $1000, and that's at my wholesale cost, not including the markup. If they're spraying for $1000-$1500, you're not going to get much.

For a good paint job without overspray and masking lines all over the place, $3-4k is the average.

And don't discount a place's abilities just because they don't have a spray booth. The best places in my area, including my father's body shop, are nothing more than glorified 2 car garages with an exhaust fan. All the body shops with enough money for a spray booth have that much money because they do cookie-cutter, substandard work.


[Modified by Jim85IROC, 3:12 PM 10/3/2001]

Flame Red

Bill,

Sounds too good to be true. I've been seeing prices for a complete repaint of about high two's to 3K for a bargin price. I would request him to give you some vette references he had perviously done and go see them for yourself.

Flame Red

Aggravated4life

Hey guys,
Thanks for the feedback...I thought the price was really cheap which is why I asked alot of questions when I was there.
I seen some of the work they did(not vettes) but have to say I was impressed with their paint work.

One of the reasons its going to be around 1500 is because Im going to strip the car of all the moldings, remove the window seals,strips, bumpers,headlights and mirrors myself.They will then be able to cover the entire car and not have to mask off any belt lines or window strips or etc.

ALso, where I live, the cost of living is VERY VERY cheap...the prices for most things here are cheaper then when I lived in NY.In fact my 2 bedroom brick house with a built in car port etc is 350 a month to rent.
That wouldve costed me 1200 bucks or more back on the east coast or any place the cost of living is high.
I think this may be a factor...the shop already has all the materials there,and dont have to go buy them for just my car alone.
They dont have the high overhead costs like shops do in expensive areas.
They also use PPG paints there.

Im looking at under 750 in materials and the rest is labor. 700 in labor is reasonable is it not?

When i lived in Ny, and worked in the automotive business, Ive seen 4-6 K jobs look no different or better then someone who did it for 2k or less.
It depends on the quality of the painter or bodyman themselves.If I use these guys, ill have to take a chance and hope they do a good job..thats how I would feel if I paid someone 4 k as well.

The vette shop I went to in NY wanted 4K to redo my car but that mean stripping everything down to bare fiberglass and redoing it from the shell up.
A paint job that will use the old paint as a base for the sealer/primer and paint isnt going to cost and arm and leg.
My orignal paint is still good but fading.

People who pay 3-4K for that kind of job is getting ripped off.
And thats how most every shop works but fail to tell the customer that.

Im not looking for a concours show quality paint job that cost usually over 5K,I cant afford that,but would like it.
However,I do want a good job thats better then factory or just the same.

You have to admit just because a paint job is 3-5 grand doesnt mean youre getting a job that has no corners cut.
Then again i wont deny that paying a cheap price can result n cheap work...it all depends on how the painter and body man wants to do the car.

Im thinking of bringing my rear bumper to them and have them paint it so I can see what kind of work Im going to get.
(its a spare bumper I have in another color,mine on the car has splits/cracks from parking lot idiots)

Ill keep ya posted if it works out good.If not Ill go someplace else.

CoolVette86

That's a great deal! I'd jump on that in a second! I can't see myself fork over anything more than a grand and a half. If that's the case, I'd spend $4 G's on a supercharger. :D

89C4L98

Not a bad price. I would ask for Dupont Chroma Base and spend a little extra... Dupont paint is better then PPG any day hands down. Ask any good body shop.

Aggravated4life

Hmm..sounds like an idea...ill speak with them again soon and see what they say about price and etc.
As I also stated, im going to bring a bumper to them and see how well they repaint it before making a final choice.
Thanks for the info.

88JDO

Sounds too good to be true. I would ask to see some of his Corvette work and what their paint jobs cost. It could very well be possible. I had my '77 media blasted for $1000 and then repainted with Sikkens urethane for $2000 but that was 7 years ago. If his work is good, go for it.

moffitt

I hope it's not a bait and switch deal. My materials bill was $750.00 at cost (I was working in a bodyshop at the time), not to mention the 3 weeks of work getting it ready. I wonder what he is leaving out to make money on?
I see now way to get a good paint job on a Corvette for less than $3,000.00?
Be sure and let us know how it turns out!


