I'm thinking of picking up a late model C3(maybe a 79 or 80). I've seen a few than run well but the paint is shot. Rather than buying a minted out C3, I'm leaning towards getting one that runs well, and having it painted. What's a reasonable price to spend on a good quality paint job? I'd like to paint it black.

Just yesterday I went to a few paint shops and got bids in the $5000.00 range,and that is with it not needing body work.It was hard to find any shops that do full paints,most shops only would do collosion repair,which is what I was I was told most shops do today because of the time a full paint takes,guess you have to wreck your car to get it painted!

I think if you want to be realistic in your expectations you should think in the $8k to $10k range for a well prepped (stripped to fiberglass)and executed paint job with some slight bodywork thrown in. You will hear stories of people who had their cars done for less or more depending on their circumstances but the figures I quoted are probably realistic for the majority of owners.

7 to 8k minimum for a quality, long-lasting job.

A nice looking smooth black finish will cost over 5k. Even the small time guys like Maaco and Electro-bake fall into one of 3 categories
1. they won't touch it
2. they won't warranty the paint job
3. When you get it back, you'll wish you'd taken it somewhere else

IMO, vette or NOT, IF you are into driving it daily, and actually plan on enjoying the damn car, not a show piece trailer queen......you will get street damages just like any other car....case closed....

SO, to keep that freakout from happening, I would take it to some outfit like Macco, tell them to sand it down to decent finish all over, then you take it back and fix the body work yourself, epoxy and glass is your friends from a boating supply place....then sand down decently smooth, take it back and have them shoot it, it's what they DO for a living, shoot paint, I am no damn good at it....so let them do it...they got the booths, paints, all the crap, plus a good shooter....
they get to fix the runs/goofs also....

less than a grand....IF you all that finicky about paint, talk to them about supplying your own paint....YMMV....

color changes are extra of course, as the interior needs stripped, you can mask off the rubber yourself....no biggie.....

just be prepared to do some paint removal/touchups under the engine compartment....put junk wheels on it too, something you don't care about getting paint on...

I like the way you think. I tried that with the locals here in Ocala and so far nobody has agreed.
It's what I did with my 70 MGB when I lived in SC for $450
looked great They wouldn't warranty the job, but I never had a complaint with the work.

For some reason people hear Corvette and think KA-CHING

If I can get the Mrs.'s to put some pic up, I had mine done a couple months ago for $800 at econo paint. Alot of people say bad things about them, but if you make them do it right you have a 4yr. warranty on the paint as well and I do not know too many body shops that do 8k paint jobs that will offer that kind of warranty.

I disagree. Many shops won't touch a 'Vette, regardless of the cost to paint. The customer ('Vette owner) will look closely at the finished work and will pick it apart. The shops don't need the grief.

Point taken. I guess they no quote or no warranty because they've been burned too many times

The paint we shoot (DuPont) has a Limited Lifetime warranty. Most top-like paint shops will offer this on restoration quality refinish work.
When we were using PPG we also offered a lifetime warranty. On the rare occasions we have had to use the warranty, they responded in a positive manner.

Yep, how are you gonna use the car? It stinks to hafta think about it but realistically if you want to get any enjoyment from it, be prepared for chips, scratches, etc on the $$ paintjob. Unless you keep it in a crystal ball, an 8-10 grand paintjob is useless. I got a deal on the paint and supplies (about 700 for top of the line PPG stuff, evercoat, rage, paper, thinner etc), and spent MONTHS doing the stripping, sanding and only a little bodywork - and when I was done, it was PERFECT, easily show quality or better.
Untill I dropped the gas tank lid on the fender.
And I cried.
And then I got over it, and then a stone chipped the front fascia. And I cried again. And then... And then.....
Check out all the shops around you, including hole-in-the-wall ones. Eventually you'll find someone with experience and who's honest enuff to give you some options.

I got my car stripped, bodyworked, and painted black for 4k + 1k in materials(i bought). You just have to shop around. My car also took almost a year to get back to me though.

That's exactly what happens. We don't quote Vette paint work for anything less than $10-15K for that reason: It's the Vette owners, not the cars, that drives the cost up.

The paint warranties are offered by the paint manufacturers. As long as the shop is certified by the manufacturer, the paint will be covered by warranty. We shoot Standox, and they are very good about warranty claim service - warranty cost does not come out of a shop's profit.

We use good quality materials, and our cost on materials alone to do a Vette exceeds $1000. If there are shops doing complete jobs for $800 you can figure where they're cutting corners...

all posts so far have been pretty much on the mark. Figure on spending at least $5k for a good driver paint job if it's done right - show quality can easily run you 2x, 3x, 4x that amount.

On the other hand I had my '78 done last summer. It was a no-hit body in excellent condition and that makes a huge different also since the bodyshop doesn't have to worry about doing time consuming and expensive fiberglass repairs. Also , I was referred to the painter by a priopr and current customer of his, PLUS he was just forced to move his shop and wanted some jobs in to help get the new shop business moving and offset his moving expenses so he ran me a great deal so I just got very lucky.
I got my car done complete for $2500 and that included disassembly, chemical strip it down to the bare fiberglass, sealant on the 'glass, primer, block sanding, more primer, 4 coats of base coat color, 4 coats of clear coat, wetsand, buff, and reassembly.
I couldn't say no to that!
http://lbfun.com/Corvette/78Vette/Pa.../pj080806.html

My paint job was $4,200 plus $800 material. Project took 4 months and I am very pleased with the results. Estimates I obtained were from $3,200 to $16,500. Most important thing for me was to look at some of the cars that he had painted and get feedback from the owners.

I say do it yourself if you've got a decent place to do it. I chemically stripped mine, repaired some cracks etc..., sealed it with a polyester sealer(very important) and blocked that by hand, primed with a urethane primer and blocked it by hand, then painted it. I used all Spies-Hecker products. My materials were around $1200, and my gun is a Sata 3000RP. I did a color change from white to FER300 red(Ferrari Rosso) so I had to paint jambs, doors, and all. It was a lot of work and a learning experience but well worth it. I painted it in a make-shift paint booth in my shop so I got a little dust in it, but it mostly buffed out and left it slick as glass. It's no show car, but I don't want a show car. I also know exactly what was done to my body, and what is on it to protect it. Give it a shot if you can, you'll enjoy it.

I had my car done several years ago from a guy who only does Vettes and infact I went to school with him and even then I paid $6,000 and that was just to strip it and paint it and we all know if you need bodywork ie new bonding strips it could jack the price up quite a bit but thankfully my friend told me that my Vette was the cleanest 72 he's seen which was good to know both for piece of mind as well as my wallet.

That's is what I learned too. If they do, the quote will be quite high because of fiberglass car construction and Vette owner attention to detail.

HOWEVER, I got a very nice paint job for $4000 plus a lot of sweat equity. I had my '80 professionally media blasted and I did all the body work including seamless bumper covers, all the prep work (such as removing lights, trim, emblems, headlight covers, hood, gas cover, grills, etc.), taping, and all the labor intensive fill-sand cycles.

A local body shop agreed to apply the black epoxy primer, 3 coats of fill primer with sanding between coats, 3 coats of color and 3 coats of clear for $3000.

A lot of the quality of the end finish comes from prep work, and that's what the body shops don't like to do. They like to blow paint.

Media blasted:



Fill & sand, fill & sand, fill & sand, etc.:



After:





By the way, this is the first car I prepped for paint. I just read the books, watched the videos, and did the time.

MN80Vette-Your car looks GORGEOUS!!!! Wanna sell it,lol.