question on paint

[americanpower88]

aiight back to the 88 chevy pickup with some body rot above the rear fenders 1.5" X 12", and rear cab corners, it's a stock black/silver two tone, and i was wondering how much a decent paint job would cost, i will not be doing the body work.

[pro70z28]

Originally posted by americanpower88
aiight back to the 88 chevy pickup with some body rot above the rear fenders 1.5" X 12", and rear cab corners, it's a stock black/silver two tone, and i was wondering how much a decent paint job would cost, i will not be doing the body work.

Very hard to say without looking at the vehicle. If you have rust it's hard to tell how extensive it is. Many times rust starts on the back side of the panel so the metal can look o.k. from the front but in fact be very thin, ready to rust through. The only way to get an idea is to take it to a shop for an estimate. If the rust is 1.5''x12'' on the fenders I wouldn;t even consider fixin' it. I would ( and did on my '72 pickup) replace them with OEM's. Then you don't have to worry about missing any rust, n' ruinin' yer' new paint job.

[americanpower88]

ok thanks for your help, do you think you could guess how much the a gloss black paint job would cost, i mean i know it's hard to tell, but could you give me a rough estimate/guess. thanks for your time.

[pro70z28]

Originally posted by americanpower88
ok thanks for your help, do you think you could guess how much the a gloss black paint job would cost, i mean i know it's hard to tell, but could you give me a rough estimate/guess. thanks for your time.

You could et a MACO job for 249.00
Or you could pay $10,000.00 or more for a show paint job.
=Somewhere in between=

[Bob Parmenter]

WARNING: This will sound much harsher than intended and is NOT a personal attack on americanpower. I've just ignored this issue too many times and can't take it anymore!


We've had this question come up a lot lately, and it's got to be one of the most meaningless inquiries and sets of answers we can get involved in. Look, a quality paint job is 10% material, 90% labor. We can't see what the vehicle looks like, don't know what your standards are, don't know if you know the difference between a good paint job and a bad one, don't have a clue as to how much work needs to be done to get it ready to paint, and what your budget is. When someone asks how much something costs, and doesn't ask anything else, that implies they believe that all paint jobs are the same. If not, then comparing price without qualifying is a meaningless exercise.

Here's my suggestion. None of us here are going to paint your rig (unless you live near a member who will), therefore, any price we give you is meaningless. You need to go to the shops in your area and have them actually look at what you want done, learn what YOUR expectations are, and then tell you how much it will cost and why. If you do a reasonably thorough job of shopping around you'll find out that you could pay anywhere from $150 to infinity for a "paint job". How much quality can you afford.
Then, if you haven't been able to do a good job of interviewing the local painters in your area, you can come back to us with some questions about why there is so much difference in the prices from one shop to another. HINT; it's because there's a big difference in material quality, workmanship, and the amount of labor needed. Review the above remark, 90% labor. The better the paint job, the more labor involved, meaning more money.

My view here is, as someone who's had to deal with giving people wake up calls after they bought a cheap paint job and were hugely disappointed, don't waste money on a cheap job, it may end up looking worse than what you have now.

[pro70z28]

Originally posted by Bob Parmenter
WARNING: This will sound much harsher than intended and is NOT a personal attack on americanpower. I've just ignored this issue too many times and can't take it anymore!


We've had this question come up a lot lately, and it's got to be one of the most meaningless inquiries and sets of answers we can get involved in. Look, a quality paint job is 10% material, 90% labor. We can't see what the vehicle looks like, don't know what your standards are, don't know if you know the difference between a good paint job and a bad one, don't have a clue as to how much work needs to be done to get it ready to paint, and what your budget is. When someone asks how much something costs, and doesn't ask anything else, that implies they believe that all paint jobs are the same. If not, then comparing price without qualifying is a meaningless exercise.

Here's my suggestion. None of us here are going to paint your rig (unless you live near a member who will), therefore, any price we give you is meaningless. You need to go to the shops in your area and have them actually look at what you want done, learn what YOUR expectations are, and then tell you how much it will cost and why. If you do a reasonably thorough job of shopping around you'll find out that you could pay anywhere from $150 to infinity for a "paint job". How much quality can you afford.
Then, if you haven't been able to do a good job of interviewing the local painters in your area, you can come back to us with some questions about why there is so much difference in the prices from one shop to another. HINT; it's because there's a big difference in material quality, workmanship, and the amount of labor needed. Review the above remark, 90% labor. The better the paint job, the more labor involved, meaning more money.

My view here is, as someone who's had to deal with giving people wake up calls after they bought a cheap paint job and were hugely disappointed, don't waste money on a cheap job, it may end up looking worse than what you have now.

I agree totaly Bob:"
Can we post this on the home page somehow, with a flashing "NOTICE" header above the copy?
I too get this on a regular basis in my sign business. Phone rings.......Hello........ How much do you charge to paint a sign????? then silence........ waiting for an answer.
I just start askin' em' questions soz' I can fill in enough blanks to give them a ballpark answer.
Body work is a bit more complicated, many many more variables involved.
I also have to agree it's tough even in these days of rapidly expanding technology, to get paint to spray through an internet connection. And body filler, ha, forget it. He He He

[Bob Parmenter]

Originally posted by pro70z28
Can we post this on the home page somehow, with a flashing "NOTICE" header above the copy?
I too get this on a regular basis in my sign business.

Well Pro, even if we could do it, I'm not sure we have enough home page size to post all the subjects we could do this with.

That phone quote thing can be fun. If I was in the right (wrong?) mood, and someone was insistant that I shoot them a number blind over the phone I would just ask them to hold the car a little closer to the handset.

[pro70z28]

Yea, dealing with the public can be very entertaining at times.
Not to get too far off the subject but.........
My son works at a radio shack...
He once had someone ask him how to fix the cup holder on his PC?????
I spoz'... if ya' wipe the coffee stains off that "CD TRAY" it might fix the PROBLEM???????