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How much for a factory paint job?

threewood said:
I can probably round up some lacquer paint in Mexico. Probably even R12. Anything goes down there.
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Probably cheaper here were I live, but we are not savages and we do care for the environment too, no no R12 anywhere here you can buy a can and the material and labor in paint although is more economical what you can save money is in labor that's for shure, I do know why but the same brands and the same materials are cheaper here than in the USA.
 
coronet68mx said:
Probably cheaper here were I live, but we are not savages and we do care for the environment too, no no R12 anywhere here you can buy a can and the material and labor in paint although is more economical what you can save money is in labor that's for shure, I do know why but the same brands and the same materials are cheaper here than in the USA.
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I have several co workers from Mexico or have relatives in Mexico and they get all their car work done down there. Complete paint jobs are very inexpensive. Many you can bring your own supplies for them to use.

As for the lacquer comment, I wouldn't use it anyway as there are much better options available. But as of a few years ago there were a few places that had R12 refrigerant and could fix and refill older systems still.
 
threewood said:
...But as of a few years ago there were a few places that had R12 refrigerant and could fix and refill older systems still.
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Old cans I guess believe me be I use a R22 water chiller in my shop and the every time I refill the refrigerant, all the supply shops told me because I ask it's been years since the R 12 is out of the market, but thank your co workers to bring job to Mexico
 
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Dan64 said:
I've been watching his videos and i also like the ones from "Paint Society". I jammed the car in and did the dash, engine compartment so far but haven't done any larger panels yet. Do you or anyone else out there have any good pictures/ info on the best way to set up a temp. garage "spray booth". I know that there is a science to how much cfm air flow needed and all that but what are the rules of thumb for fans, size of fans,filters needed?
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Their is a calculator or formula on the web site look up paint booth CFM and you will find it. Or just do what I did buy to big of fan and fight to restrict it. LOL. Down draft is the best way to go. built this damper wall so I could spray the hood and trunk Lid's
IMG_0101.JPG
IMG_0105.JPG
 
I painted the engine bay myself and did not want inside the trunk done (but did get the gutters and underside of the deck lid done) and I had only 7 shopping cart dings and no other body work.

I bought my own paint- Nason's full cryl II single stage for about $400.

I found a place to do the work for $2000 and I'm happy.

However, the next lowest bid was $4500 and the highest was $6000.
 
Dan 64,
You asked about doing a "fog","drop", or "mist" coat and I didn't see a response so here we go.. When I did my first metallic I was given this advice:

"For good old fashioned solvent bc you will drop your psi 5-10# increase your distance from 6" to 10-12" and use a slower pass with full trigger pull.Be forewarned if you increase the pressure and put it on dry(so it feels like a cats tongue) this can cause de-lamination/adhesion issues. One more thing for a complete job you will want to use slow reducer to get the best metallic orientation and sprayability,if its warmer than 80F go with extra slow."

Now my advice: Most of today's paints are formulated so that a "Drop" coat is not necessary. They are not that easy to do and one can screw up a perfectly good paint job by trying to add one. The only time I use a "Drop" coat now is when I am trying to match a repaired panel to an existing metallic. In my simple mind, the factory didn't use a "Drop" coat so why should I. Now if your tech sheet says to use one, theeeennnnn, you kinda have to.

Best of luck sir!
 
I only did it once, and it was successful, but I was told when I had my shine coat applied, to thin the paint a little, step back and fog onto my very wet and shinny paint.
It looked great, a 1992 Chrysler Silver, but since it was acrylic enamel, it would one day fade. I wondered how many annual polishings I could get before going through that topping fog coat.
The fog did melt in nicely.
 
Make sure you use PPG paint it is the best as far as I am concerned. It dose cost more but cheap paint is not the way to go. Do it once and you will have a job that will last a long time.
 
Michael_ said:
I was just watching vice grip garage doing a "budget" paint job for like 100 bucks.
As everyone knows paint jobs range from like 500$ maaco specials up to 5 figures high end jobs. Basically no limit.
That made me wondering what one has to spend these days to get a paint job comparable with the one our cars had from the factory.

Lets say you got a technically sound car with a faded original paint job and want to repaint it the same color (so no color change).
You do not want to do anything yourself and as stated above want a comparable result to what the factory did when they build the car.

How much?
What do you think?

Just wondering
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Three vehicles painted in past two years. I did NO body or prep work. 67 Barracuda, w/right rear quarter replaced, original color, and some minor work here and there - $8500. That was for primer, three coats color and two coats clear. 78 Dodge Lil Red Express - lots of sanding to smooth it back out surface bubbles from South Texas sun and all, small amount of body work and replaced hood with color match OEM one, with decals all replaced and inner bed matched with the wood bed, single stage paint - $10,500. 2002 Dakota Quad cab, red and silver, minimal body work, replaced hood, also Texas sun damage, Redid fender flares silver as oem. No real body work to speak of, just sanding, smoothing etc. primer, three coats color, two coats clear. $6500. Also have a 66 Satellite that needs new paint, estimate for it is $9500, excellent driver. That would be for single stage color oem match - metallic red.
 
