Paint job for 1968 Corvette Stingray
#1
Paint job for 1968 Corvette Stingray
I wanted to know how much it would cost to get a red paintjob on my 1968 Corvette Stingray.
Edit: The car is in mint condition, as I just got it from my great uncle's collection but the paintjob is not my style.
Edit: The car is in mint condition, as I just got it from my great uncle's collection but the paintjob is not my style.
Last edited by Stickula1968; 09-17-2017 at 11:07 PM.
#2
Safety Car
When I have asked that question, my friends common answer is
How high is up?
How good a job are you wanting?
A current picture would help. The key is how much prep you need and want to do.
Any fiberglass repair needed? Does the current paint need to be stripped?
How much trim is coming off? How long do you want it to last?
To give you a rule of thumb, my local car body shop that does fender benders would do it for $5000, not including a bunch of body work. For a restoration shop to do it, I would say $10000. That said, I know guy who have easily spent $15,000 for show quality work
On the opposite end of the spectrum, I know guys who have done it themselves in their garage and then color sanded it over and over and got out for about $1500.
How high is up?
How good a job are you wanting?
A current picture would help. The key is how much prep you need and want to do.
Any fiberglass repair needed? Does the current paint need to be stripped?
How much trim is coming off? How long do you want it to last?
To give you a rule of thumb, my local car body shop that does fender benders would do it for $5000, not including a bunch of body work. For a restoration shop to do it, I would say $10000. That said, I know guy who have easily spent $15,000 for show quality work
On the opposite end of the spectrum, I know guys who have done it themselves in their garage and then color sanded it over and over and got out for about $1500.
#4
Nam Labrat
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#5
Response
When I have asked that question, my friends common answer is
How high is up?
How good a job are you wanting?
A current picture would help. The key is how much prep you need and want to do.
Any fiberglass repair needed? Does the current paint need to be stripped?
How much trim is coming off? How long do you want it to last?
To give you a rule of thumb, my local car body shop that does fender benders would do it for $5000, not including a bunch of body work. For a restoration shop to do it, I would say $10000. That said, I know guy who have easily spent $15,000 for show quality work
On the opposite end of the spectrum, I know guys who have done it themselves in their garage and then color sanded it over and over and got out for about $1500.
How high is up?
How good a job are you wanting?
A current picture would help. The key is how much prep you need and want to do.
Any fiberglass repair needed? Does the current paint need to be stripped?
How much trim is coming off? How long do you want it to last?
To give you a rule of thumb, my local car body shop that does fender benders would do it for $5000, not including a bunch of body work. For a restoration shop to do it, I would say $10000. That said, I know guy who have easily spent $15,000 for show quality work
On the opposite end of the spectrum, I know guys who have done it themselves in their garage and then color sanded it over and over and got out for about $1500.
Last edited by Stickula1968; 09-17-2017 at 11:07 PM.
#6
Safety Car
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I have an absolutely first rate paint job on my car that I did myself. Not bragging, I just "went for it every step of the way", no expense spared.
I put a two stage urethane on my car in my garage. Plus four coats of clear. The paint is expensive but material costs are commensurate. Tape, sanding blocks, compounds, they all add up to big numbers. Not to mention a compressor if you don't already have one. I was able to recoup some of the material costs by selling the leftovers. I also kept a quantity of paint for repairs.
__________________
From my receipts
paint, primers, catalysts $1750
equipment $890 (spray gun, polishing equipment, etc)
materials $543 (sandpaper, tape.....)
____
total $3183
Missing odds and ends from the hardware store like plastic sheeting, latex gloves, and auto parts store like bondo and fiberglass repair, maybe another $300. Plan on at least $3500 and a couple of months to do a quality job. My guess is this would have been $10K out the door of a reputable pain shop.
You can get away cheaper, depends on what you are willing to settle for.
____________
looks like you posted while I was composing this. The point here is that material costs themselves are significant. The labor in my case was free. A paint shop will already have the equipment and can get the paint at a discount. You are probably looking at $2 - $2.5K just for stuff
I put a two stage urethane on my car in my garage. Plus four coats of clear. The paint is expensive but material costs are commensurate. Tape, sanding blocks, compounds, they all add up to big numbers. Not to mention a compressor if you don't already have one. I was able to recoup some of the material costs by selling the leftovers. I also kept a quantity of paint for repairs.
__________________
From my receipts
paint, primers, catalysts $1750
equipment $890 (spray gun, polishing equipment, etc)
materials $543 (sandpaper, tape.....)
