Interesting thread on pelican by a long time poster who knows a lot about painting cars and used to own a successful paint shop.

https://forums.pelicanparts.com/paint-bodyw...cost-paint.html

Eh, even if I was going to paint my 30 year old Ford Ranger, I'd drop the coin on decent paint. You're not saving that much.

Looks nice, wonder how long it'll last?

Suspect it will last as long as any enamel paint from 80s - 90s. Meaning Decades as long as the prep was well done.

Tons of teeners out there running around with 80s and 90s enamel respray jobs.

Not a bad way to go if you just want cheap paint. Might do something like that for my old 92’ Mazda b2600 that is currently two colors due to a bed swap.

What little I know about paint, any kind of paint, is that prep is 95% of the job.

I decided to paint my Bugeye Sprite myself (my first paint job in 30 years), I bought a gallon of base coat and a gallon of clear and was all in for less than $1000. I needed the gallon cause I kept screwing it up, but it came out nice.

Sure, the quality of the finish product is important, I will be using this: https://paintforcars.com/product-category/a...AMaAgaUEALw_wcB

About 60 - 70% done with prep and will soon know how Paintforcars performs

I rather doubt that "all enamel paint is the same". Dr Google says:

"Type of Enamel: Enamel paint comes in two types: oil-based and water-based. Oil-based enamel is harder, but it requires mineral spirits to clean nup. Water-based enamel, however, is less durable than oil-based enamel, making it unsuitable for high-traffic areas. Choose the enamel paint based on your desired finish."

"The term "Enamel" covers a wide range of paint materials over as many years as automobiles have been around.

Pyroxoline Enamel (early finishes)
Synthetic Enamel (Alkyd Resin) fleet finishes, still in use today.
Synthetic Enamel With a hardner.
Acrylic Enamel (late 50's)
Acrylic Enamel With a hardner (70's), Polyurethanes
Urethane Enamels (true urethane resin technology)"

"The difference? In layman's terms, longevity and durability. Urethane will last longer (hold it's shine) longer than enamels for the most part. BUT....enamels are a little more forgiving of marginal prep. BUT....urethanes are easier to fix if you screw up. BUT enamels are a little less expensive."

"In typical fashion, enamel paints are used to describe oil-based covering products, usually with a significant amount of gloss in them, however recently many latex or water-based paints have adopted the term as well. Enamel means “hard surfaced paint” and usually is in reference to paint brands of higher quality, floor coatings of a high gloss finish, or spray paints. Most of the paints are alkyd resin based, however some have been made by adding varnish to oil-based paints."

So far as I know originally our 914's were painted with straight enamel.

I was wrong once, but it was a long time ago

I used their enamel on my two tone front bumper and it flows out great. I added extra hardener since it is the front bumper and sits low to the ground. That was about 4 years ago & it is still in great shape. And no chips from road debris.

I painted my little Toyota truck the same way. The work is all in the prep. And it turned out really nice but the paint looses its shine in the sun. I got about two years out of it now I’m ready to cut it and try to bring the shine back up. Wish I would have used a higher quality paint.but I do believe it makes a durable thick finish. If it doesn’t last this time I’m going to find a material I can go straight over itClick to view attachment

And Earl Scheib used to paint cars for $29.95 ($99.95 in the 1980s).

There are always ways to do something sorta like what you want for a given price.

But how much for an actual commercial paint job (with a minimum amount of prep) that most people would consider decent? I say $5000 to $6000 or more.

I've been using the Summit line of primers lately, both epoxy and 2K. A great product at a great price.

I've yet to use their line of paints, though I would assume that they are every bit as good as the primer offerings. They have quite a few standard colors, so if you're not getting a custom-mixed color, it's and inexpensive way to paint a single-stage urethane.

I use alkyd paints, like the ones the guy sprayed his truck with, on engine tin, wheels and smalls, but I wouldn't be too keen on shooting a whole car with it. Prepping is very time consuming and it would be worth it to me to spend just a little more money on a quality paint. A gallon of epoxy, a gallon of 2K and a gallon of paint would likely still be under $500.

Several years ago I painted a guys M!008 CUCV pickup pickup in epoxy sold through a milsurp shop designed for old Jeeps and military trucks. It looked and smelled JUST like Rustoleum, and the suggested primer was a Rustoleum product - though this paint was a different brand.

It looked GREAT when I painted it, given that the guy stressed that I do minimal prep.


But after about 2-3 years of being kept outside the paint was definitely faded and sunburned.

in 2020 I used Rustoleum hunter green to paint my little m416 trailer, and it also lives outside and the paint has held up GREAT. No real fading and sunburn, and it also lives outside all the time for about 4 years now.

