The right price for a decent paint job?
01-16-2017, 09:41 AM
#21
Drifting
I stand somewhat corrected. You can get a cheap (or should I say inexpensive) C4 Corvette paint job and here is the video to prove it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93a5QJNRBKU
Actually this guy does have some skill if you watch some of his vids, but his 'get 'er done', approach is typical of the inexpensive, cheap, I don't want a show car just a nice paint job approach. These are the type of paint work the buy here, pay here car lots use to prep their little gems.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93a5QJNRBKU
Actually this guy does have some skill if you watch some of his vids, but his 'get 'er done', approach is typical of the inexpensive, cheap, I don't want a show car just a nice paint job approach. These are the type of paint work the buy here, pay here car lots use to prep their little gems.
01-17-2017, 02:59 AM
#22
Safety Car
All C4's are labor intensive with parts removal but early cars are worse because of the body moldings. To paint these cars properly you have to remove the moldings and that requires removing the bumpers and getting into the doors. The nuts that hold the moldings on tend to rust in place and then require being cut off which adds even more labor time. Both bumpers are big jobs to remove (especially the front) and then to replace and align properly. Then all lights need to come out.
Fortunately, I found a good shop with a large secure back lot, and they let me strip down and re-assemble my car in their lot! A very rare opportunity that saved me a ton!
Regarding the cost, why would you go cheap on your favorite car, just because you won't be able to recover your investment? You'll regret it for the rest of the time that you're supposed to be enjoying a beautiful car! Corvette's deserve to be respected!
01-17-2017, 05:46 AM
#23
Burning Brakes
There are too many C4s on the market to spend $10-12k on a paint job when you can get one with great paint for that price 
Unless its has a hell of a custom engine build, I wouldn't do it.
If you are bent on doing it bc you are attached to the car in some big way.. I still wouldn't do it haha
The best advice I can offer is you should consider doing a full paint detail of the car. Your jaw might drop after seeing what clay bar, an abrasive polish, a deep polish and a nice wax or paint sealant can do for old paint. Hell you might not even need the deep polish step.
The more abrasive and aggressive you polish, the more swirls, water marks, oxidation and just dullness you'll remove from the paint. All this is actually not called a detail, its a "paint restoration" and there's a couple more steps I didn't mention in case you really want to get that gloss like a boss look
Do that for most of the car and have the areas where paint n clear coat are missing re-sprayed
Unless its has a hell of a custom engine build, I wouldn't do it.If you are bent on doing it bc you are attached to the car in some big way.. I still wouldn't do it haha
The best advice I can offer is you should consider doing a full paint detail of the car. Your jaw might drop after seeing what clay bar, an abrasive polish, a deep polish and a nice wax or paint sealant can do for old paint. Hell you might not even need the deep polish step.
The more abrasive and aggressive you polish, the more swirls, water marks, oxidation and just dullness you'll remove from the paint. All this is actually not called a detail, its a "paint restoration" and there's a couple more steps I didn't mention in case you really want to get that gloss like a boss look
Do that for most of the car and have the areas where paint n clear coat are missing re-sprayed
Last edited by jay23ls; 01-17-2017 at 05:49 AM.
01-17-2017, 06:51 AM
#24
Melting Slicks
There are too many C4s on the market to spend $10-12k on a paint job when you can get one with great paint for that price Unless its has a hell of a custom engine build, I wouldn't do it.
If you are bent on doing it bc you are attached to the car in some big way.. I still wouldn't do it haha
The best advice I can offer is you should consider doing a full paint detail of the car. Your jaw might drop after seeing what clay bar, an abrasive polish, a deep polish and a nice wax or paint sealant can do for old paint. Hell you might not even need the deep polish step.
The more abrasive and aggressive you polish, the more swirls, water marks, oxidation and just dullness you'll remove from the paint. All this is actually not called a detail, its a "paint restoration" and there's a couple more steps I didn't mention in case you really want to get that gloss like a boss look Do that for most of the car and have the areas where paint n clear coat are missing re-sprayed
Unless its has a hell of a custom engine build, I wouldn't do it.If you are bent on doing it bc you are attached to the car in some big way.. I still wouldn't do it haha
The best advice I can offer is you should consider doing a full paint detail of the car. Your jaw might drop after seeing what clay bar, an abrasive polish, a deep polish and a nice wax or paint sealant can do for old paint. Hell you might not even need the deep polish step.
The more abrasive and aggressive you polish, the more swirls, water marks, oxidation and just dullness you'll remove from the paint. All this is actually not called a detail, its a "paint restoration" and there's a couple more steps I didn't mention in case you really want to get that gloss like a boss look
Do that for most of the car and have the areas where paint n clear coat are missing re-sprayed
This! Exactly this.
