Hot Rod Forum banner

paint price

2K views 19 replies 14 participants last post by  theHIGHLANDER 
#1 ·
Why is it that some guys will spend $7000.00 or more for paint, and yet i have seen way lower price paint jobs take best paint at major car shows. Can anyone explain this to me. Im not cutting anyone down, just trying to understand.
 
#4 ·
i spend around 150 hrs on a paint job. sometimes more. do the math. i spend around 1k for materials . shop rent would be 1500 or more a month. utilities 600 . ins 200 or more. so i have around 3500 to 4000 in expense and if i charge 7k that means i make 3k for the job. thats 20 an hr. it cost 54 an hr to get your lawn mower worked on. i cant make a living at 20 an hr .
 
#5 ·
$7000 can be justified for a good paint job that will last. You can charge that much for a paint job that is not top notch also, and get away with it. On the other hand, the appearance of a paint job does not necessarilly speak to the quality and it's lasting ability. You can paint a car, and make it look great for a short peroid. A year or 2 down the road, it may look like garbage. Appearance, good or bad, can be only the outside.

Aaron
 
#6 ·
Mrwood said:
Why is it that some guys will spend $7000.00 or more for paint, and yet i have seen way lower price paint jobs take best paint at major car shows. Can anyone explain this to me. Im not cutting anyone down, just trying to understand.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

The only way I can figure someone winning a major show with less than $7000 into the paint job is if they did the job themselves.
I have seen many of those type cars where a painter or bodyman will work on his own car for years and nothing can compare to it.

Now to win a local show with a $7000 paint job, sure but a major, I'm not so sure when the last one I was in the guy parked next to me had over $175,000 into the Restoration of his vette.

A major to me is goodguys, southern rod run, knoxville, dollywood, etc. not the monthly show we have in Canton where there are 300 cars that drive in and everyone votes for their best friend. Example of this is about two or three years ago some jerk showed his new corvette and won first or second place, that is just to much! He must have had the whole family there voting.

You just cannot hire a bodyshop to perform a show winner for $7000 and here again I'm talking major shows where the best of the best will be there.
 
#7 ·
I guess the reason i started this is because i know a guy who just paid over $10,000.00 for a paint job on his 35 plymouth coupe, and in less than a year the paint is chipping off, and he has not even had a chance to show it, yet i have also been to some major shows and have seen some cheaper paint jobs take best of paint. I have been told by many bodymen that its not the paint that is costly, its the labor to get it perfect.I just cant see spending this kind of money on a paint job unless you own a trailer queen that never gets driven. And what good is a car if you cant drive it. The funny thing about all this is i had an aunt who had a $500.00 paint job done on her old Buick 15 years ago and it still looks good today, and it has not chipped yet.So i guess we really cant put a value on a paint job and be right,as not everyone is going to agree on this anyway.and im only talking about paint, not a complete restoration. My dad always told me there is no such thing as perfect and i still believe him to this day.
 
#8 ·
One thing I noticed with some pretty cool looking older cars that you
see at shows is the paint typically looks good but in some cases it can look
too good. For example lets say there is a cool looking 69 camaro done in
a BC/CC job. The car might be flawless but BC/CC never came on that model
car or perhaps the color does not do the car Justice.

On older cars I prefer a single stage paint job, i.e no clear coat. My thinking
on this is it can make a car look more original and clean. Looking at a old
hot rod done in a BC/CC with a super mirror finish from the clear can de-tract
from the actual car depending on color.

It may be possible in this case for a guy with a 3k paint job as opposed to the 10k paint job to steal the show.

I think keeping a car as original as possible with respect to the paint and color
is a better option on older cars.

Just my opinion.