____
total $3183
Missing odds and ends from the hardware store like plastic sheeting, latex gloves, and auto parts store like bondo and fiberglass repair, maybe another $300. Plan on at least $3500 and a couple of months to do a quality job. My guess is this would have been $10K out the door of a reputable pain shop.
You can get away cheaper, depends on what you are willing to settle for.
____________
looks like you posted while I was composing this. The point here is that material costs themselves are significant. The labor in my case was free. A paint shop will already have the equipment and can get the paint at a discount. You are probably looking at $2 - $2.5K just for stuff
Last edited by ignatz; 09-17-2017 at 11:14 PM.
#7
Racer
I recently painted a 69 convertible. It was a true scuff and shoot. Virtually no body work. Just remove chrome, removed hood,doors,convertible top lid prepped car sprayed everything wet sanded and buffed 12k including materials. Oh and it was a color change.
#8
Race Director
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My dad rip started asking about painting his avanti, granted this was about 15 years ago,
Its also a fiberglass car,
I tell him going by what i know of vette paint jobs oh expect at least 10k if you want it striped,
But irony, a top avanti man lived in jacksonville and stripped and painted my dads avanti for 4500, pearl paint, stunning show winner blah blah,
Vette paint jobs are expensive because people will pay it, 12k for scuff and shoot, macco gets 299.99 for that, lol,
But i bet you it doesn't look like that stunning black car bruce painted,
Some just cant paint their own car, but my buddy jim, oldgto, he did, hard color too, looks so stunning words cant express it,
But if you are gonna pay for a color change, it will start at about 500.00 at macco and go to 10k plus at vette paint shops, and i do hope you get your moneys worth.
Its also a fiberglass car,
I tell him going by what i know of vette paint jobs oh expect at least 10k if you want it striped,
But irony, a top avanti man lived in jacksonville and stripped and painted my dads avanti for 4500, pearl paint, stunning show winner blah blah,
Vette paint jobs are expensive because people will pay it, 12k for scuff and shoot, macco gets 299.99 for that, lol,
But i bet you it doesn't look like that stunning black car bruce painted,
Some just cant paint their own car, but my buddy jim, oldgto, he did, hard color too, looks so stunning words cant express it,
But if you are gonna pay for a color change, it will start at about 500.00 at macco and go to 10k plus at vette paint shops, and i do hope you get your moneys worth.
#9
Racer
The old saying you get what you pay for is true.. I don't charge exorbitant prices because it's a corvette. I charge based on an hourly rate and my talent. I have 80 plus hours just in wet sanding and buffing the black car pictured. The picture with the clouds in it is actually a reflection in the paint on the door. If any of you guys were at the recent Frankenmuth Auto Fest you might have seen this car at the Friday night street party. It was in front of Tiffany's.
#10
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The old saying you get what you pay for is true.. I don't charge exorbitant prices because it's a corvette. I charge based on an hourly rate and my talent. I have 80 plus hours just in wet sanding and buffing the black car pictured. The picture with the clouds in it is actually a reflection in the paint on the door. If any of you guys were at the recent Frankenmuth Auto Fest you might have seen this car at the Friday night street party. It was in front of Tiffany's.
Check out the thread titled "screwed by my painter"....
I meant no offense but was surprized you used what many feel is a low end term "scuff and shoot" to describe your far from low end appearing work,
I imagine your definition of scuff and shoot is a heck of a lot different than maccos idea of it....or people wouldnt be paying you 12k for it would they.
#11
Racer
Actually the truth is "sometimes" you get what you pay for,
Check out the thread titled "screwed by my painter"....
I meant no offense but was surprized you used what many feel is a low end term "scuff and shoot" to describe your far from low end appearing work,
I imagine your definition of scuff and shoot is a heck of a lot different than maccos idea of it....or people wouldnt be paying you 12k for it would they.
Check out the thread titled "screwed by my painter"....
I meant no offense but was surprized you used what many feel is a low end term "scuff and shoot" to describe your far from low end appearing work,
I imagine your definition of scuff and shoot is a heck of a lot different than maccos idea of it....or people wouldnt be paying you 12k for it would they.
#12
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No offense taken. I used the term scuff and shoot loosely. I not only removed all chrome from car along with hood,door and deck removal. I also removed the entire interior. As I said it was a color change from green black interior to black red interior. So yes it was more than a scuff and shoot I guess I was trying to make the point that there was no body work involved in job just a lot of prep work. And your right you don't always get what you pay for but it's a small world so shafting somebody is not in my playbook.
And your pictures pretty much speak volumes about the quailty of your work, no bs there.
