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.