[counntryboy]

hi gang, as everyone knows the country is in real bad shape. i think the days of the $5000 paint job are gone. there are only 3 body shops out here & there really crying. i belong to 4 ford clubs & the most of the guys have put there projects on hold. my point is i think we need some points on painting & body work that fairly cheap. ive had my galaxie in primer for 9 months. it;s called no money. i feel really sorry for all the guys on a fixed income. i heard car craft did an story on painting your car for $750. hope someone can come up with some ideas!!!! thanks jim

[BadMonkey]

Well you can use tractor paint but you will have to do it again in 2 years.
The only answer is to do most of the work your self, the labor in a body shop is not that bad, I painted a 64 barracuda last year for a friend in trade for a car and the paint with all catalyst and reducers cost me $1000.00 plus all my labor.Using good product the first time will pay off in the long run, I tried out a cheaper line of paint on a truck of mine and it looked very good for about 4 years and then the clear started to oxidize and flack off.
Do it right the first time and it will last a long long time, some paints are guarantied for life now.

[302 Z28]

All right guys, if this thread turns into another Rustoleum, or roller paint job I will shut it down....warning.

If your after a cheap paint job give Earl Shibe or Maaco a call. Most of the people that frequent this forum are not after a cheap paint job, they are after a nice paint job. Nice paint jobs require tons of prep work. You can use a firm like Southern Polyurethanes to hold the cost down and still have quality materials to work with. It's still going to cost you some bucks.

Vince

[powerrodsmike]

In the Hotrodders wiki there is a very informative article about inexpensive and alternate method paint jobs which spells out the pros and cons to trying to get paint on your car for cheap......There are links to some of the aformentioned magazine articles too.

http://www.crankshaftcoalition.com/w...eapo_paint_job

Here is a link to a recently dumped roller paint thread that got out of hand, when folks couldn't get along with each other...

http://www.hotrodders.com/forum/roll...ob-152633.html

That is one of the types of threads that 302 Z28 is warning you about...Think of it as a little sign with a skull and crossbones, or a head on a stick at the entrance of the cannibal tribes territory...


later, mikey

[jcclark]

Kirker has urethane in any color with activator for under $100.00
at smart Shoppers and many other stores.
I did my own car with it 2 yrs ago, and it's been tough as nails.
Don't underestimate something because of the low cost,
Kirker has been selling paint for over 100 yrs and there's 1000's
cars painted with it and holding up just fine.
My entire car repaint was under $500.00, including epoxy & clearcoat
from SPI, and it's orange-one of the more expensive colors.
The urethane is really tough, I even used it on my aluminum boat
because it's so hard to scratch off.
There's many cheaper alternatives out there that are being used
everyday and holding up just fine.
I've seen more problems with some of the expensive name brands
than the off-brands like Kirker.

http://s51.photobucket.com/albums/f3...PAINT/98CIVIC/

[sunsetdart]

I have been painting cars and bikes on my own time for 30 years. I had a friend of a friend come to my shop one evening . He wanted his car painted cheap. I told him since I do this on my time I would be inexpensive than say a regular paint shop, but it's not a cheap paint job. After him hemming and hawing around, he asked "how cheap can you paint the car"? I told him 50 bucks and you scrape the paint off the windows and chrome.

[coostv]

You can do your own car for less than $750 provided you have all of the equipment necessary for the task.

You will need at a minimum:

60 gallon compressor, anything less is asking for trouble. I have been using a Coleman Powermate for the last 10 years. I think I paid $380 for it back then. Had I known what I know now I would have went with a better one, but it works for now.
D/A sander, even just a Campbell Hausfeld will work. I have had one for a long time, even though I have a couple better ones, I still use it.
Good set of blocks such as the Dura-block set.
Water separators, a good desiccant filter at the gun would help.
Spray gun, name brand preferred even a lower price Devilbiss Finishline will do the trick. Even though others have had luck with a Harbor Freight cheapy, I still will not own one myself, Stigma I suppose.
Plenty of time and patience to do it correctly.

Materials, we all know we need materials. I have never used anything less than Omni or Nason, so I can not comment on the others, but you can paint a car in base clear with either for about $400 depending on the color. I did a low budget S-10 recently for my father in law and he only had about $350 into paint materials including primer. For his we used Autobody Master clear (of which I am not fond, sprays great and looks good, but not overly durable), Dupont base (mixed at his buddies body shop), and Autobody Master 2k primer. I did a Pontiac Grand Prix GTP last year using Omni and it cost $400 for a gallon of base, gallon of reducer, gallon and a quart of clear and requisite hardeners, and the primer needed for the job. I usually buy my primers by the gallon, but a quart of 2k filler primer and a couple quarts of 2k sealer are fairly cheap when using Omni.

Sandpapers are expensive when you have to buy them all for a job. I have over $400 worth in my shop right now. I like the Mirka Gold and the lower end 3M. Indasa sand paper is good from what I hear and can be had for considerably less than 3M.