Noooo...i wouldn't want you to take any disparaging remarks i make against some painters/corvette shop owners personally,
I am super jaded,
I have been shafted hard by a long time ex buddy and then a tech,
And i dont have to tell you, you know youre in the biz that only about 1 in 100 guys are not walking piles of fertilizer, and many give themselves away the moment they start spewing,
Sadly the clever ones dont give them selves away until after they cheat a person
Back to the ops question, if he doesnt do some or all the work himself i see no way he can get a respectible color change for less than 10k...12k was a great deal for the work you did,
#13
I have a shop located at Baltimore Md will do PPG C7 white color and black every chrom we agreed on $2500.
I am restoring most of the car but I think he will start painting after 2 weeks.
I am restoring most of the car but I think he will start painting after 2 weeks.
#14
The old saying you get what you pay for is true.. I don't charge exorbitant prices because it's a corvette. I charge based on an hourly rate and my talent. I have 80 plus hours just in wet sanding and buffing the black car pictured. The picture with the clouds in it is actually a reflection in the paint on the door. If any of you guys were at the recent Frankenmuth Auto Fest you might have seen this car at the Friday night street party. It was in front of Tiffany's.
When it is really cheap, result will be... real cheap...
Previous owner had his (my now) car painted back to its original colour. This means changing the colour.
Previous owner took everything off, and spent weeks hand-sanding.
he "just" had the spray done by a professionnal, end then came back home to re-mount everything.
This was $3.500, not including at least 2-3 weeks of job he did himself.
Car looks better than a new one.
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marshal135 (09-18-2017)
#15
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#16
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St. Jude Donor '05
we cant decide anyones price
if you want a guy who really knows these cars...have used him many times;been doing vettes/bikes/rods forever
Wont sit around youll get exactly what you pay for youll be happy;only guy I trust, runs a nice shop.
Dougs custom body & paint
10149 Canoga Ave, Chatsworth, CA 91311
Hours: Open today · 8AM–5:30PM
Phone: (818) 998-5595
Just did another ins job on our 02 e430 sport metallic with pearl, clear is literally a mile deep. Incredible job..and on time.
Im picky..were very very happy.
if you want a guy who really knows these cars...have used him many times;been doing vettes/bikes/rods forever
Wont sit around youll get exactly what you pay for youll be happy;only guy I trust, runs a nice shop.
Dougs custom body & paint
10149 Canoga Ave, Chatsworth, CA 91311
Hours: Open today · 8AM–5:30PM
Phone: (818) 998-5595
Just did another ins job on our 02 e430 sport metallic with pearl, clear is literally a mile deep. Incredible job..and on time.
Im picky..were very very happy.
Last edited by cv67; 09-18-2017 at 09:27 AM.
#19
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St. Jude Donor '15-'16-'17-'18-'19,'23-'24
You definitely get what you pay for. I'm north of 16K for new paint work on our 72. Probably be closer to 20K when all the dust settles. This is a total ship down to get to the factory seams.
Every peace of every thing was taken off the car in preparation for the new paint.
Last time I saw the car back in August. I thought it was ready to go into the spray booth.The owner of the shop said, not even close. The entire car gets blocked sanded now. Then primed again,then block sanded again.....
Every peace of every thing was taken off the car in preparation for the new paint.
Last time I saw the car back in August. I thought it was ready to go into the spray booth.The owner of the shop said, not even close. The entire car gets blocked sanded now. Then primed again,then block sanded again.....
#20
Melting Slicks
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CI 6-7 & 9 Veteran
These are the kind of numbers I have been quoted by some really good Corvette shops. The normal paint and body shops will not be able to paint a Corvette in many cases. I have seen the result of cheapo paint jobs on C3s, and it is not pretty. One shop that I trust told me about 15-20K, but then he saw my car and said it would be closer to 15 than 20 becasue my body is in really good shape. Another place here in town said "this thing can go 30-40 grand." (so much for his place)
You definitely get what you pay for. I'm north of 16K for new paint work on our 72. Probably be closer to 20K when all the dust settles. This is a total ship down to get to the factory seams.
Every peace of every thing was taken off the car in preparation for the new paint.
Last time I saw the car back in August. I thought it was ready to go into the spray booth.The owner of the shop said, not even close. The entire car gets blocked sanded now. Then primed again,then block sanded again.....
Every peace of every thing was taken off the car in preparation for the new paint.
Last time I saw the car back in August. I thought it was ready to go into the spray booth.The owner of the shop said, not even close. The entire car gets blocked sanded now. Then primed again,then block sanded again.....
Last edited by crawfish333; 09-19-2017 at 12:16 PM.