[Modified by moffitt, 7:59 PM 10/3/2001]

jfb

I smell a rat! I'm about to get my 87 painted and have talked to several paint shops and I can see how you can save some money by doing some of the prep work, but the materials cost alone is in the $750 range and there is sanding and other labor involved. $1500 sounds too cheap to me, something has to be left out for a good paint job. My paint is faded too and every shop said that the old paint must be removed.

Jim85IROC

I completely disagree. All of the major paint manufacturers are making the same stuff. Any urethane basecoat/clearcoat will be great regardless of the brand. My father uses Sherwin Williams, and it's the same stuff as the PPG, as the Martin Senior (sp?), as the Dupont, etc.

89C4L98

Ok.. Im not going to get into a argument here. Mabye it's personal preference, I have used both paints and found that the dupont paint is better imho.. and dupont color matching is more exact.

Aggravated4life

Keep in mind guys that youu can go to maaco or earl scheib and get a super cheap paint job for 600 bucks..I wouldnt do that anyways but I stopped in earls one day and they re did a 87 Vette in that burgundy color and it was pretty nice considering the price was 650 to do the car.
Of course I found so many flaws in the paint, like craters and dust spots and etc but the thing is, we tend to get what we pay for eh?I wouldnt use those shops but was making a point.

If I go this route with the shop that quoted me around 1500 Im hoping ill get great results,regardless that they dont want to charge me a huge amount.

ALso Its not always true you need to remove the old paint to re paint a car.
They can smooth down the old paint, spray a sealer topcoat and prime and paint over that.
The right way to do a vette would be to strip it down and do it from the shell up but thats a route I cant afford.

There was a guy in NY I almost had paint my vette for 2,000 but before I could drop off the car I had to move out west on short notice.

He did GREAT work...I saw all his references and all the photos of many many vettes he re did in his album of all the cars he did in his shop.2,000 was for a complete re paint.
leaving the factory paint on there,but sanding,sealer and etc etc.

He told me it depends on the car and how bad the old paint is, or if it was repainted too many times,etc in regarding if the car should be stripped down or leave the factory paint on there and redo it that way.

So I dont really see why a paint job that will leave the factory paint underneath should exceed 3 grand realistically.
Stripping the car down to the 'glass is very time consuming and alot of labor!

Most body shops Ive spoken to dont want or didnt want to take this route because they said it takes too long and is too expensive and they didnt have the schedule to do a car that way.
They recommended a restoration shop that follows a different schedule and works cars like that all the time.
But that ways alot more money.

ANyways ill go speak with them soon and see what may be left out...the only thing I can think of is wet sanding and polishing the paint job after the paint dries.
Many shops today dont do that anymore unfortunately.
A few that ive asked said no,they paint the car and give it to you that way.

JonM

A little word of warning for you. Be prepared to buy some new moldings if you plan on taking them off yourself. Once you have the bumpers removed, you are going to find the moldings bolted on. Some of the bolts will come off easily, others will just spin the studs and you will have to drill them out. The studs are not replaceable, so you end up buying new moldings.

Aggravated4life

Been there already...when I was going to get m Vette painted in NY by a painter, I took the bumpers and all the moldings off the car...I had to cut all the rusted nuts ff rendering the moldings useless.
Iput new moldings on all around after I moved and used antiseize on all the studs.
The only ones I may have to buy again is the door moldings, since they have that stick tape on them...I may end up bending them getting them off.
But the rest of the moldings should come off since theyve only been on the car a year and ve plenty of anti seize.
I still have a new set of rear bumper moldings I havent installed yet and will put those on after the bumper gets painted off the car.
Im also prob going to have to buy new outer window seal moldings...they usually bend alot trying to get them out the door due to those clips on them.
Good advice anyways to those who havent taken the moldings off, most of the nuts WILL be frozen and will need to be cut off and thrown away.

