72neverdone

I have a 72 coupe with 78,000 original miles. The numbers matching drive train,frame,rear and front ends restored. Now its time for body work and paint. The body is stripped and it does have the header bar rivot issue. I have two paint job quotes for over 15,000. The car is only worth 20,000 finished. I won't throw that much money away. i would hate to part this car out. What to do?

croaker

Yeah that seems insane doesn't it? I'm seeing a lot of back yard jobs going on

gjohnson

You need to shop around.You can get a killer job for @ 5k at a lot of shops.Is it a driver or a trailer queen!

porchdog

there are plenty of small shops that will do it for 5-6k . just be diligent on checking them out and visit often. but do not expect a show car job for driver prices.

the c3 is in the rocking chair . it will begin to rise in value but the biggest draw back is the smog rules .

DUB

YEP...I have many customers that I tell that they will be a TOTALLY UPSIDE DOWN in the value of the car if they paint it and due to unknown or hidden damage or previous repairs...the costs of painting it can cause the thought so painting it not such a good choice (IF you are worried about its resale value).....which as mentioned...depends on the initial charge for painting it and doing the body work.

Some people are planning on keeping the car in the family so the costs are not relevant.

I have base cost for doing a Corvette..and the price goes UP from there. So...it depends on many issues. But you should be able to find a shop that can give you a nice paint job for a cost that you can live with.


For what it is worth to anyone who this may apply to....A piece of professional advice:

Remember it is NOT our fault.

If you find a shop that will do it for 'X'....and when they get into it...they begin to find 'things'....which CAN cause the price of 'X' to go UP. If you are so caught up in the costs. Trying to make sure you spend not one penny over the quote....I can tell you from the perspective of a guy who has to fix it. If every time I find 'something' that I know will cause the costs to go up...and when I talk with the owner about what I found ...I get an earful of whining about the costs going UP and UP. TRUST ME...that can wear on a person who is ONLY being the messenger and trying to do the RIGHT thing and let the owner know what is going on. Because IF I do not let the owner know (hypothetically)...and skip over it because I do not want to deal with the DRAMA....and it comes back and there is a failure. SURE AS ALL GET OUT.....the owner would then say..." I wished you told me because I would have fixed it"...But yet they forget about how they handled the other 'things' found that needed to be repaired and cost more.

What I do for a living has it own built in DRAMA and problems that I have to deal with and make sure the decisions I make will be correct and the repairs LAST. So ...having more drama thrown into my work routine is not a good thing. It is simple....FIX IT...or DON'T FIX IT. People wanting to talk about a discovered hidden damage for an hour+ ...knowing that ...it is what it is.....is not going to change anything about the fact that the problem is there. And I have started on MANY Corvettes over the years...that when they were beginning to be worked on...it was found that the amount of costs to repair hidden problems caused the customer to stop and take it to another shop that would butcher it up to keep it in the costs they were willing to pay.

So...do not be shocked if issues are found. Hopefully there are not any. Because I have worked on Corvettes that were fairly streamlined and NO issues to even be concerned about.

I wish you the best in your search.

DUB

porchdog

i can tell you exactly how much a paint job will cost. what i can't tell you is how much repairs will cost until it is raw steel or glass. i have blasted many cars over the years that were cobbled up rust buckets. some the owner chose to junk rather than build .believe me vettes are better off but not always . the 57 in my avatar was in primer. once stripped it was horrible . it had been hit in the rear , left side and had many busted places which were patched up with bondo . it also had a lot of rain damage . i have also stripped some that were pristine . get the paint off before you get any estimates .

Markey006

Ive been stirring over the same question. I have a 1969 with matching numbers and the value just isn't quite there (yet) to justify a 10k paint job. This one won't be staying in the family as I hope to sell it eventually and purchase a c2, so the price of paint is a real concern. I am thinking about stripping and doing the bodywork myself to save some money, but its a huge undertaking for a novice when it comes to bodywork.

DUB

YES...doing it yourself will save some money...but that also depend if you plan on spending some of the money you are saving and buy equipment that you will need to have...if you do not have it already.

AND...just to let you know...doing it yourself is very DO-ABLE...but be ready for a lot of time being spent on it due to the learning curve that you will have to encounter.

If you are focused on the MONEY that you are going to put into this....that alone in itself can be the 'kiss of death'...because you are being governed by money and not taking each and every repair at face value and repairing it so it does not come back and HAUNT YOU.

AND...just in case you may or may not be aware of it or not....a crappy paint job and body work can kill the value of a Corvette...especially if the 'target market' you are going for is looking for a pristine paint job and body work.....which is where the TIME comes into play.

AND...if you are not 100% in on this to the bitter sweet end...then do not even start. So if you get easily frustrated and quit projects...this is something that YOU do NOT want to do. Sell the 1969 as it is. The reason I am writing this is because I have had to 'rescue' so many people who started a project and then gave it to me to finish and it takes me NUMEROUS HOURS in just trying to figure out the box of parts and UNLABELED BAGS of fasteners and MISSING PARTS. And when the smoke finally clears...they did not save anything...and in some cases..it cost them MORE due to improper repairs and materials used on the car for these repairs.

I am NOT trying to scare you...just letting you know that if you do this...the quality level of the job needs to be that for what the car is...because if it is not...all your time and effort will not make a difference in the sale price. People are going to be looking very close when you say: "1969 Corvette.. numbers matching".

DUB

Markey006

Thanks for the reply DUB. This is something i know i can do. I have plenty of time with my schedule, but the space is limited as i live in a city and have a one car detached garage. Yeah, ouch. If i do this ill do it right no matter how long it takes. I've read plenty of threads where people are doing this at home, and you seem to be a great wealth of knowledge on the subject. its encouraging and daunting at the same time. Its nice to know that others have the same concerns about paint, and that more and more of them seem to be taking it on themselves.

DUB

You having the POSITIVE attitude is what is needed. You have already WON one battle.

If and when you do this...post it....if you need help and guidance.

DUB

GRipp 73

Wait! Is that even an option? I had never considered selling my current C3 while on the hunt for a C2.

There is a wealth of knowledge on this forum, be sure to search and post pictures of what you are doing and many will jump in and help. And some will even stop by to help if they are nearby.

Good luck.

72neverdone

Thanks for the replies guys. My car was completely stripped of paint when I got the paint job estimates. All repair areas are visible. I have heard that the materials can cost 4000 or more so I really don't think the 15,000 was out of line with labor cost what the are today. The point I was trying to make is this car isn't worth a 15,000 paint job.

DUB

$4000 for material costs in just doing a paint job is REALLY HIGH . Just to let you know...unless the shop is marking them up like crazy.

Not knowing if you are replacing body panels and any parts that may get put into that category...but $4000 for paint materials....I can not see it.

If your car is stripped...hopefully it is in a good protected environment.

DUB