What do you guys think is a reasonable, fair, decent price to paint a C3 if I did the disassembly and reassembly then? No way to remotely justify a $20-25K price for a car worth half that and hardly driven..I struggle with this issue?

 

Hi jb,
I think part of the problem with quoting prices for having a car painted is that there are so many views on what a paint job is.

The actual spraying of the primer and paint is the quickest part of the job.
It's the disassembly (and how far does the disassembly go), the body work that's required before the sealing and priming can begin, and the finishing and reassembly that eat up the time and $$$.

As I wrote when I posted the pictures of my 71, it had 240 hours of labor on it and that was NO disassembly or reassembly.
You can assign what you think might be a realistic value to each one of those hours.
Regards,
Alan

This is acrylic lacquer.

 

Thanks Allan..Beautiful 71 BTW...

 

I often times get asked that IF they disassemble and reassemble it will it save them some money. I say yes it will. But the 'kiss of death' is that if they damage the paint when they are re-assembling it. I will not fix it for free.

Some ask that if they come and help will it save them money and I say no it won't...because if they come to help that means I have to stop and train them on what to do ...which takes me away form working and getting done what I need to get done. The only think that they get out of doing that is that they can say that they worked on the car and can actually see what it takes to do what needs to be done.

As for the cost of material on a job...what many people fail to consider is that all paints are not equal. Some paints cover faster than others...thus...it takes less paint....thus it costs less. And what some may not realize is that some of the products out on the market that are not so well known..are made by companies whose chemists worked for the big companies. I use some products that many of you would be shocked because many people already have built in opinion about name brand.

SO....depending on what the local painters in your area feel their time is worth.....even if doing it on the side...you could get out for about 5k if not less. It all depends...because I know some painters who would paint it...and it not be no show winner for less than 5K...including materials. But you get what you pay for.

Or you can enroll in a community college with a paint program and do it there.

DUB

 

Dub, great explanation...Thank You! This is exactly what I was thinking and where I was going with my original question^^^^^^^.

I clearly would NOT be looking for a show winning paint job but one more in line with the paint that originally came on the car when new back in the day in the late 70's, especially on a car not worth BIG money.

My thought has been for years to find a quality painter who knows vettes to do the work on the side. I just today was talking to a buddy who fixes wrecked Volvos for a living and he has his own project 93 Mustang waiting for him to rebuild. I asked him TODAY about the paint for the mustang and he said he has a few car paint buddies that do much of his body work on the Volvos that would paint it for little money. When I inquired about my 78 C3 he responded he has just the guy for Vettes who would give it a B+/A- paint with proper prep for the figure you are quoting^^^^..Not an A+/show winning paint but certainly head and shoulders above the factory paint.....I'm glad you guys gave me the idea to start sniffing around.....I'm getting good leads. Of course, I would want to talk to any potential painter personally and see in person, his results on other cars, especially vettes. If someone meets all the criteria and is willing to do the job for $6-8K, they get the job tomorrow.......I will not even consider someone who wanted anything above $9k to paint the car.....just me.

 

Photo updates from today's visit;

 

Photo2

 

Photo3

 

Photo4

 

Photo5

 

Photo6

 

Photo7

 

Photo8

 

I dunno, the rear quarters are of a different color than the rest of the body.....we're now thinking that there may in fact have been repairs from a previous mishap. What say you?

Body was stripped with a 6" DA sander, no chemical was used. Body panels feel very smooth, no exposed strands of fiber, which is good.

Anywho.....inching forward!

 

Anyone have a photo of the backside of a rear valance? The section that lives below/between the exhaust outlets. I need to see how the chrome trim for the exhaust outlets is SUPPOSED to attach to the panel.....mine were redneck engineered. The modification works, but it isn't proper. Would like to get it right. Thanks in advance.

 

Hi C2,
"What say you?"

It looks to me that the rear body has has work done to it.
Here's some photos for you to look at.
This really was a "no hit".
Regards,
Alan

 

Yep, I'd say the rear was hit. Looks like both rear quarters and the rear panel were replaced. Oh well, at least it's not made of chicken wire and bondo. lol

 

Hi C2,
Here are some photos of the rear valance/exhaust filler panel.
I don't know if they show what you're looking for.
If not, let me know what you'd like to see.
Regards,
Alan

 

Thank you, Alan. Those photos are perfect, exactly what I needed!