01-17-2017, 06:12 PM
#25
Advanced
Thread Starter
Yeah, im fairly sentimental about this specific vette since it was my dads when I was growing up, and its mine now, so I wont be selling it anytime soon.
additionally, the interior and mechanicals are in great shape, not that that makes paint a good investment, financially speaking. Ill give a good polish a try, but theres about a 1sqft patch of deep water damage on both sides of the body near the hatch, probably caused by a car cover I think, so maybe I can just have that area, and the roof resprayed. Additionally, the tail is quite faded. Is that common for these urethane bumpers? Ill give polish a try on it but im guessing it wont be enough. Still, if I could just bring in those pieces to a shop that would be some serious savings.
additionally, the interior and mechanicals are in great shape, not that that makes paint a good investment, financially speaking. Ill give a good polish a try, but theres about a 1sqft patch of deep water damage on both sides of the body near the hatch, probably caused by a car cover I think, so maybe I can just have that area, and the roof resprayed. Additionally, the tail is quite faded. Is that common for these urethane bumpers? Ill give polish a try on it but im guessing it wont be enough. Still, if I could just bring in those pieces to a shop that would be some serious savings.
01-17-2017, 06:26 PM
#26
Burning Brakes
01-17-2017, 06:33 PM
#27
Burning Brakes
Yeah, im fairly sentimental about this specific vette since it was my dads when I was growing up, and its mine now, so I wont be selling it anytime soon.
additionally, the interior and mechanicals are in great shape, not that that makes paint a good investment, financially speaking. Ill give a good polish a try, but theres about a 1sqft patch of deep water damage on both sides of the body near the hatch, probably caused by a car cover I think, so maybe I can just have that area, and the roof resprayed. Additionally, the tail is quite faded. Is that common for these urethane bumpers? Ill give polish a try on it but im guessing it wont be enough. Still, if I could just bring in those pieces to a shop that would be some serious savings.
additionally, the interior and mechanicals are in great shape, not that that makes paint a good investment, financially speaking. Ill give a good polish a try, but theres about a 1sqft patch of deep water damage on both sides of the body near the hatch, probably caused by a car cover I think, so maybe I can just have that area, and the roof resprayed. Additionally, the tail is quite faded. Is that common for these urethane bumpers? Ill give polish a try on it but im guessing it wont be enough. Still, if I could just bring in those pieces to a shop that would be some serious savings.
Check this out, even I, someone whos looked a ton of detailing videos and articles was amazed at the result:
It looks showroom like in most places, crazy crazy. Ok sure this guy is a professional and he has this paint restoration down to a science but you can still get great results on your own... or hire someone who's very good. Its hard to see that a lot of cars still have good paint on them n that there's just a lot of crap stuck on top
These detailers/paint restorers charge from $35-75/hr. Total job will run $400-800, depending on how much work is needed. If you pay less than 30-40ish/hr then you're hiring someone who doesn't really do paint restoration and is doing more paint detailing. They are worth it though bc its hard work. I'm young, work out a lot, play a lot of basketball and doing half of my C4 kicked my ***.
Check out http://www.autogeekonline.net/ prob the best detail forum. the guys there will give you SO much info, they are very passionate about auto paint. Guaranteed theyll tell you the steps your paint needs if you post pics for them. I had a couple guys PM me with extra advice lol There's even a vendor of theirs whos active here in the detailing section on this CF forum
Gluck!
Last edited by jay23ls; 01-17-2017 at 06:41 PM.
The following users liked this post:
rorrapalooza (01-18-2017)
01-17-2017, 06:59 PM
#28
Safety Car
Yeah, im fairly sentimental about this specific vette since it was my dads when I was growing up, and its mine now, so I wont be selling it anytime soon. additionally, the interior and mechanicals are in great shape, not that that makes paint a good investment, financially speaking. Ill give a good polish a try, but theres about a 1sqft patch of deep water damage on both sides of the body near the hatch, probably caused by a car cover I think, so maybe I can just have that area, and the roof resprayed. Additionally, the tail is quite faded. Is that common for these urethane bumpers? Ill give polish a try on it but im guessing it wont be enough. Still, if I could just bring in those pieces to a shop that would be some serious savings.
01-18-2017, 08:55 AM
#29
Drifting
Yeah, im fairly sentimental about this specific vette since it was my dads when I was growing up, and its mine now, so I wont be selling it anytime soon.
additionally, the interior and mechanicals are in great shape, not that that makes paint a good investment, financially speaking. Ill give a good polish a try, but theres about a 1sqft patch of deep water damage on both sides of the body near the hatch, probably caused by a car cover I think, so maybe I can just have that area, and the roof resprayed. Additionally, the tail is quite faded. Is that common for these urethane bumpers? Ill give polish a try on it but im guessing it wont be enough. Still, if I could just bring in those pieces to a shop that would be some serious savings.
additionally, the interior and mechanicals are in great shape, not that that makes paint a good investment, financially speaking. Ill give a good polish a try, but theres about a 1sqft patch of deep water damage on both sides of the body near the hatch, probably caused by a car cover I think, so maybe I can just have that area, and the roof resprayed. Additionally, the tail is quite faded. Is that common for these urethane bumpers? Ill give polish a try on it but im guessing it wont be enough. Still, if I could just bring in those pieces to a shop that would be some serious savings.
