Good afternoon everyone,

How much should I budget for a paint job? My car was origionally blue and one of the previous owners repainted it red. I would like to go back to the factory blue. I was thinking about sanding down to the origional blue paint or should I just let them add another layer.

Thanks

DAvid

Talk to Scotty B. To many variables with paint. Could be anywhere from a 1k Macco job-10k high quality job . ScottyB Can get you squared away

Earl Scheib can do it for $89.95! Seriously, I think 2 to 3K or more if you want jams, inside trunk and hood. You don't want someone to to paint your rubber and wires so it is going to be costly. Here is a high dollar facility down here that does good work on 914's : http://www.autobodymd.net/index.php

Are you 100 percent sure you have no rust?

David,

A repaint with just a good cleaning and wet sand prior will still run you $1K at most all-in-one paint shops, and that's if you do all the prep yourself, wrap wires, etc.

The others are correct that it varies greatly based on your dream. Scotty, Brad in Chicago and Rick918 (Rick, you paint?) would base it on how much rust you have to deal with prior, or not.

You can even go way off the scale and strip it bare and ship it to a chemical strip and treat facility. I'm not sure of that cost, but the car will usually be gone for a few months as they dip and pickle it, and even galvanize somewhat (I'm not sold on the need for that as there are so many modern chemical coats that can get you similar results). Texas and Michigan have many of these facilities due to the manufacturing businesses located there.

Dave B.

$2k to $20k

Depends on how nice you want/need it to look and how big your bank roll is.

$100 to $318,840+ depending on what you want ....

Here is the link to the higher number:

http://uk.cars.yahoo.com/news/gembella-dia...-expensive.html

I've done coomplete rust repair restos for 8,000.00 and I've done body and paint only
( no rust work ) jobs for 18,000.00. It all depends on what you have, and what you want in the end.

Plan on doing it right the first time, or you'll regret it later. . .
Your paint and supplies with be in the $1000 to $2000 alone for good quality paint. .
Hell, a gallon of DP40 primer with hardner and reducer will be $300 and that is jobber cost. .

I have a good friend who has a higher end, quality paint shop, and he always budgets $2000 for paint and supplies, except red's, which are a lot more expensive . . . It's amazing how much tape and paper will be used to do a professional job. . . Next is considering you remove all the doors, hoods and engine lid. . remove all the lights and emblems, handles and such. . you don't want to tape anything you don't have to. .

Sanding and prep will take 2 guys 2 full days, shop rate is $85 hr. . so that is $2500, and that is the outside pannels. . if you want the front and rear trunks done add another hour each. . .
Door jams another hour each. . {Adds up fast, doesn't it}
{I spent a full day on each door blocking and primering them to get them flat. } so doors and jambs and trunks can easily add another $2000-3000

Painter will take 1/2 day another $350. . . then color sand and buff another full day 1 guy. . = $700. .
So at this point you're up to $5000 minimum and you still got to put it back together. . .

I know 8000 - 10000 sound like a lot, but when you look at what has to be done, by the hours, to get a 1st class quality job equal to the original factory paint, that is what it takes if the shop does all the work. . . .

Brad at 914LTD has already done the bulk of the rust repair. At this point in time I want a good paint job not a show paint job. Afterall I want to drive the car not trailer it. I don't want to cringe every time someone parks to close etc etc.

I don't know what I'm doing but I can cetainly sand off the top layer.

Thanks

DAvid

thank you

I know it sounds easy, "I'll sand it myself" But it's easy to put in sanding creases and dips and such if you don't block it right. .
The thicker the paint, the more layers, the harder it is to get a mirror flat panel. . .
You know the paint jobs I'm talking about, look great straight on, but when you sight down the sides you see all kinds of waves. . . that's from not blocking them properly. . . . no matter what you think, what ever your skill level is, there is an art to doing this. . . . even the slightest imperfection in the primer layer will show big time in the finish coat. .

That's not to scare you off, but to let you know there is a whole lot more to painting a car then putting on a shinny coat of paint. .
Prep is 90% of the finished product. . color sanding the final 5%. . but the guy squirting the paint is the most important. . he's got to be as good as the prep. .

I just had mine glass beaded to bare metal ($800 incl the finest glass available), metal work to fix some rust not visible while the paint was still on, and primed (Excellent primer) another $3,600. Paint will be another $3K with high quality paint.

I did the stripping of all rubber, bumpers and trim and some of the masking off because I was trapped there for hours until my ride came to get me. Lots of work just for me.

Good luck!

I've done all the rust repair, body work and paint work on my cars. It's not the kind thing you want to get involved in unless you've had some experience at it. You will pretty much get what you pay for and that can be a lot! I have hundreds of hours of work just in the paint prep. It's very labor intensive and takes a lot of skill. Ray

I'm one of the world's crappiest painters.
I've done about 3 cars and enough panels, parts, and motorcycle bits to total about 5 cars

(I repaint my front bumper and front valance on the race car about every 5 events)

I'm fair at body work, primer and blocking....

once you've done it yourself and bought a few tools you will think 5K for decent paint is a steal

If you decide to do this yourself, I would recommend hiring a pro to shoot (ALWAYS)....

body work is a lot easier than top coat in my book

Spot on. Both posts. Mine was closer to his later figure.

Scotty, Eric and others are right it's what you want. I get the ol "I want a complete paint job" line all the time from people. I say 4500.00 no parts , no bodywork and they look at me like I stole thier pets. You get what you pay for, it IS a lot of work it IS expensive for materials. It IS NOT easy to do and as much as you're all freaks about your cars, spend the money on it to do it right....do not put cheap Nason or other synthetic crap on it.

Pet Peeve Alert: There is no such thing as a 'show paint job'. There is only time spent making paint closer and closer to perfect. Spend $1000 and you only bought materials, no prep. Spend $6000 and you're going to get more prep time and thus a better paint job. Spend $15k and you've got a lot of pre- and post- paint prep and should get an amazing job.

Like anything, shop around and see what people are capable of and what they are charging. Ask what their process is and what materials they use (take notes). There are quite a few accomplished painters here (and I'm not one) who can help you make that decision based on what info you can share with them.