who pays 10k for a paint job

[FrnkNsteen]

I can definitely agree here but for a lot of us those prices are a deal breaker especially when you have a family to take care of.

Since then I've been building a new garage with emphasis on climate control and won't waste money on building another booth but instead go back to a plastic booth. My paint area will have radiant heat in the floor or radiators as to not move air while maintaining a comfy temp and there will be A/C to keep humidity at bay in the summer.

Everyone has a different lifestyle and a different job....some make more and some make less....

It wasn’t my choice the man above denied us multiple attempts for children....I had to respect my wife’s wishes at that point....even if we did it wouldn’t change the course of my projects.....

When I made less I went back to school and advanced my career....worked two jobs and went to school full time and paid for the schooling.......

Couldn't agree more with Moparnation74! I went back to school at 40 to get my degree that allowed me to advance from my technician role to an engineering position. I never had kids, and my current wife's kid is grown and has a family of his own.

I also understand what 747mopar said about prices being a deal breaker for a lot of people, but then he went on to talk about the climate controlled garage he is building with radiant heat in the floor. He is choosing to put his money into what sounds like it will be a VERY nice garage setup.

For me, I know I will never do another complete rebuild like I am doing with the Charger, therefore rather than build a nice shop to work on multiple projects, I am putting it into the Charger so it can get done as quick as possible so I can enjoy it. If it weren't for me having so much sentimental value in this car, I probably wouldn't be diving as deep into the project.

The point is that we each have our own personal choices and priorities for why we do what we do with our lives, so for people to make comments like saying "anyone paying $10K for a paint job has more dollars than sense" is just plain ignorant!! You have no idea what drives people, and why they make the decisions they do. For me, it's about having medical issues and wanting the car completed while I can still enjoy it. I had full intention of just having the shop do the metal work, then bringing it home to work on myself. My wife disagreed and said to have them finish it up so we can get it back and have fun with it. Doesn't mean it doesn't require other sacrifices,.... just that our priority is doing it the way we have dreamed about it being done.

 

[dadsbee]

I am taking care of my family by making sure they understand a good work ethic and paying their own bills, as I plan on going out with the same amount of money I had when I was married back in 1982... a whopping $13.84 ! Mind you they will inherit a couple of sweet cars....

 

[Mike67]

Price/Cost is the deal breaker ultimately for most... Charlie Hutton charged a friend almost $60k for a Willis...that car was going for a Riddler award though and was probably 3 yrs in the shop....and Don has that kind of money and doesn't affect his lifestyle
I'm doing everything myself, never done it before, will be proud of what I've accomplished, and probably will be disappointed in some of the outcomes. But it will be mine, just like a child it will be of my making and desire.
And talk about a pita! There are no straight panels on a 67 Coronet except the top of the quarters by the trunk. Everything is either convex or concave...talk about a learning curve!!!

 

[slimt]

Price/Cost is the deal breaker ultimately for most... Charlie Hutton charged a friend almost $60k for a Willis...that car was going for a Riddler award though and was probably 3 yrs in the shop....and Don has that kind of money and doesn't affect his lifestyle
I'm doing everything myself, never done it before, will be proud of what I've accomplished, and probably will be disappointed in some of the outcomes. But it will be mine, just like a child it will be of my making and desire.
And talk about a pita! There are no straight panels on a 67 Coronet except the top of the quarters by the trunk. Everything is either convex or concave...talk about a learning curve!!!

Yup . Im getting ready to do the 66 Charger I own. Should be fun .The panel alignments will be the challenge for me when its time.

 

[steve from staten island]

I never knew my wife working two jobs, me working two jobs, educating my children, providing the best environment for them was a excuse for me not having the money for me being able to own and restore a hobby car.
I guess i didn't have to fix up my house, take them once in awhile on a nice trip or send them to the best schools i could.
I could have indulged into my own wants and desires and had my play car a lot sooner in life.
What a selfish person i am

 

[Cncguy1]

Maybe if hobbyist refused to pay these prices they wouldn't be so inflated.

 

[69 GTX]

3 options
Learn to do it yourself
Pay someone else to do it
Don't paint it
I've done all 3

 

[FrnkNsteen]

Maybe if hobbyist refused to pay these prices they wouldn't be so inflated.

I don't know that I would necessarily call their prices inflated. The shop working on my car does invoices every week as the car is being worked on. They charge $65/hour with a $5/hour discount if you pay the invoice within 7 days. The workers punch a card when they start working on your car, and punch out when they stop. They weigh out all the materials so the customer does not get over charged or under charged, plus it helps them maintain inventory, as well as ensuring things like body filler and other 2-part materials are mixed properly for consistency.