01-18-2017, 11:39 AM
#30
Advanced
Thread Starter
The hood (and most of the vehicle) is covered in that "oxidation" from the video, only worse.
the patch, and all such worn patches in the paint nearly match the nose in color
any suggestions on how best to remove the sticker? I think its gonna be tough after 35 years
01-18-2017, 08:58 PM
#31
Ok thanks for getting the pictures posted so I can see what you are dealing with on your body and paint issues. As a professional I am going to make this very easy for you-Your dad's old vette needs to be re sprayed-period.
I am the first to suggest polishing and touch up when warranted but a complete re spray is in order on this car. It did a good job over the years but it is tired so save yourself the time trying to polish out etc. this car and start prepping it for a repaint.
If you do not have access to a good compressor at home you would be surprised how much can be done wet sanding a car like this. You will want to feather out the edges on things like the scratches and then prime to fill those areas and block them out again before applying your sealer coat and color.
Most of the issue with the paint on you car is the clear coat is baked so sanding all the clear coat will take care of most of your main issues. The light metallic colors like the color of your vette will over the years actually lighten the color in areas from the color pigment baked out from being exposed to the sun.
You will not need to strip all the old paint down to bare fiberglass but rather smooth out all the imperfections and fill the low spots with primer. If you have any deep scratches, chips etc. make sure those are all sanded out and edges feathered before you prime. Have who ever sprays the car put a good quality sealer on first and you will be ready to go.
My suggestion is who ever you line up to spray the car have them look over the car as you are sanding so they can line you up with the proper grit of paper and get you started. They can tell you how you need to sand and how to tackle problem areas before you bring the car to them. I would remove no trim to get started as this will allow you to drive the car over to them so they can check out your progress and walk you through the stages.
At the very end I would get your trim removed that you are going to take off and finish sanding your exposed edges etc. before taking the car in for the spray work. Pay extra attention to making sure all your edges are sanded very , very well as most stop short on this area and then have peeling edge issues later.
If the car is going to spend most of it's time parked in a garage I would go with a medium grade paint and clear coat and you will be very pleased with the results of your efforts. By doing the prep work yourself and getting a fair price to re spray the car you will be all in about $2K or so. Well worth your time and investment.
If you have any specific questions feel free to ask me but the best advice will come from who you line up to spray the car as they can look at the car in person and address your specific needs as you go.
I am the first to suggest polishing and touch up when warranted but a complete re spray is in order on this car. It did a good job over the years but it is tired so save yourself the time trying to polish out etc. this car and start prepping it for a repaint.
If you do not have access to a good compressor at home you would be surprised how much can be done wet sanding a car like this. You will want to feather out the edges on things like the scratches and then prime to fill those areas and block them out again before applying your sealer coat and color.
Most of the issue with the paint on you car is the clear coat is baked so sanding all the clear coat will take care of most of your main issues. The light metallic colors like the color of your vette will over the years actually lighten the color in areas from the color pigment baked out from being exposed to the sun.
You will not need to strip all the old paint down to bare fiberglass but rather smooth out all the imperfections and fill the low spots with primer. If you have any deep scratches, chips etc. make sure those are all sanded out and edges feathered before you prime. Have who ever sprays the car put a good quality sealer on first and you will be ready to go.
My suggestion is who ever you line up to spray the car have them look over the car as you are sanding so they can line you up with the proper grit of paper and get you started. They can tell you how you need to sand and how to tackle problem areas before you bring the car to them. I would remove no trim to get started as this will allow you to drive the car over to them so they can check out your progress and walk you through the stages.
At the very end I would get your trim removed that you are going to take off and finish sanding your exposed edges etc. before taking the car in for the spray work. Pay extra attention to making sure all your edges are sanded very , very well as most stop short on this area and then have peeling edge issues later.
If the car is going to spend most of it's time parked in a garage I would go with a medium grade paint and clear coat and you will be very pleased with the results of your efforts. By doing the prep work yourself and getting a fair price to re spray the car you will be all in about $2K or so. Well worth your time and investment.
If you have any specific questions feel free to ask me but the best advice will come from who you line up to spray the car as they can look at the car in person and address your specific needs as you go.
01-18-2017, 10:35 PM
#32
Advanced
Thread Starter
Ok thanks for getting the pictures posted so I can see what you are dealing with on your body and paint issues. As a professional I am going to make this very easy for you-Your dad's old vette needs to be re sprayed-period.