><
 
#9 ·
No matter whether it is a $1000 paint job or a $10000 paint job. If the body work is bad then the paint jobs looks bad too. If it is an all out show car ie. Trailer Queen and never driven on the street and only put in shows and that was the soul purpose of it, then quite a bit of that money goes into prep work. And like Shine says...that is expensive. Then you have all of th ework afterwards with the sanding, polishing, touchup, etc, etc, etc. Some of those higher end paint jobs are flawless and people will pay for that. On the less expensive, it may look just as good but the fine detail is not there. The bodywork is not as good in areas that most people do not even notice anyhow. For example...under the rocker panel where the rocker and floor are spot welded together. On a driver you would be able to see the spot welds, on the other, the bodywork would carry to this area and be just as smooth as a hood or a fender.
Then you get into paint where the majority believe that more is better. The more money spent, the better the paint, which may be true. But if the prep work is not flawless then the paint will not be either. Then you step down to using high end this and cheaper that, or mix and match and then have a failure. Factor in human error at some point and the high end paint just dropped a notch or two. And with the cost of things rising daily a $7000 paint job is getting to the place that it is really not out of line. Just ask BullHeimer. LOL!!! I was watching a special one day on the tube about Chip Foose getting his car ready for the Ridler show and if I remember correctly he stated that the paint job that was going on it was upwards of $40,000.00. Whoa!!! That makes $7000 look kinda cheap now.
 
#10 ·
who gives a crap if BC/CC never came on a car in '69??? The paint nowdays if MUCH nicer looking and longer lasting (tougher) than that old laquer was... I like it when an older car has a top quality BC/CC job on it, especially those done at home for way less than $20,000. Originality at a show is nice for the chalk marks on the firewall & rearend & such, but paint should 'shine'!! I don't like those primer-looking rat-rods either, they look painted with a roller!! To each his own though... Not trying to offend anybody.
 
#12 · (Edited)
I don't think many people are going to spend 10 grand on a paint job that will be driven a lot. Just look at the length of the blitz black thread on here, and the roller paint job on moparts that I'll give a link to. But the fact with the amount of hours put in a quality paint job and perfecting the body and the finish, and the price of the better materials, it is not unreasonable for a top notch job. Painters/body men need to get paid for there time like anyone else trying to make a living. What gets me is alot of people are more willing to pay a good chunk of change for the cost of paint and materials these days, but think you are out to screw them if you want a reasonable rate for labor. I did side jobs for awhile and even though I quoted very reasonable (don't have huge overhead, but like shine said, a nice shop has a lot of costs to cover) and spent time explaining what would need to be done, what material costs are, and the labor that would be involved, a lot of time would not hear back. Now I keep it short and just say how much. I only charged a labor rate of what I could make working for someone, plus a little bit more for giving up my free time and electricity, water, ect. The ones that are overly cheap are usually the most nit picky and ones looking for something to complain about besides that. Or many started something like, I don't have much money or had cheap somewhere in the email or conversation. I don't want to run up my bills, spend a ton of my time and been able to make more working at mcdonalds. Really makes it tough for the small guy to want to continue to do the work. I don't really even persue work anymore, and have a steady decent income from my job and things there are not perfected like the jobs I did at home. I guess its much more rewarding to work on your own stuff, even if you are your worse critic. Like anything you may get less then you pay for, what you pay for, and once in a great while more then you pay for. There are a few cons also in any business, which is why you don't blindly take your car to someone without asking for some references. Its all in the details and the price of the materials used. It may look very good when you get it, but some lines the durability and longevity may be better, and if time was not taken, recommendations followed, the paint job could show problems a little down the road.
http://board.moparts.org/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=2331682&page=0&fpart=2&vc=1
 
#13 ·
You just can't compare two different cars typically. If car A had a rust-free (what's that) body and required no major panel replacement, then maybe you can fix minor dents, block, prime, and shoot it for $3K. If car B needs panels replaced, has several gaps needing frame pulling, has lots of rust, etc. all of that takes time - time at $30-$75 hour depending on the shop and where you live. The end results might be IDENTICAL, but it was the starting product that determined the price...
 
#14 ·
O.K. then,

I'll ask a question that I have been contemplating-if I do the Body work (Epoxy Primer, hopefully just a tad or no Bondo, Primer/Filler, block sand, block sand, block sand, block sand, block sand, you get the idea) get it as straight as a regular, idiot Gearhead can, buy the Paint (if it doesn't offend the Painter) take it to a reputable Shop, any guestimates on what a two-tone job would cost?

