Thread: Paint Quote for My Camaro

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I had a kid email me a few times for about a year about painting his 79 transam. Finally got to look at it this past summer, and quoted him cheap, 3 grand (knowing thats pretty dang cheap for the work and material involved. That would have been stripping to metal, (it had checked lacquer paint) and bodywork, some rust repair, paint black including jambs ect, wetsand and buff. But I have a full time job to pay the bills, and its not so much about making money, like a shop paying huge overhead, insurance, workers, ect.. He never got back to me, ohh well, wonder if he went and seen other quotes were like?
Maybe the first quote he though he could just paint the thing with a fair amount of prep work, then realized what he was in for with multiple layers of paint and rust. Lots of things can be hiding also giving more work. These guys are right, materials today ain't cheap by any means and only continue to rise, and to get a car to the point where its ready for paint is pretty labor intensive, and the prep work is what makes the paint job. Lot depends on color and area. California is one of the more expensive, and could possibly find lower prices just by another area or nearby state. 7,000 surely isn't out of line for that kind of work, but I would expect the work to be done fairly well and look good when done. If you find someone willing to let you do some of the grunt work and willing to work with you, maybe it will cut done on costs a bit. Many painters are squeemish about painting over someone elses work though that their name will be going on. Most have experienced something someone says just needs to be painted and is far from being the case if the job is going to look good. Maybe you can barter for some work like mentioned, or find someone who does it mostly for enjoyment and maybe find a little better price. But check out work and references of any one you don't know you are thinking of doing work, and make sure there is an agreement of what is expected on both sides.

Thanks for all of the replies to my question. As I said before, I don't expect to get a cheap paint job, and expect to get a quality job. But I don't need anything that's going to be show quality. The paint I'm using is single stage and I think the most expensive part is going to be painting the inside dash and door posts. The second concern I have is the following...

He stated that the paint job would be a progressive process and that the car would be at the shop for almost a month. Does that sound right. He said they would prep and paint different parts seperately on different days and that it would be a long process.

As I've mentioned I'm new to the restoring game and have run into many misconceptions on how long things take and how much they cost. I know I'll get a quality job, but initially a quote for 7-8 thousand dollars is hard to swallow for a car that cost me 10k to purchase.

Thanks again for all your insight. I really apprecaite it and learn a lot from all of the posts.

That's one of the reasons it is expensive to get a good job......it takes a lot of hours. The current job I'm doing will take at least 150 hours.

Don't believe what you see on TV shows! For example: Even though they have it scripted in the biker build shows, I've never painted a bike in 3 days in my life...and I've literally done hundreds! The reason I won't do a 3 day job?....because I'm proud of my work, I have to be able to guarantee it, and the customer wants it to look great!

If you want speed, you will sacrifice something in quality. The only thing I would advise is, if you haven't been around this guy to learn how he runs his business, ask to talk to some past customers. See if they had any bad experiences, and ask if they would use him again.

Actually I think a month is kinda short for the job if it is like what I am picturing and you explained. It would probably take me longer, but then again, he may have a few people working on the vehicle. Like hot rod said, It really doesn't take all that much before you have hundreds of hours in an older vehicle. But if a bodyman tells you a time, double it and it might be more accurate. I am just wondering why using single stage on a 7 grand job? Clearcoat gives uv protection to the color, and a little deeper look, as well as being easier to work with(my opinion) and repair in the future. The one exception is black. Many like to paint this in single stage because it is pretty good against uv and many feel black looks better in single stage. And clear when it gets fine scratches, they turn white which can look bad on black(Pretty much the hardest color to get and keep looking good), where as single stage wont show fine scratches as much. But majority are using base clear today. A single stage should be a little less expensive then base clear, because not the added step or cost of clear coat. You are not the first one to get sticker shock at the costs these days. Some people are really in the dark thinking they can get a 500 paint job, after seeing the maaco ads. Sorry to say,in most cases you get what you pay for.

I'd say if he can do the entire car in a month, rust repair, stripping, fixing the surprises, prep, prime, block, and paint he's either got help or he's kidding himself and you.... I doubt he will be working on your car 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. I don't know a lot of body shop guys that do....

I got a coupon in the mail today:

Presidential Paint Service for half price....$250!!!

I can bill the customer for $5-10K, and pocket the difference! I wish I had thought of this before I spent tens of thousands of hours on customer toys!

Oh well.....I'm off to buy a house on a Caribbean beach. :-)~

I amazes me how much the cost of materials have gone up.
Rough numbers per QUART or as shown for my '31 roadster:

Epoxy ~ 50 (5) = 250
Activator ~ 40 (5) = 200
Polyester heavy base primer ~ 80 gallon (1) = 80
Rage filler ~ 50 (1) = 50
Icing ~ 21 (1) = 20
BC DuPont ~110 (6) = 660
CC DuPont and SPI ~ 50 (6) = 300
Urethane thinner ~ 20 (2) = 40
Sandpaper/tape ~ 75 (much) = 75
Gun cleaning lacquer ~ 12 (2) = 24

This all totals to conservative 1700 US hard earned dollars just for materials.

I have also purchased 3 new HVLP spray guns (a Devillbiss for primers, a Sharpe - which is for sale and an IWATA), a supplied air system, plumbed my garage for air and added water traps, bought a new buffer but these are tool costs and can be spread over many projects.

I was quoted for 40 to 50 hours work last fall $6 to $8000 JUST TO SPRAY, wet sand and buff the car with me providing ALL the materials, a totally disassembled car and reassembly again by me. If he was to provide the materials, $12 to $15,000 with little or no body work and the same disassembly and reassembly routine. Obviously, I'm doing it myself as I just cannot afford that kind of $$$ output. While my custom painter skill level might not be at his, it will still be at least as good as a first class body shop and I will be able to say that I did it all myself with the exception of the upholstery.

For exactly the same reasons as mentioned by Irelands child, I am going to paint my own T. I don't have that kind of money to lay out, and from "professional paint and body jobs" I have had done in the past, the workmanship is sometimes a lot less than you expected.

And, as he said, the cost of materials is very high. In fact, in a car build if we added in all the sandpaper, sanding discs, thinner, screws, bolts, etc that we purchase $ 50 bucks here, and $ 100 bucks there, it would amaze you.

No question, we haven't chosen the cheapest hobby to participate in........but then again, what hobby is? (maybe checkers when I get to the old age home)


Don

Originally Posted by Itoldyouso

For exactly the same reasons as mentioned by Irelands child, I am going to paint my own T. I don't have that kind of money to lay out, and from "professional paint and body jobs" I have had done in the past, the workmanship is sometimes a lot less than you expected.

And, as he said, the cost of materials is very high. In fact, in a car build if we added in all the sandpaper, sanding discs, thinner, screws, bolts, etc that we purchase $ 50 bucks here, and $ 100 bucks there, it would amaze you.

No question, we haven't chosen the cheapest hobby to participate in........but then again, what hobby is? (maybe checkers when I get to the old age home)


Don

While I have most of my receipts for the rest of the build, beyond the paint items, I haven't gotten 'brave' enough to add them all up. I started an Excel spread sheet when I first started this current build, then abandoned it until my intestinal fortitude increased. For sure all those stainless nuts and bolts holding all non-stressed pieces on do not have receipts tho most of the big items are ready to be added to the list. When I feel I can stand the 'shock and awe' .