If you think about what that $60/hr covers, it is the $20-$30 an hour to pay the skilled worker, vacation and health benefits for the employees and overhead/utilities for the shop, with the remainder going to the business owner as profit, or to be reinvested back into the company to keep the business profitable and so they stay in business.

I don't see anything inflated in that. Everyone working there needs to make a living to provide for their families just like we all do, and the company needs to keep it's doors open. The local Chevy dealer wanted to charge $85/hr to put my new door latches in my Suburban.

 

[FrnkNsteen]

By the way,... Please don't take me wrong.... I want to give full credit to all the people who have posted about doing their own body work and paint jobs! Nice job! The cars look great! I appreciate that the thing we all have in common is that we like these cars and want to see them back on the road, .... no matter how we accomplish that!!

 

[Speedbird]

Well, I do 20/20 paint jobs because my cars aren't standing still long enough for people to get a good look at them.

 

[moparnation74]

I don't know that I would necessarily call their prices inflated. The shop working on my car does invoices every week as the car is being worked on. They charge $65/hour with a $5/hour discount if you pay the invoice within 7 days. The workers punch a card when they start working on your car, and punch out when they stop. They weigh out all the materials so the customer does not get over charged or under charged, plus it helps them maintain inventory, as well as ensuring things like body filler and other 2-part materials are mixed properly for consistency.

If you think about what that $60/hr covers, it is the $20-$30 an hour to pay the skilled worker, vacation and health benefits for the employees and overhead/utilities for the shop, with the remainder going to the business owner as profit, or to be reinvested back into the company to keep the business profitable and so they stay in business.

I don't see anything inflated in that. Everyone working there needs to make a living to provide for their families just like we all do, and the company needs to keep it's doors open. The local Chevy dealer wanted to charge $85/hr to put my new door latches in my Suburban.

To add to this....so the idea of not paying leads to someone out of work and a business changing from restoration to collision repair etc....that’s a bright idea...

These restoration shop owners are not living in multimillion dollar homes, buying yachts etc.....

Does anyone have a clue the epa regulations these shops deal with? Ever wonder why so few have a bake booth? Some only do the body work and farm the paint part out dies to the cost of permits, inspections etc.....

 

[Cncguy1]

It seems to me we are including metal work in these prices. I'm sure the prices are all over but the AMD installation center seems to offer very fair pricing as you could get almost every panel available installed for about 15,000$. Filler, blocking, painting, finish sanding shouldn't exceed 15,000$. So in this extreme case yes 30k for body work.

 

[cr8crshr]

Then You don't understand what it takes to tune a surface.....just improper color sanding can result in ripples. All the priming & blocking that goes into building a level surface that people casually call prep work....that's straightening, fine tuning.....there are those who know how to do it, those who do not know how to do it, and all those anywhere in between. It's body work.....prep work is something done in a kitchen.

Blade I have to disagree with your assessment. Only because I do not believe that body work requires 700 plus hours as you have suggested. And yes I do understand estimatics and the principles it uses for T&R and Labor, etc. Maybe where you are located and those in other high cost areas will pony up exorbitant amounts of money for a car's body work and paint. Most here I dare say are not that deep pocketed so they opt for a lessor job and result that will still brighten up even the most lack of luster on their cars. Insurance work is the bread and butter of any collision/body shop because it only goes to the operation and salaries/costs associated with running a shop. Side work for resto is gravy to them yet and purely profit yet they would rather concentrate on its revolving door because after all, it is strictly a business. I know labor ain't cheap and that many times is way over priced in its entirety because not many will assume that kind of job because it is harsh and tedious work. The most expensive is never always the best way to go IMHFO...cr8crshr/Tuck

 

[69 GTX]

I did all the metal work myself on my car. It was soda blasted before I hung any metal. So the whole car inside & out needed paint & body work. That being said I found a local body shop that would do it in a timely manner for Cash. With materials it ended up in the low 20Ks. I was happy to have it done in 3 months for that price. It wasn't cheap, but he did good work and we were both happy in the end. Now I'm sure I could of tried to do it myself or took it to Maaco, but I knew I wouldn't be happy with the end result. You just have to decide what your willing to settle for and go from there. BTW I had about 2k worth in materials. That was base coat, clear, cut & buff, & black.

 

[themechanic]

Does anyone have a clue the epa regulations these shops deal with? Ever wonder why so few have a bake booth? Some only do the body work and farm the paint part out dies to the cost of permits, inspections etc.....

