Today I got two quotes from local painters, one was an Auto Dealer that paints cars for their owner which has an extensive collection of 60's & 70's muscle cars, extremely thorough, they called it a "restoration" not a pint job. Quote = $7k-$8k

The other company is a local 80 year old business , where the grandfather, father and son have been doing collision work and painting custom paint jobs for cars that have been shown at the Good Guys Nationals and other high end cars with paint jobs up to $12k, they have fastback mustang on the floor with a pearl white paint that was absolutely stunning. Cost $4631.00

Both companies will paint the jambs, strip and fully disassemble the car and install new rubber moldings, with a turn around of 2-3 weeks.

I was lucky to find this guy, 87Bob on the forum guided me to him and when I saw the quality of his work, in my mind, I doubted I could afford him, but it turned out to be a very reasonable price.

I am considering going to a brighter white than the stock 1985 white, but I don't know which color. I will probably drop the car off in June when I get back from the Hot Rod Power Tour.

 

I paid 5K for mine..but he will never do another one...a lot of work..found a lot of hidden damage. Its a good starting price..

 

That's not bad Are you going with a pearl white?

 

Most of the "base" (paint mfrs all have that one) whites are nice

Chevys Summit white is a winner, wound up using that after doing it Arctic which was tooo much.

Bright and clean but has some depth where you can see the shine.

Arctic has some blue in it and wants to reflect light-

some of the imports ie toyota, honda have some nice shades also.

 

I know that prices sounds normal. The Ghost needs a paint job bad, The Dukes of Hazzard experience was detrimental for it's paint.

I guess I would find a paint and restoration forum, do all the sanding and remove all parts myself, take it to the paint shop on a flatbed and let them do their magic.

There was a great thread on a DIY pre-paint. It was the guy with a silver (early) C4 and he installed C6 wheels. The Vette ended up looking great.

 

Great info, I too thought Arctic White was too much, but the new C6 White looks good, but they claim it is arctic white too..

 

If you do your homework you should be fine. Prep work is very important. Also try to tick with the same type paint. The first car I ever painted peeled because I used an incompatible/diff brand sealer. Then I had to paint it all over again.. and strip it too

 

I think its the most frightening thing I am faced with, a re-paint on a dark red metallic..
yikes..good luck on all your searches..post pics when done!

 

White is easy I guess, they will disassemble bumpers, doors, black bumper belt, mirrors and top, strip, sand car and door jambs and do a White Two-Stage, I wish i had found them 2 weeks ago, I would have pulled the trigger then.

 

Look at Oxford White it is a Ford color but when I painted my 84 it was just White enough. Mine was a two year project & I did all of it myself.

 

As a body and paint technician, those prices are good starting points. Unless you can say for sure that no "issues" will arise. Typically there are some spots that will need fixing prior to new paint. If you add pearls to the job, it will cost more and take more time. Waterbased paint has made this stuff easier to get good colors/blends and matches, but has made the process more expensive too.

A job well done is worth whatever the price is. PM me if you want I will look at a copy of your estimates and let you know what I think.

J

 

You're not too far from MI , i know few good painters down here that would do it for less than that ..

 

Do yourself a favor. DONT BE IN SUCH A HURRY ! ! ! Check around.....ASK AROUND ! ! ! Go to car shows....ANY car shows....ask about paint jobs.....I had my 84 repainted for $3500....bumpers off, mirrors, door jams targe top and metal edge....all the black moulding removed....new weather stripping ( I supplied this). I found im by asking around, and looking at work. I also found an $8000 paint job place......i dont really see any difference between the two. BTW....I used Arctic White.....VERY NICE if you like white......a few red accents and BOO-YAAAAA ! ! !

 

$8k..... Ouch!!

90% of painting cost is labor. Paint can range from a few hundred to a couple thousand dollars depending on the type. I am considering several blue metallics for mine later this year at a cost around $600 in paint. Once I buy masking materials and other necessities I should be around $1000, but still far below $8k. I just refuse to spend that much money when I can do the work myself. I am waiting to do some body work and get my new headlights first.

 

I painted 2 of my vettes myself, in my garage. Spent about $1800 including a new compressor, gun and paint. took a while, and it came out show quality. A body guy told me it would have cost 8-9 thousand for the job I did. I used PPG Base/Clear, and it is 2006 Z06 Black (to match my other vette). It is really not as hard as you think, but it IS a lot of labor. Took me about 4 months from start to finish, and I swear I took the whole car apart :-).

You could also do the work and let someone else spray it. Spraying the car is the easy part though. I'm re-doing one this summer because I put a hood scoop on it (didn't crack) and a solid roof panel for the summer, and the doors didn't block out quite perfect. It's about $650 total for 2k primer, Admiral Blue Base/and Clear and materials. I'm trying TCP Global Base Clear this time (it's a driver).

Just thought you should weigh ALL your options.

 

My car started out at 4k but needed a lot of work once it was stripped..ended up at 5k..took him 4 months part time but came out great. I would go with the 5K guy...

 

Find the best balance of quality / price that matches your needs.....ie...what you plan on using the car for.....otherwise you wind up spending a fortune and being so paranoid about damaging it that you don't enjoy the car any more.

 

$8k is cheap if it's a quality job. All panels removed from the car before paint begins. I charge more.

Find a good shop and make them sign a contract for WHEN the job should be completed. You don't want the car to sit in the shop for months.

 

I got a very nice repaint for 5K Larry, same color (DRM) and very well done about 10 years ago or more.

It then took me about 6 months to rear end a guy at low speed and need a new hood & bumper..............damn!

 

I'm in the process of doing my own right now. Taking the whole thing apart. It's seems that the more I remove the more I find to take off. I had to strip off the previous three paint jobs (all different colors). It has been a hell of a lot of work - more than I ever imagined.
Finally getting some primer back on and may actually be seeing some light at the end of the tunnel.
Using SPI primers - epoxy and 2K. Gallon of each epoxy part (two sprayable gallons) and one gallon of the 2K and quart of activator cost me about $375 shipped to the door.
Here's the hood in epoxy.