How much to budget for a complete repaint..?, A tough question I know but I got to ask... Options

[Nozzle]

Well after doing the standard Spring clean-up on the old girl last week, it looks like the valiant efforts of the 36 year old Saturn Yellow to protect the body are starting to fail. But before I start putting together a serious savings campaign for a full-bore repaint I need to ask what I should plan for as this is very new territory for me. I would be having a professional shop do the prep and repaint as I've got zero talent in this area. I figure rust repair costs will just have to be one of the unknowns at this stage so I'm really looking for a paint-only figure.

The 914 in question lived almost its entire life in Santa Barbara, CA and was never in an accident so far as I can tell. A hell-hole repair was done by AA two years ago right after I bought the car and now the windshield base on the drivers side where it meets the fender line is starting to bubble. No doubt there is more to be found but that's what I know for sure.

So the main goal is to get the car repaired and preserved before the rust gets any worse. The plan would be for me to disassemble the entire car and then have a good shop do a presentable repaint in the original color and take care of any rust issues found. In other words I'm looking for perfect metal not perfect paint.

So any help on what I should plan dollar-wise for for the prep and repaint would be MUCH appreciated. Of course any help with locating a good restoration shop in the MD, VA or PA area would be very cool too...

Thanks everyone,

John

[ellisor3]

One of the biggest variables in the cost will be the amount of repairs that will be needed. My job was about $12k, but the quote started at about $6k. My 73 looked great with no apparent flaws, UNTIL IT WAS SANDED. You can see my thread below. We found lots of areas that were repaired before and were in need of repair again. My painter would not even paint the car unless the areas were completely redone, nor would I want him to.

Depending on who you hire, most will give you a price of the paint and supplies, but will charge you hourly for the repairs since most damage will be hidden under the paint. I had to have both doors and the from trunk go all the way back to metal even though they looked good from the outside. My advise would be to hire someone with a reputation for restorations, not just painting, and be visible in their shop to stay abreast of the progress. When ever someone is charging by the hour, it is easy to make up numbers.

[PRS914-6]

but will charge you hourly for the repairs since most damage will be hidden under the paint.

Most of you know that I am a huge advocate of stripping a car before painting. I prefer a qualified media blaster. That said any good painter is going to quote you high if they don't know what's under the paint. I would. My next project car is a 911 for my daughter. The painter would not give me a quote at all until it was blasted and he could see what lurked below. After it was blasted even I was shocked to see what was there. However, when starting from that point everyone knows what they are dealing with and a set price is easy. The painter wanted to charge "time and materials" and I refused. I wanted a set price. It's too easy to "stretch the hours" and get gouged when things don't go right and in my opinion a flat price is the way to go and fair IF EVERYONE KNOWS WHAT'S THERE. Once your car is in process, you are at the mercy of the shop if a surprise comes up. At that stage what are you going to do?....you'll pay! I avoid this situation at all cost as I get burned EVERY time. In my case we agreed that I would buy the materials but a flat rate for labor was charged and paid in "stages"

Even my 914 ran into some gouging. At the end I wanted my top painted (perfect condition). He quoted me $1000.00 and I already had the materials. I was furious (and complained) but allowed the work and shut my mouth. At each stage I had given VERY generous tips, he deserved them and I wanted to be fair. I had planned on giving him an additional $500.00 tip for finishing my car so nice, he deserved it. When the top was finished I gave him the $1000.00 for the top and final payment and told him that due to the high cost of the top that no money was left for any more tips. He had screwed himself and he would have actually gotten more if he didn't gouge me.

The moral of the story is when it comes to business.....get everything up front in writing! Pay in stages and nothing more than what is complete. Paying more upfront to "motivate" a painter doesn't work, it does the opposite.

That's the rest of the story.......