My truck is low budget (I was permanently laid off in Dec, but I refuse to not finish it this year, plus it will sell easier done than not). I will have about $700 into it including all primer, sand paper, and paint. Of course this does not include the hood, wheels, tires, etc. that are also going into it, but my buddy hooked me up with that stuff as payment for some work on his Tahoe. This is how it sits as of a couple weeks ago. It is now ready for primer.


Of course your prices may vary, but an inexpensive paint job can be achieved if you lay out what you NEED to have before hand.

[Big Don]

I use these guys.... www.paintforcars.com. I've had really good service from them. The colors are somewhat limited but the price is right and the paint quality is top shelf.

Complete color packs, paint, reducer, and hardener... Usually around $100 or less. Service life is good, I have painted cars with this paint and they are still top notch after eight or more years of service.

[Finaltheorem47]

I'm not sure why people say the paint costs close to a thousand or it takes 50 hours to just do a scruff and shoot.

I only have one car experience, but I ended up paying close to 1,200 for paint, complete starter kit that has the guns, cups, filters, sticks, masking tape, masking paper, stand, tarps, mixing cups, chroma base base + reducer, nason clear, nason 2k primer, nason etch primer, panel prep, gloves, 80, 400, 800,1000,1200,1500,2000 grit sandpaper, filler, spreader, paper to mix filler, DA, regulator, filter for gun, adhesion promoter and probably some other stuff.

I used only about 1/7th of my etch and 2k primer, and have about 1/4 of a gallon of clear left.

As far as labor, I washed the car, removed some trim, sanded the front hood to metal (bad chips) etch primer, 2k primer, sanded it flat and then scuffed the whole car and shot basecoat and clear all within 8 hours, then the next day i demasked.

[barthmonster]

[QUOTE=jcclark]Kirker has urethane in any color with activator for under $100.00
at smart Shoppers and many other stores.
I did my own car with it 2 yrs ago, and it's been tough as nails.
Don't underestimate something because of the low cost,
Kirker has been selling paint for over 100 yrs and there's 1000's
cars painted with it and holding up just fine.
My entire car repaint was under $500.00, including epoxy & clearcoat
from SPI, and it's orange-one of the more expensive colors.
The urethane is really tough, I even used it on my aluminum boat
because it's so hard to scratch off.
There's many cheaper alternatives out there that are being used
everyday and holding up just fine.
I've seen more problems with some of the expensive name brands
than the off-brands like Kirker.

I would agree. Take a look at the Mack Blue from Kirker that Kris put on his Cobra for $38 a gallon (now more like $48 but that's still a deal)
This is Urethane and will hold up as some people on the Pontiac website found out by using it...

http://www.mykobra.com/


Still an Isocyanate product ----->> safety first !!

[prostreet6t9]

[QUOTE=jcclark]Kirker has urethane in any color with activator for under $100.00
at smart Shoppers and many other stores.
I did my own car with it 2 yrs ago, and it's been tough as nails.
Don't underestimate something because of the low cost,
Kirker has been selling paint for over 100 yrs and there's 1000's
cars painted with it and holding up just fine.
My entire car repaint was under $500.00, including epoxy & clearcoat
from SPI, and it's orange-one of the more expensive colors.
The urethane is really tough, I even used it on my aluminum boat
because it's so hard to scratch off.
There's many cheaper alternatives out there that are being used
everyday and holding up just fine.
I've seen more problems with some of the expensive name brands
than the off-brands like Kirker.

Dang! I must be buying the wrong stuff. My primer alone is $280 a gal.

[schnitz]

Unless I'm wrong (it has happened a lot before..), prep work is probably more important that whatever you paid for the primer/paint/supplies. Not sure where I heard that, but to me, that makes some amount of sense. Correct me if I'm wrong.


In a while, Chet.

[302 Z28]

Originally Posted by schnitz

Unless I'm wrong (it has happened a lot before..), prep work is probably more important that whatever you paid for the primer/paint/supplies. Not sure where I heard that, but to me, that makes some amount of sense. Correct me if I'm wrong.


In a while, Chet.

Prep is everything, if it's not right it doesn't matter if you spent $10,000 on paint it will look like an Earl Shibe job.

Vince

[readdirections]

Summit Racing just came out with their own paint brand. They have 20 colors to choose from. It is single stage starting at $79.95 to $85.95, they have hot Rod black, epoxy and urethane primers and two choices of clear. their urethane paint is sold in full gallons 4- 1 ratio kirker urethane is sold in 3/4 gallons with a 3-1 ratio. I believe you would get more for your money from Summit. Check it out. Just go to summitracing.com

[BadMonkey]

Vince, I am just saying you get what you pay for. I have been doing paint and body work for 30 years, started when I was 15 and have seen a lot of cheaper priced paints look good and hold up good for a few years before they start having problems, My haul truck was one of them.
Later your friend Jim