Body shop paint jobs for hobbyists vs insurance companies.

[BearDodge67]

When I drive buy Maaco, it's loaded with old cars. If you aren't looking for a show winner, then it's hard to beat them. Mine is a 20+yr old Maaco job done before I bought it. Yea, it's a 20 footer with all the scratches, but it's a driver, not a show car.

 

[BearDodge67]

Seems like a common theme running through this thread is that the basic economics of keeping the lights on in a business works against getting restoration body work done at anything other than a premium price. Same deal is my experience in the trucking business - time is money and cash flow is essential. The smaller business, or individual hobbyist in our case, has an advantage in not being pushed to get stuff out the door.

I was shocked while inspecting my current GTX prior to purchase, when the previous owners revealed that they had painted the car themselves in the garage where it was stored. The paint quality was a good as anything I've seen on a GTX at the big shows, and it was 20 years old. The brothers admitted it was the first car they had ever done. What made it work, was they had no time constraints, and put an unlimited number of hours into surface prep on what was already a good foundation.

Same thing with the paint - they blocked and sanded with no regard to time until they got it perfect. A shop doing it for profit doesn't have this luxury.

A restoration shop by me has a sign"We do not give estimates, labor rate is $XX/hr whether it takes 10hrs or 1,000 hrs to finish your car. Parts research/purchasing is also charged at this rate". Friend of mine does their upholstery, many years ago someone brought in a 442 thinking it would be a $5K job.. $30K later it still wasn't done, it was a poster child for 'lipstick on a pig"

 

[WileERobby]

Doing work on old cars compared to newer ones are apples to oranges. Old stuff is pretty much guaranteed to have had prior piss poor work done on them courtesy of prior owners with alligator arms or shifty shops shafting the customer. You can't keep piling on paint to cover up issues. I've found from dealing with most customers on old cars and associates who have them that when they say a body/paint job doesn't have to be show quality are lying. They want concourse work so they can collect trophies and bragging rights but don't want to pay for what's TRULY NEEDED to do it correctly. Remember, whoever does the work is signing it. When someone asks who did it, you tell them it was ..... and the shop does not want the rep for crap work. Old car restoration/repair/paint is a whole other ball game. There are many issues hidden under that fresh coat of lipstick. It's a rarity if you get out of having to deal with rust issues on both outer/inner panels and structural areas. The only way you will truly know what you are dealing with is to strip the car. Paint/old mud/undercoating/interior etc. This is the realm of specialty shops and not production body shops. If you are concerned about the cost factor, learn how to do as much of the background work as possible to help alleviate costs. Or learn how to do more of the actual work. Also look at bartering. You have a skill that someone else could use and vice versa. If not, pay up.

 

[barbee6043]

There are reasons that TODAY the "patina"thing is popular!!!

Me,myself,I am totally tickle chitles that
1. I am poor enough
2. I have owned decades ago the "rare desirable" old models it is OUT of my system
3. I an do my own body work still at age 75(barely)
4. I want a driver and never a perfect show poodle
5. The BAD part is all my wife ever sees is me buyng that $1500 rolling turds to work on because she says "buysing anything any better for more $ is a waste as I CAN MAKE IT LIKE NEW!!!!" BUT problem is I give out before I make it LIKE NEW (perfect)! Lipstick on a pig!

 

[Ron H]

First resto we painted in the driveway holding for a good day. Only thing was one of those dandelion puff balls landed on the rear deck btw the window and deck lid after clear coat. Gently lifted it off and was noticeable if looking close for it. Dakota box and fenders were painted in the body shop before mounting those. The cab, hood, and tailgate are original paint. Most noticeable shade off are the repop fenders. Different batch used for those. Box came out pretty close. But, this is my daily and didn't see need for full repaint.