I have got some recommendations for painters in my area and I wanted to get a list of key questions to ask....


Experience on C3 vettes?

Examples to show?

What parts are they removing from the vehicle?

Manufacturer of paint?

Verify Paint code of paint?

Level of fiberglass work?

Epoxy base?

Priming?

Layers of paint?

Clear coat?

 

warranty?

 

Hi o,
I think an important consideration is that the painter really shouldn't/can't give you a firm price until all the existing paint and primer are removed.
It's only at that point that he can see what the condition of the glass is, and what bodywork will be involved to prepare the car for paint.
He should be able to give you a pretty firm range, but to be fair to you and him, I believe he has to see the car naked to know what he's getting into.
Finding a really good painter is a lot of work and a difficult decision.
Just my thoughts!
Regards,
Alan

 

The first thing you want to do is bone up on your knowledge of paint and the process before you start asking him questions. Some of the items on your list should not be questions but rather requirements.

Experience on c3 is totally irrelevant. Experience with fibreglass might be a consideration, but even that is of little importance. Most of what is going on is above the fibreglass and there is very little difference between working on a metal car vs a glass one.

Examples of his work? A must as well as testimonials from satisfied customers.

What parts are they removing? You tell him that. What's your budget? How good do you want it. Any shop can remove or leave as little or much as you want. What's most important is that you both have the same expectation. Go over the car inch by inch and make a list of everything you want removed. In my opinion, everything that comes in contack with the paint should be removed.

Manufacture of paint. Do you know what a good brand is. Some of the top brands are not very well known to the public. Glasurit? As long as he is using a first line paint from a known manufacturer it's all good. Make sure you are both talking urethane paints, not an old PPG acrylic enamel.

Verify Paint code? You had better do that too.

Level of fibreglass work? What does it need? Neither of you will know until the car is stripped.

Epoxy base? Epoxy is not required or beneficial on a fibreglass car. It is used as an adhesive layer to stick the first layer down to a steel part. Does not apply here. You want a good polyester high build on fibreglass.

Priming? see above

Layers of paint? I'm presuming you mean coats. What do you think is necessary? Hint, it's counter intuiitive. Less film build will be less likely to chip and if it does will not chip as deep. Color is applied to hiding. The number of clear coats depends on whether you are color sanding and polishing.


Clear coat? Again, you will be telling the shop that is what you want, a base/clear paint job. It is pretty much a given with a metallic, but if you had a solid color and wanted something that closer resembled original you might want to go with a single stage.

Other things to contemplate;

Is the car being stripped to bare glass?

Whether you want it color sanded. This is what turns the diamond in the rough into a show car finish. Labor intensive so obviously more money. Ask the price of this as an option. Decide before the car is painted.

Are the jambs and under hood area being painted? What prep (stripped or just scuff and shoot).

Turn around time. What are your expectations? The longer it sits in primer the better.

Payment. There should always be more work done than he has money for, never the other way around. That is a must. If he can't afford to work that way, move on.
I'm sure others will have things to add.

Steve g

 

As usual Alan is 100% correct. I would just add that you have to be careful even when you get a quote. I had some body work quoted from a "reputable" shop and thought it a bit high. After some consideration I decided I could live with it because I felt the shop would do high quality work. So I called the shop and said I had thought about it and if they felt they could work with that number we could proceed. I was told that they could. At that point I had the body stripped to gel coat, took it to the shop and said now that you can see everything, do you still feel we can hit that target price? The answer was Yes we should be able to. Unfortunately that was not the case and when the work was done it was 50% HIGHER than quote. Important to note here is that no additonal work was done other than per original quote. I think it is reasonable to expect a qote error of 10 or 15%. I think 50% is not buffer, it is dishonesty. I know shame on me I didn't get anything in writing. I am naive enough to still think a gentlemens agreement among gentlemen is all you should need. Very sad to find out I was the only gentleman participating in the agreement. Lesson Learned, as they say.

 

All the posts are right on. I think you should also both have an expectation on how long it will take. Have them put it on the quote, with a buffer of maybe 2 weeks. We've all heard the horror story of a car that takes 6 mo. or 2yrs to complete.

Mark G

 

You nailed it Alan. And I do this for a living now.

 

The most important thing is the job comes out right, regardless of price. Have a friend with a 65' BB C2. A front knock off wheel spinner flew off, tearing up the side of the car. Decided to have the whole car repainted while at it, and thought it was a competent shop. Lets just say, he's not a happy camper. Sometimes spending a few more bucks up front is the cheapest way.

 

Great questions and thoughts. Thank you!

The 1975 vette doesn't "appear" to need a lot of body work, also I have a new hood going on. I am not looking for show quality, mainly just a nice looking paint job that I don't have to do again for many years.

So with a budget of 8-9K should I have the car stripped to bare glass? How important is this?


Thanks

 

I'd strip it down to the OEM baked on primer...get rid of all the acrylic lacquer topcoat which has a tendency to check and crack with age and vibration. Start fresh with base/clear if that's what you've got your heart set on.

 

Do your homework. At the very least, you should have enough knowledge to discuss painting the car with your painter and know what you two are talking about.

Whether stripping the car to bare fiberlass is or is not required is an example of the type of thing you need to know.

 

I would be sure that hood is bolted on and aligned long before it reaches the body shop, especially if it is an aftermarket L88 or similar hood. They All need work to fit correctly

 

Hi O,
As soon as you say 'not do again for many years' you're asking the painter to guarantee his work.
I can't imagine anyone who plans to still be in business for many years not wanting to take the car down to bare fiberglass. He's going to want to be responsible for everything under that pretty top coat.
Regards,
Alan

 

I disagree with the comment about experience with fiberglass not being an important consideration, especially if your car needs bodywork or panel replacement. Its not the same as a steel body car - you get what you pay for when it comes to paint and body. You may be able to find someone to paint it for $8-9K if it needs no bodywork and your strip it yourself. Stripping with a razor blade is really not that difficult.

 

I think stripping it to glass is pretty much a prerequisite for quality work. Even driver quality as opposed to show quality. And I think for repairs to the fiberglass it should be done by experienced Corvette shops vs. just good paint shops. Once that is done you may want to shop it with a few paint shops to get some quotes. There is nothing that says that the stripping, body work and paint all HAVE to be done in the same place. Maybe that is best most of the time but it gives you more options if you break it up. The stripper just has to have a good process, cleanliness of shop is irrelevant. The glass man has to know the materials, chemistry, etc. and must be somewhat of an artist. The paint on the other hand requires specialized equipment and skill that has nothing to do with the other steps. Just something to think about.

 

What should be the answers to these questions????
What parts are they removing from the vehicle?

Manufacturer of paint?

Verify Paint code of paint?

Level of fiberglass work?

Epoxy base?

Priming?

Layers of paint?

Clear coat?

 

I'm not trying to be rude, but EVERY corvette needs body work. None of them are "straight" from the factory

 

 

no offense taken - I meant broken panels, panel replacements, major cracks, etc., not just smoothing out waves.

 

Ask how they intend to strip the old paint.

DO NOT LET THEM USE CHEMICAL STRIPPERS! Only use media and/or sanding to abrasively remove old paint.

Otherwise, in a few years you may have bubbles form under the paint, and when they pop...

BTW, the chemicals don't even have to be used to remove the paint. Chemical applied to the backside of the fiberglass (for cleaning or whatever reason) can eventually bleed though the fiberglass, contaminate your paint from the underside, and cause these bubbles also.