This answers the question someone had above about why does it cost so much in the USA vs Mexico.

 

[themechanic]

My Coronet body work and paint was done by the previous owner in his spare time when he wasn't working in the mines in Texas. As Justin said above, these cars look good in photos but you can see all the flaws when you get up close and time will tell how good the job was done. That doesn't stop me from enjoying the car nor does it stop the public from admiring it. I also don't worry about getting stone chips, door dings or scratches because the paint job didn't cost a King's ransom.

If money was no object for me I still wouldn't have a show quality paint job done on a driver (meaning here a car that is enjoyed on the road).

 

[Dibbons]

I've taken two road trips back to California and entered two local car shows, never once has a classic car fan been critical of the paint (or anything else for that matter).

 

[Cncguy1]

I've taken two road trips back to California and entered two local car shows, never once has a classic car fan been critical of the paint (or anything else for that matter).

I agree. If your going to put your car in a museum spare no expense, If your going to drive it don't pay a king's ransom. My car isn't a trophy winner has plenty of scratches and chips but people still wave and give a thumbs up. Next time I paint it will be no more than 10k and I'll be happy.

 

[747mopar]

Couldn't agree more with Moparnation74! I went back to school at 40 to get my degree that allowed me to advance from my technician role to an engineering position. I never had kids, and my current wife's kid is grown and has a family of his own.

I also understand what 747mopar said about prices being a deal breaker for a lot of people, but then he went on to talk about the climate controlled garage he is building with radiant heat in the floor. He is choosing to put his money into what sounds like it will be a VERY nice garage setup.

For me, I know I will never do another complete rebuild like I am doing with the Charger, therefore rather than build a nice shop to work on multiple projects, I am putting it into the Charger so it can get done as quick as possible so I can enjoy it. If it weren't for me having so much sentimental value in this car, I probably wouldn't be diving as deep into the project.

The point is that we each have our own personal choices and priorities for why we do what we do with our lives, so for people to make comments like saying "anyone paying $10K for a paint job has more dollars than sense" is just plain ignorant!! You have no idea what drives people, and why they make the decisions they do. For me, it's about having medical issues and wanting the car completed while I can still enjoy it. I had full intention of just having the shop do the metal work, then bringing it home to work on myself. My wife disagreed and said to have them finish it up so we can get it back and have fun with it. Doesn't mean it doesn't require other sacrifices,.... just that our priority is doing it the way we have dreamed about it being done.

It seams I owe an apology. My saying "anybody spending 10K has more money than brains" was out of line (ignorant too) and I can see how it would offend... sorry fella's.

As for the garage that's altogether different, now we're talking about a life long investment that provides and will be here forever and hopefully get passed on. Also living where I do, having access to wood and doing all of the work myself you'd be surprised at how cost effectively it was done.

I do applaud you guys who went back to school to better yourself, I couldn't do it.. school that is. I did it the old school way working my way up from Maintenance but I can't complain, they treat me well.

Price/Cost is the deal breaker ultimately for most... Charlie Hutton charged a friend almost $60k for a Willis...that car was going for a Riddler award though and was probably 3 yrs in the shop....and Don has that kind of money and doesn't affect his lifestyle
I'm doing everything myself, never done it before, will be proud of what I've accomplished, and probably will be disappointed in some of the outcomes. But it will be mine, just like a child it will be of my making and desire.
And talk about a pita! There are no straight panels on a 67 Coronet except the top of the quarters by the trunk. Everything is either convex or concave...talk about a learning curve!!!

This is where my perspective comes from, I enjoy the challenge of doing everything myself and learning as I go just like your doing.

I never knew my wife working two jobs, me working two jobs, educating my children, providing the best environment for them was a excuse for me not having the money for me being able to own and restore a hobby car.
I guess i didn't have to fix up my house, take them once in awhile on a nice trip or send them to the best schools i could.
I could have indulged into my own wants and desires and had my play car a lot sooner in life.
What a selfish person i am

Haha, and sour puss strikes again! Seams you just copy and paste this same remark everywhere? Doesn't sound to me like anybody was home with the kids? Like mentioned before, everyone has their priorities, mine is to enjoy my kids while they're young not work my life away... family first then work! My personal "indulgence" turned out to be a great relationship with my daughter which now has her own classic... oops more indulgence? Can't wait to build it but only after my dad's truck is done which all came after my wife's house.

 

[Richard Cranium]

It seams I owe an apology. My saying "anybody spending 10K has more money than brains" was out of line (ignorant too) and I can see how it would offend... sorry fella's.