The OP asked about factory style paint jobs.

Why are 2/3 of the replies about BC/CC?
 
My current project car is silver, single stage paint, the yellow epoxy primer underneath. I have approx. $500 in all the paint (PPG) primer, sealer maybe another $120 in sanding stuff. I’ll spray with my HVLP gun I’ve used for 30 years and it’ll come out great like the rest. The big money comes into play on how much prep (metal replacement, lead work) you have. Base coat clear coat is even easier, if you can spray lacquer you can paint that stuff. I did my race car 20 years ago in my house garage in a little over an hour, base-Pearl-clear same gun no over spray. Back when I started (1968 school DE) in a body shop-car lot, owners son and I would sand-tape then the owner painted, all in one day, drying the next day on the lot. I guess it depends on how talented you are. If you can’t walk and chew bubble gum at the same time, pay the man.
 
Actually what the OP said was,"That made me wondering what one has to spend these days to get a paint job comparable with the one our cars had from the factory."
Comparable is the key word, thus the many answers that reference BC/CC.
 
re: O/P
Out of tens of thousands of cars built in a given year, there were at least a few that had stunning paint jobs; as good as any show car because the Stars aligned. Just like that motor that gets the parts that all match and balance, as though it had been blueprinted.
To get something nice in a solid color would be easy enough, but they had some green metallics that were beautiful and must take some skill in acrylic enamel. I'd be a little nervous attempting a metallic with acrylic enamel now that B/C is a choice .
If it's a F5 Medium, numbers matching A12 Super Bee that HAD to be painted, I would see paying the price to someone who could reproduce exactly and beautifully, the factory finish, as a wise investment. It's a great color on a beautiful car; especially with a black vinyl roof.
 
I took my GTX to what has to be the most expensive restoration shop in the country, MCR, and paid an embarrassingly large amount. I could have bought all the tools and taken a year off work and tried my hand at it but it's painted and done right so I'm happy as hell!!!
 
Oh man, I remember when a $199 paint job was a good baked acrylic enamel that looked like a factory job as long as you did the prep correctly. A hand rubbed lacquer looked a foot deep, it just didn't last unless you kept it out of the elements. Clear coats oxidized underneath the clear cuz no one knew what they were doing.
 
Recently had my 72 Charger work completed. Some body work was not done and crapily done by previous dude, painted Indigo/Ocean Blue, modern Mopar color using PPG paint, to save cash, went with OMNI PPG, little cheaper; 2 coats primer, base (2 coats then "dusting"), clear ( 3 coats). All in, $6000, right on budget. Guy who did it use to own body shop her in South Jersey, works out of his garage, very picky with his work, job well done, very happy.
 
coronet68mx said:
Probably cheaper here were I live, but we are not savages and we do care for the environment too, no no R12 anywhere here you can buy a can and the material and labor in paint although is more economical what you can save money is in labor that's for shure, I do know why but the same brands and the same materials are cheaper here than in the USA.
Click to expand...
No, you all most certainly are not "savages", my friend. :)
This reminds me of one of my favorite YT channels, that of Jerry Heasley (if you've been in this hobby a long
time and keep up with publications specific to it, you know who he is - dude has cred and is a good fella besides):

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRGiFDEn6naVP1UQSeViIdQ

He has really good friends on the other side of the border who are just as connected and gonzo about the
whole history and barn find sort of discoveries, including a lot of the restoration business in Mexico.
There's some videos on his channel where they go to such shops and the work being performed there can
best be described as "intense" - lots of old school methods, lots of gorgeous results for VERY reasonable
prices.
It's worth a look. Awesome channel, too.
 
JDmac72chrgr said:
Recently had my 72 Charger work completed. Some body work was not done and crapily done by previous dude, painted Indigo/Ocean Blue, modern Mopar color using PPG paint, to save cash, went with OMNI PPG, little cheaper; 2 coats primer, base (2 coats then "dusting"), clear ( 3 coats). All in, $6000, right on budget. Guy who did it use to own body shop her in South Jersey, works out of his garage, very picky with his work, job well done, very happy.
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I gotta ask, who did it for you, i'm 15 minutes from you and although i'm trying to do am much as i can myself it's always good to know who does a nice job locally.
 
Ray in Atco (VERY close to speedway), use to own body shop/towing in Somerdale.
 
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