I am the first to suggest polishing and touch up when warranted but a complete re spray is in order on this car. It did a good job over the years but it is tired so save yourself the time trying to polish out etc. this car and start prepping it for a repaint.
If you do not have access to a good compressor at home you would be surprised how much can be done wet sanding a car like this. You will want to feather out the edges on things like the scratches and then prime to fill those areas and block them out again before applying your sealer coat and color.
Most of the issue with the paint on you car is the clear coat is baked so sanding all the clear coat will take care of most of your main issues. The light metallic colors like the color of your vette will over the years actually lighten the color in areas from the color pigment baked out from being exposed to the sun.
You will not need to strip all the old paint down to bare fiberglass but rather smooth out all the imperfections and fill the low spots with primer. If you have any deep scratches, chips etc. make sure those are all sanded out and edges feathered before you prime. Have who ever sprays the car put a good quality sealer on first and you will be ready to go.
My suggestion is who ever you line up to spray the car have them look over the car as you are sanding so they can line you up with the proper grit of paper and get you started. They can tell you how you need to sand and how to tackle problem areas before you bring the car to them. I would remove no trim to get started as this will allow you to drive the car over to them so they can check out your progress and walk you through the stages.
At the very end I would get your trim removed that you are going to take off and finish sanding your exposed edges etc. before taking the car in for the spray work. Pay extra attention to making sure all your edges are sanded very , very well as most stop short on this area and then have peeling edge issues later.
If the car is going to spend most of it's time parked in a garage I would go with a medium grade paint and clear coat and you will be very pleased with the results of your efforts. By doing the prep work yourself and getting a fair price to re spray the car you will be all in about $2K or so. Well worth your time and investment.
If you have any specific questions feel free to ask me but the best advice will come from who you line up to spray the car as they can look at the car in person and address your specific needs as you go.
I am the first to suggest polishing and touch up when warranted but a complete re spray is in order on this car. It did a good job over the years but it is tired so save yourself the time trying to polish out etc. this car and start prepping it for a repaint.
If you do not have access to a good compressor at home you would be surprised how much can be done wet sanding a car like this. You will want to feather out the edges on things like the scratches and then prime to fill those areas and block them out again before applying your sealer coat and color.
Most of the issue with the paint on you car is the clear coat is baked so sanding all the clear coat will take care of most of your main issues. The light metallic colors like the color of your vette will over the years actually lighten the color in areas from the color pigment baked out from being exposed to the sun.
You will not need to strip all the old paint down to bare fiberglass but rather smooth out all the imperfections and fill the low spots with primer. If you have any deep scratches, chips etc. make sure those are all sanded out and edges feathered before you prime. Have who ever sprays the car put a good quality sealer on first and you will be ready to go.
My suggestion is who ever you line up to spray the car have them look over the car as you are sanding so they can line you up with the proper grit of paper and get you started. They can tell you how you need to sand and how to tackle problem areas before you bring the car to them. I would remove no trim to get started as this will allow you to drive the car over to them so they can check out your progress and walk you through the stages.
At the very end I would get your trim removed that you are going to take off and finish sanding your exposed edges etc. before taking the car in for the spray work. Pay extra attention to making sure all your edges are sanded very , very well as most stop short on this area and then have peeling edge issues later.
If the car is going to spend most of it's time parked in a garage I would go with a medium grade paint and clear coat and you will be very pleased with the results of your efforts. By doing the prep work yourself and getting a fair price to re spray the car you will be all in about $2K or so. Well worth your time and investment.
If you have any specific questions feel free to ask me but the best advice will come from who you line up to spray the car as they can look at the car in person and address your specific needs as you go.
Thanks, this is just the hand I needed. Ill take it down to the shop and have them take a look as soon as I can get the broken amplifier that im trying to figure out right now installed again. I agree, at 2k, or even a bit more, it is well worth it to me. I am dreading having to reinstall and re align the windows, but ive done it before, so im sure as long as I take my time and do it right it wont be too bad.
01-23-2017, 03:11 PM
#33
See my post on this link.....
https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...dy-ouch-2.html
The shops just see $$$ when a Vette pulls in and its just not that way. I can do an amazing paint job and never go over $3000.00 paint and labor but I do it in my spare time its not my living so I don't have shop overhead and employees. Here is a couple of my past projects. I kept the Chevelle's under $4000 and the Vette was $2500.00
Brian
https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...dy-ouch-2.html
The shops just see $$$ when a Vette pulls in and its just not that way. I can do an amazing paint job and never go over $3000.00 paint and labor but I do it in my spare time its not my living so I don't have shop overhead and employees. Here is a couple of my past projects. I kept the Chevelle's under $4000 and the Vette was $2500.00
Brian