The cost of a paint job.

[Kern Dog]

I can do body and paint but I know my limitations. I could not do it for others because I'd probably be more picky about the work than they would be.
It boggles the mind what some people want for a paint job. I've thought about changing colors on this car...

I have a few small dings to fill but overall the body still looks good. I've considered the "Redline Pearl" that was available on the Challengers in the 2010-2014 range. This is a more sparkly color of red. I'd only need to paint the outer body but to do it right, I'd need to pull the trim, bumpers, lights and mask the engine bay, trunk and underside. All the late model Mopars seem to have a matte finish inside the door jams, underhood, in the trunk and underneath. The clear coat is only on the outer body.
There would still only be a small amount of labor compared to this car:

Even so, the Jigsaw car would only cost a bit more due to body filler and high build primer. I still shake my head when I hear a $20,000 price.
Is this a number that assumes a LOT of metal replacement?

 

[Don selleck]

Hell, just the paint and materials for the Bee in 2016/2017 was $8500. Total bill when the SHELL was delivered back to me after metal work, body work and paint was $121K Cdn and then I put it all back together. Total expense $168K Cdn.

Superbird F up in 2023... don't get me started... LOL

wow!

 

[RR Fan Dan]

wow!

I estimated $7500 in materials. Spent $4000 to get started. That was last month. That was just metal prep and body work materials.

 

[QuickBpBp]

Maybe they are using BASF Glasurit paint.

This car was painted with Glasurit back in 2002 and it was only $1800 for paint and clear back then… it used a lot as it was a complete color change and I had the roll bar painted too. The gold one I had painted in 2010 and I don’t really know what I should have paid for paint as the guy who painted it mixed it from work. I never did get a receipt but paid him only about $1200-1300 for it…That car wasn’t a color change but everything was stripped and painted except for the underside of the trunk and floor pans. Still have to do the hood, front and rear valences. I think it may have been a “lunch pail”mix..With these prices I may never paint my 68 500 convertible…

 

[Don selleck]

I'm buying a paint booth next early summer.

 

[Bighouse]

Hell, just the paint and materials for the Bee in 2016/2017 was $8500. Total bill when the SHELL was delivered back to me after metal work, body work and paint was $121K Cdn and then I put it all back together. Total expense $168K Cdn.

Superbird F up in 2023... don't get me started... LOL

You win.

 

[dadsbee]

You win.

Nobody is trying to win. They are just delusional in today's market if you think you can still get a $300 Shwab paint job... And that was in a $75/hr cdn shop. Just can't imagine the bill in some US shops at $200/hr to do restoration.

 

[gtxdana]

It's hard to find a shop around here to do restoration work, for one, because it's a pain in the a$$, and two, they can make way more money, way faster, doing collision work, not tie up a bay for months on end and not have to deal with customers running out of money. None of the body shops around here will do a complete paint job.

Sure, there are shops that do custom/restoration work in the area, but they want a fortune to do anything, and frankly, some of these guys are way overrated. I was quoted 30K just for paint at one shop.

I did get the metal and bodywork done by one of my customers for cash under the table, but it took forever since it was a huge project, part time, in his spare time. His work was outstanding which made life easy for the painter I'm using which is another cash deal in his spare time. All he has left to do is the cut and buff.

Paint. Zero help from the jobbers around here unless you own a shop and are spending millions per year. Spent 100's doing spray outs for 1970 B7 blue. Long story short, ended up with the cheap $300/gallon Shopline as the closest match. Using PPG DCU2021 clear which you can find on E-bay for cheap.

 

[sam dupont]

If a novice on a budget is reading this, before you buy sandpaper, body filler, or paint, spend a lot of money on a fresh air respirator. Working at a refinery, I sometimes wore a Scott air pack hooked to a trailer filled with air tanks, all connected. Should something happen to the supply, the mask has its own tank that is good for 30 minutes. H2S gas

 

[OneWheelPeel]

Where is earl schieb when you need him

I miss having that as an option, even tho the only time I used him in the 90s the paint wasn’t fully hard even a few weeks later.

We had MACCO here, they also had franchises and full body shops.

Back in the same time frame I saw some nice Maaco jobs, I don’t have a local one but I would consider them for a budget job. Even then, they are no longer priced in the hundreds, I think it was closer to 2000 when I looked last year.

 

[AR67GTX]

I miss having that as an option, even tho the only time I used him in the 90s the paint wasn’t fully hard even a few weeks later.

Back in the same time frame I saw some nice Maaco jobs, I don’t have a local one but I would consider them for a budget job. Even then, they are no longer priced in the hundreds, I think it was closer to 2000 when I looked last year.

True - Maaco used to have a pretty good reputation around here but they are all gone now. I saw on Corvette Forum where someone recently spent 7 weeks and $13,000 on a Maaco red paint job and pictures looked good anyway.