A gallon of Rustoleum is CHEAP compared to any 2K paints, but I still don't know that I'd want to paint a sportscar with them.

Zach

Depends greatly on your definition of "decent". As of 2024, if you call folks on US West coast that are known for shooting Porsche cars, they are quoting $30k and up. Minimum 1 year wait list. That's strictly for priming and painting. No metal work.

BTW - There's probably no warranty on that job either, as they can't be sure of the integrity of the epoxy primer job that you or your body guy applied.

That sounds about right. You sort of get what you pay for these days.

I've had some bad experience using inexpensive automotive enamels and other cheap enamels with regards to chemical resistance (mostly just gas).. I wouldn't mess with putting paint on a car/bike that was not at least acrylic. My DIY car body paint these days is all 2k. (Also, I've found that the 2k clears in spray cans work great)

I've painted several Porsche over the years and painting well is really hard. I asked the guy who painted my 356 about this and he said, "it's the dozen".

He said there are about a dozen things you have to get right to get a good paint job and your average guy who knows tools can count on getting about 8 right on any given paint job. This corresponded with what I was getting, a different problem every time, sometimes this, sometimes that, but never a perfect paint job. He said you really need to have painted about 100 cars in a few year period to get to the 12, where the paint gun becomes part of your arm.
This was my last paint job.

I painted my car. I used a lot of Eastwood primers, Bondo, highbuild etc. I stripped my car back to bare metal and worked forward from there.

You need a good air filtration system to keep the water out no matter what you do. Plan to buy good sanding blocks and lots of sand paper. It’s a lot of work to do it right… and yes prep is 95% of the work.

I shot the trunks and engine bay and misc with single stage… and the body with base/clear. I used PPG shop line for my paint.

I found the single stage was harder to spray… easy to lay it on too thick and get runs. The clear also ran on me after 3 coats. You need a variety of guns to paint a car… primer. Highbuild and paint are the basics. I sprayed metallic which comes another set of special problems… getting it to lay down evenly.

I had issues with spraying a sealer coat of primer before painting. The thinned primer was lifting previous coats. Frustrating but I figure it out… after is sanded it all back to metal.

Painting a car takes patience and a lot of labor. It took me several months to do… another reason it costs so much. I visited a lot of local vendors that sell paint. I settled on the one who seemed the most interested in helping me with issues.

I’ve done some spray work before… so I had some skills beforehand. I don’t believe that all paint is the same. Good paint covers well and is predictable. Am pretty sure it’s the first and last car I’ll ever paint… but I did it and learned a lot. I followed a lot of painters on YouTube etc. There is good information out there.

Good luck!

And a great looking car to be proud of as a result.

This (if it posts) is my mail box painted with rust oleum and a little DuPont clear added. It sprayed ok, but then I painted for 20 years and sold paint for 20 years. The comment about the twelve is correct. Let you know how long it shines

Very nicely done. How much do you think you spent on paint and supplies?

I haven’t run all the numbers (a little afraid to) and I’m not sure where the paint starts. Meaning… I did a lot of metal work and tons of priming etc… also I filled my welds with fiberglass Bondo and body filler. The doors and trunk lids I had dipped to get them to bare metal… so how much of that you include I’m not sure. The bottom of the car got multiple epoxy primer and then truck bed liner.

For the actual paint I spent probably about $1500… but I bought more than I needed and have some left over. Then there’s rolls of sandpaper… down to 1000 for wet sanding and of course polishing with 3M etc. So at least $3000… but it includes a lot of other stuff.

Quotes I got were in the 10k range… but any extra body work was more. I’m certain when I get the nerve to add up all the receipts will be more. There are tons of supplies to get.

That is one fine looking mail receptacle

Thanks. I don't blame you for not adding up receipts. I did that after 3 years of my restoration and surprised even myself.

Boy, have paint materials gone crazy. I just bought 1 pint of PPG hardener (their smallest size available) and 1 quart of reducer (smallest available) and the bill was $134. I needed about a tablespoon of hardener and a bit more of the reducer so we can paint the rear trunk hinges where we welded the trunk shock balls onto them. We are going to do that this Saturday with an airbrush.

Oh, and I will not add up receipts for my car...my heart would surely not take it.

I think this is the key. If you're not a pro who knows how to solve issues, or has access to people to solve those issues by virtue of your purchasing power, a vendor who is willing to share knowledge and advise is key.

I painted my car years ago with a PPG single stage at advice of a local paint supplier and it came out pretty decently. It would have been really hard to do without those guys offering suggestions on products.