Maybe my question was answered while I tired to pose this question^^^
 
#15 ·
first off , if a painter is any good he will not risk "shooting " a ready to paint car. no matter what kind of deal is made his name is going to be tagged with it. i wont even work behind another bodyman. now think about it for a sec. would you put aside top money jobs to do a job that way. this is how we make our living. believe me you can be "good deal'd" right out of bez. don't be offended if a painter passes on the deal. he really just cant afford it. we're usually buried in work and several weeks behind already.
 
#16 ·
Shine,

I can understand where you are coming from- so, are you saying I take my car in to the Shop bare metal and break out the checkbook for $10 large? Or, try and do the Painting myself (scary thought :pain: )-isn't there any other options? And where IS the line? I have already done a bunch of body work on it(metal replacement and such)-please understand, I'm not trying to be abrasive here, just looking for options-
 
#17 ·
no , you can do all the prep but the painter will probly want to prime and quide coat it to make sure it's ready. now what if he shoots it and it peels or bubbles ? i quarantee he wont warranty it. i would not. it's a really grey area. it's really hard to find a shop that will do it. your best bet is to find a painter that will do it on the side maybe. just about every painter on this site has a story i bet :D good luck anyway.
 
#18 ·
shine said:
just about every painter on this site has a story i bet :D good luck anyway.
Oh yeah, I quit painting over other people's work years ago. There's usually a few things that happen when this is done. Usually the owner takes credit for the complete job untill there's a failure then the credit gets shifted to the guy that pulled the trigger.
The last time I sprayed over soeone else's work: I shot a 32 chev coupe years ago for peanuts just to help the guy out, he had worked for weeks stripping, filling, blocking, and in the end his work looked pretty darn good. The job started with Dupont variprime and uro prime and everything was final sanded and ready to go with the car masked in the owner's garage. So I burned up a Saturday and shot the car for the guy then a few days later borrowed him a buffer and explained the colorsand and buff proceedure. It looked very very showable after assembly. Two years later the paint was coming off in different areas around the car and I got a call to come check it out. What happened to cause the failure is the guy wasn't sanding or scuffing his uro prime between applications, he was spraying primer over cured unscuffed primer as though it was lacquer and the little adhesion there was let go and the layers of primer seperated. Urethanes need texture for adhesion unless they are sprayed within the recoat window! I felt bad for the guy but Oh well, it's his work that failed. I'll never spray over someone else's bodywork again, unless I see the work being performed to make sure there's no chance of mistakes.
 
#19 ·
Painting

35WINDOW said:
O.K. then,

I'll ask a question that I have been contemplating-if I do the Body work (Epoxy Primer, hopefully just a tad or no Bondo, Primer/Filler, block sand, block sand, block sand, block sand, block sand, you get the idea) get it as straight as a regular, idiot Gearhead can, buy the Paint (if it doesn't offend the Painter) take it to a reputable Shop, any guestimates on what a two-tone job would cost?

Maybe my question was answered while I tired to pose this question^^^
If a fellow can get all that done then shooting the color is not all that big of a deal...Lot of good practice shooting the primer and getting that to lay down well..

Just my take on painting..And that way it truely is yours..

Sam
 
#20 ·
I you want a "paint job", go to Maaco. Most pros and experianced RE-FINISHERS know what it takes to CREATE A SURFACE to show off that finish. Not everyone can see it. Therefore, not everyone will respect or understand the DISCIPLINE required to pull off a winner. Cab said it right as well...what you begin with is key to cost. A western car with perfect original metal is still no guarantee of low cost since it's the quality of the metal SURFACE that will make it or break it. Some guys need more hrs than other to get perfection. To some of us it comes easy, to others, they may never get it down to a science. I can make some moves along the way to make anything look great, but I can see the difference from several yards away. The average enthusiast may not. Once again it boils down to what you want and what you have to work with. Nowadays I "cherry-pick" my personal work...cuz I can. "Best paint"? Too many parameters to go there. Could be color, graphics, flames, you name it. Means nothing with regard to surface quality in most cases. Look at the pic below and you'll realize what I mean by surface quality...I've posted this before, and for the record, the re-finish on this one was over 30K. But look at the spare tire in the side of the hood...the rear fender in the 1/4 panel...the surrounding area in the door...you get the idea.
 

Attachments

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top