Guyzer7

I have all the GM parts to complete my rear wide body conversion and have gone to a couple of paint shops for quotes for paint and installation, but they seem very high. My C6 vette is silver metallic. First Class Auto Body in Harbor City wanted $3,000 to complete the job and said he had to blend the bumper and doors for it to look right. Autobahn Collision Center in Torrance wanted $2,200 for the job and said he would have to blend the doors to match the quarter panels. I get it that metallic paint is harder to match, but I thought this would be a matter of painting the wide body quarter panels the factory color and installing. Anybody have any alternative recommendations or am I just being a cheap bastard?

c6 monkey

This is on my list of things to do. I always wondered how much it would be to have the quarters painted. That sure seems like a lot of money. I'll go the RPI way $2050. or so parts and paint. I guess it takes 2 months to get the parts and I've heard some bad things about the people working there. Customers seem happy with the results in the end. Think about selling what you have and going with them. Of course you'd still have to install them. Good luck

Guyzer7

The prices i got quoted from four shops were typical for this job and they all said the silver metallic paint is the hardest to match and needs to be blended with the doors at least. I am going with Autobaun in Torrance ($2,200) and dropping it off this Monday. They painted my rear spoiler and did a good job.

Also, there are a lot of posts here warning about RPI having poor customer service and cheap fiberglass body panels etc. If you have a metallic paint, their panels will most likely not match. Also their fiberglass panels are reported to be a lot less quality than GM and can have fitment problems. Just something to consider.

I'll post pictures when it is complete.

Cheers!

c6 monkey

I'm curious where you got the quarter panels, liners and ducts and how much were they. Please do post pics, thanks.

Guyzer7

I got all the required parts from a guy off of Craigslist for $1,500. Quarter panels, wheel liners, brake air ducts, inner and outer air duct scoops and mud flaps. Although the mudflaps were pretty worn so I bought some new ones.
Got a clean 4 set of Z06 double 5 spoke chrome rims for $640 and a pair of new rear 325 Hankooks for $450 on Amazon( I am using my almost new front 245 Hankooks for the 9.5" fronts and swapping my TPMS all around). So I will roughly be into it for just under $5,000. Mind you, I pieced it together over several months so I didn't get hit all at once with the total cost. I could have cut corners and even considered tackling the install myself, but in the long run, you get what you pay for and it will be ****!

c6 monkey

It looks like you've done it right. Those prices are all really fair. I appreciate the info. I'll probably still do RPI and post the results. I'll install them myself just for fun.

Guyzer7

Added a little extra love to my quarter panels(Kilmat sound deadening) before taking into have them painted and installed. Also hit the fender liners and the inner wheel wells. Every little bit adds up. The panels sound nice and solid.