Budget Paintjob

Stan

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I have been wanting to get my coupe repainted for a couple of years. Lately I have gotten some quotes; over $10,000 which included removing all the trim work, lights, bumpers but not the windows. Strip, prep, paint and reassemble. I have heard numbers like this many times here on the board and around.

Today I got a quote from another shop recommended by a friend of mine. They do regular bodywork but also custom stuff and paint on old care (mostly american hot-rods). I asked "what if I drop the bumpers, remove the trim, lights, side markers etc. and replace it all myself after the paint is dry" I am going from Chamonix to Chamonix. The quote $3,400

Is this reasonable?
 

gazzol

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As above really, It is possible to get a paint job done for even less if you hunt hard enough. The problem with paint shops that do accident repair work (based on experience here in the UK) is that they are on piece work i.e. speed is of the essence because they get paid a set ammount to repair a car weather is takes two days or two weeks to repair. As such corners tend to be cut and I'm guessing here but I don't think thats what you really want. I'm not discounting this body shop but you really need to do your homework as x_atlas0 has recomended.
Good luck
 

MichaelP

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The bottom line is that you get what you pay for. But you know that, right Stan? :wink:

That said, the biggest thing going for you/your painter is that white is a pretty easy color to get to look good on a car. It's single stage (no metallic stuff in the paint, no clear to apply and then sand over the painted surface) and it doesn't show every ripple and wave as a dark color would. The thing is that paint is relatively cheap (ok, not that cheap at $200+ a gallon) and not all that time consuming or difficult to apply. What takes time is the sanding before and after the paint. The difference between a $10k paint job and a $3.5k job is somewhere between 50 and 80 hours of time spent wetsanding and buffing. Getting the surface dead smooth and glassy is pretty time consuming -- time that shops who do insurance work for their bread and butter simply can't justify. They have product to move.

Here's some math: it's pretty hard to run a shop and charge less than $100 per hour these days, but let's use that as a rock bottom, out-in-the-country price to make the math easy. At that rate, you get 35 hours of work. Let's take out 5 hours for the actual painting and misc stuff, leaving us 30 hours. Imagine, Stan, that you were proficient at sanding and painting. What could you accomplish in 30 hours prepping before and after paint? A flat-as-a-board, sparkling Chamonix paint job? I know I couldn't, even if I knew what I was doing.

I guess it depends on your expectations.
 

dang

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White paint may or may not be single-stage, it depends on what you want. Single stage will look more original, nice, and white is the best since it doesn't show imperfections as much. You can get two-stage solid color paints, which requires a clear coat. It typically looks deeper, maybe more shiny, maybe a little plastic. Again, it depends on what you're after.

When I painted my 2002tii with single-stage Riviera, it cost me over $800 just for paint and supplies (I'm in CA). And, like Michael said, you pay for the prep work. If you keep in mind that all the paint does is change the color of the surface, meaning, if they sand the surface with 40-80 grit paper and don't follow up with finer grit passes, you'll see every sanding mark through the paint. You see this A LOT, even on so-called nice paint jobs.

Here's a picture of the door on my tii...

fdd6ee0984c77dab6be9f69913205075.jpg
 

acat2002

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MichaelP said:
The bottom line is that you get what you pay for. But you know that, right Stan? :wink:

As I've been told, the difference between a "5-foot paint job" and a concourse level paint job is another 50 hours of prep. (assuming there are no surface deficiencies)

Yes, white is probably the easiest color to get correct so maybe you don't need to spend $10,000, but Stan, I've seen your interior and you definately want a NICE quality paint job to measure up to the standard of the red leather! You're at the five yard line, don't fumble!

(remember to put thick athletic socks over the bumper ends when re-fitting and adjusting - even if you have some extra hands on deck)
 
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