J Z06

Good for YOU!

Mine was $3500 TOTAL and I had to strip the car.(Of bumpers/rubber,headlights etc etc...YES, I drove it to for a week STRIPPED hehe) Thats a good deal. 3 coats of clear eh? You plan on swimming in the finish I take it? LOL. Mine had 2 coats of clear...and it shines nicely. Would you LT-1 it ala JD or keep it the OLD Style? Color Change?

Layta dood.........

Aggravated4life

Hey JD,
Im going to keep the stock body style...I cant afford the body update right now and Im also tight on money as far as getting a ZR1 replica bumper w/square lights and black moldings.

I was kinda set on getting the Replica bumper but since I moved and spend alot $$$ the last 2 months,Im going to to have to leave the car the way it is now.I can always upgrade for the Bumper Later.Ive also decided I wanted to keep the old body style for good, unless I get bored later.

BUT, im going to see if it will cost more for a color change...Im kinda decided on Competition yellow Now,(originally was gonna go torch red) and paint the roof pillar Black.

If is too much work for the color change, Ill stay w/ red so they dont have to hassle with the inner door jambs and etc.
Ill find out monday what the total would be...I went by their shop yesterday but they took a short 4 day vacation for this weekend.

WHile I was there I looked again at his work outside...he bought a truck and a car that had some collision damage and fixed it up and theyre up for sale.He makes some of his income that way.
I have to say his paint work was flawless on them vehicles.I went around the truck over and over to try and find the mistakes alot of body shops leave, like dust,paint lines,overspray,etc and found None.
It was really good and If I pay them for the job, Im hoping to get those results.
But I wont be that picky...I cant get a better price anywhere.

And yeah 3 coats of clear...thatll make it look wet all the time.Since im a former detailer and really good with the buffer wheel, Ill be able to wet sand and compound/polish mself if needed.Ive done that many times before on fresh paint jobs.

TTYL

SunCr

First you need to decide what you want out the car, how long you are going to own it and if you're selling it within 6 to 12 months, what do you think you will get back. I weighed these issues and started doing the job in my garage. But then, realizing I may never own another Vette and that keeping dustboogers and crap off of wet paint was impossible, I ended up at a hot rod/custom shop spending 5 grand which included $1000 worth of body work. For this, the car was sanded and primered and then sprayed with 2 coats of PPG Deltron Black, 2 coats of House of Kolor Blue Pearl and 3 coats of PPG Clear. When they were done, there was zero peel and an incredible gloss. The drawback is that a scratch is going to be a bitch to match, but I wanted custom, so this is the route I took. I chose the shop because I'd seen their work on fiberglass and metal rods and they let me watch anytime I dropped by (which was obvious when I first stopped by the place from all the guys watching their megabuck rods being built). I also checked the competition and there wasn't much of a price difference. The only thing I would have done differently is to have completed the engine work the car needed first (and until recently I didn't know how much it really needed!). I think most people save the paint work for last, but I was anxious to have it done because no one sees the inside of the motor - right? But getting back to your situation, decide what you want and then pick a shop that meets your needs. Quality is going to cost you, but you don't want to get ripped off either so you might go to a couple of car shows and see who's doing what and if you have a local Vette club, speak to some other owners.

Aggravated4life

Sun,
Thanks for the insight...man I wish I could afford a 5K job...there was a custom paint shop where I used to live and they did some of the most incredible paint jobs Ive ever seen and their average priced started at 5k and up...a NO BS,honest up front place,that gave you your moneys worth.

Maybe someday when I can afford something like that I will.
I weighed my options and this way to go is just fine for me now.My car is a driver and not a show car, and it will prob never be a show car.I even have cats that love sitting on the cars and I have no way to train them anymore to stay off.
Plus with kids around,cant be worrying every 5 minutes for something to happen like a handprint or something...

Your paint job you mentioned sounded really nice...id be afraid to drive it anywhere if I had something like that,because of stone chips and bugs.
But you do bring up good points for us here to consider and think about for what route we want to go and the money to spend.