I'm hoping to have a professional paint my car, and now that I am on a more strict schedule, I should probably get some information on going about this...

So my hope is to send it out to be blasted and painted. What kind of lead times should I expect? How far in advance should I be talking to a shop about getting the car in and done? What kind of schedule creep is typical?

Thank for the input... If it matters, I'm building a daily driver, not a show car, and my goals for the paint job are first to have modern rust-proofing, and second to have something nice but able to see normal wear and tear of driving to work, etc.

Painters - a more strict schedule -

All depends on how busy the painter is. My guess is 1 month if they have a 10 guy shop and turn out insurance work and are totally free, then 12 months for a 1-2 guy hot rod shop with 4 cars in the garage.


Not uncommon to see cars in hot rod shops for 2 years...

I never understood how some people in this group think how someone can get a full paint and restoration done in a year on a DIY budget...

Painters are a wierd breed....too much fumes?

Visit the ones you want to use and talk to them face to face. Explain in detail what you want done and how much time they are allowed to do it. Get it in writing!

Do it sooner rather than later. If its a popular shop they could have a long waiting line...

Waiting on painters is what drives many of us to paint our own cars. After you paint your own you'll wonder why it takes so long at some shops. Answer: poor business management. It's no wonder why shops like Maaco & Earl Schibe stay in business. Quick turn-a-round. Rant over.

^Exactly.

I did a respray on a members car in 120 billed hours, this included extensive bodywork but did not include a strip down. This also included a cut and buff.. (Granted we had paint quality issues, but he ended up only having to pay for my labor)

This ended up only taking me about a month and a half start to finish in my garage while I maintained my 60 hour a week job.

I have walked into so many hot rod shops (Including my uncles back when he had it) and said that I could turn this into a well oiled business in a month... I am sure many of us professionals feel that way.

^^ it's the same with mechanic shops. Most mechanics, painters...trades people are great at their trade, but horrible at running a business. Just like most business professionals are great at business, but horrible at doing hands on labor work. Very rare when you come across both.

My suggestion to the OP: If your not interested in absolute perfection/concours condition, do a lot of the advanced work yourself (taping, any body fill work, remove trim and such), find a media blasting company first to do that work, then take it to one of the big companies for paint (Maaco, Earl Sheib, local big body shop, etc) Tell them you'll give them a bit extra money to 'do it right' and you may get a pretty good job done. They're not horrible, and many times better than we can do in our garages.

We have a great media blasting guy here in the Charlotte area, he does work for all the Nascar teams. Very good scheduling - he's out a few weeks right now. Theres also a small body shop that does decent work right up the street, plus Bill Dunster (wdunster here on World) is a very good friend and used to own a body shop, so he does all our small stuff....I think he even has access to a paint booth if needed to do a whole car (did his son's 944, came out awesome). He works for PPG Paints now...

Basically...don't ask here, ask the shops by you. It can vary from shop to shop, town to town...

This is one reason I am attempting to do the paint myself. I talked to guys at two shops and the first thing they wanted to do was tear off all the work I had already done.
Sure I understand they might not want to put their name on a paint job on top of someone else's work, even though I used top quality materials.
what really got me was when I saw the same MGA under a tarp that was there a year ago when I had stopped buy for something else. no progress that I could tell.

So however my paint job turns out, I'm driving it. then if I don't like it, in a couple years I'll have it redone.

I 100% agree. I have a buddy that sends Maaco 6 paint jobs a year and has had them do a couple of nice jobs. Sure those nice jobs cost 3k, but they put 4 coats of clear, do metallic colors, and they can cut and buff them. It'll take longer, instead of in and out in 2.5 weeks it might take 2 months as they have to get the quick stuff in and out more often and put their good guys on it, but they know they have a market there for this work.

The biggest thing you need to do is a proper masking job. Ask to come in prior to them spraying it for you to confirm its how you want them to paint. There all car guys and they like to do these "fun" cars every once in a while..

Sure its not a 5-10k hot rod show job, but its good enough for your typical 914

what ever your 'contract' states? as the deadline approaches it should be a 24/7 until completed.

agreed.
I was considering my own paint job and this thread has almost convinced me to do it myself.

Maaco paintjob right here.. Do all the prep work yourself, removing bumpers, trim, stuff you DON'T want painted, otherwise they will paint over it, or do an "interesting" masking things off like wipers and windshield washer nozzles.

Turnaround was 2 weeks from when I dropped it off, and brought it home. Yes, you get what you pay for, and this wasn't a show car pain job, but it allowed me to fix some rust issues.

Do it. Paint it yourself (unless it's black or a metallic). I've never shot 2 stage but I hear that is the way to go and is so easy it is often referred to as beginner's paint. If your willing to shoot early in the AM before the bugs come out, you won't need a paint booth. Or, rent a pro paint booth from a small independent body shop. I prep'd my Ghia to paint ready stage ( I thought) then hung by the body shop next to me until their ACE left. I followed him home (yeah I know, stalker lol) and asked how much to shoot it on the side. He "re-prepped" it (thank goodness) and shot the paint for $1200. I bought all materials & paint. That was north of a $1000. Booth rental was $450. Ended up with an $8K paint job for $3000. So you can save some but it is a PITA. It was beautiful. I shot my '76 914 myself. It's nice but not beautiful.

Yep!!! My '73 was painted in '86. An Earl Scheib job. I have spend countless hours cleaning off paint from all the stuff they painted over. Some "before" and "after" clean-up pix:

Do it yourself. I paid $8K once for new coat on a 911 I once owned. This was when really nice 912's cost as much. I about choked. I ended up painting my next car myself, it was silver metallic. That was tough to do right, but it looked great.

Search for "how I painted my 914" here. It'll convince you to do it. It's not so much the money you save but what you learn too.

This winter I'm painting a '71 Mercedes 350SL I bought recently. Tobacco brown, I can't wait to get started.

My progress thread in my sig is a great how to as well as my other paint thread in my sig. Just FYI.

Thanks for the responses, guys. Lots to think about...

Painting is an art form some guys take to. But dont kid yourself. The paint shop can be the lowest profit producer in the shop. As far as lead time? Check the shops references. Set your target date and hold on to your butt.