A couple of weeks ago I was at a car show when a guy comes up to me and tells me he is having his car resored at another shop close to mine. He says the bodyman is great but the owner of the shop is not paying him enough and he wants the bodyman to move somewhere else. So yesterday the bodyman shows up and says he has alot of work line up and wants to leave the shop. I have never hired an experienced bodyman and painter before and was wondering what percentage he should get?
Thanks for all your help,
Rusty

The highest paying shops in this area are paying 45% while most of the others are 35%-40% commision. 40% is the average.

Lol Im Doing Alot Of Cars Body Work At Where I Work And I Know Im Getting Raped I Get Paid 10$ An Hour And He Charger 3000$ For A Complete Job I Need A Better Job Seriously

We all want to make what we feel we are worth. Getting the boss to agree with that is sometimes hard.

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Everything I hear in the southeast is 40%-50%.
Seems to break down the High volume mega dealers can getaway with paying 40-45% and the independent shops of medium to small size will be at the 50%
range.

I think all the restro shops are 45-50% of hours turned.

You need to go talk to Chip Foose and tell Boyd that if he doesn't start paying you more you're going to go to work for Chip....yuk-yuk!!!

What does this 40%-50% boil down to in Dollars Per Hour, and is it on a flat rate/book time. If so what is a good body guy turning per week?(flat rate/book time that is)

Steve

I wonder this too, what does 40-50% mean? Is that 40% of the total resto cost, so the rest is parts and assembly time or what?

45 to 50% of per hr charge per flate rate hrs. we use to try to double our hours. big shop , young guy, knowing how can make some good money. problem is always supply and demand.

What is the average labor rate per hour for a body shop and or resto shop?

Steve

The custom and restro shops in the SE seem to charge $45 to 65 per labor hour.
So the bodyman would get 1/2 that rate for hours turned.

Some shops bill as a labor hour so the bodyman for an eight hour day is only going to make eight hours at the say 50% of the hourly rate.

Some like the shop I was at today had a 69 427 vette that needed the side and front painted (spill damage) from insurance damaged and the insurance company had written 83 hours @$60 per hour of refinish labor and the painter will have less then 2.5 days fixing so he will make $2490 for his work.
Talk about a gravy job this estimate was written by a classic car insurance company and they are a whole lot better at paying then a State farm or an Allstate.

goin rate would be $22 an hour for a talented body man at a local shop. By talented, I mean one who knows; what he is doing, why he is doing it, has a sense of what things cost vs time, and does not need the boss to hold his hand. Oh and being liked by the painter is a plus (unless he is the painter also, which means his pay goes up.) I would say that is doing min. 1.5 cars a week (paint and body with min work, just straighten up and shoot) min overtime.

This fig is based on a texas shop in a not so big city.

That $2490.00 will probably be paid to the shop. It has overhead, utilities, personnel, equipment, supplies, insurance costs, social security, benefits, etc. Most of the body men that I know work on piece work. Some of them make in excess of a $100,000.00 per year. The job pays a certain number of hours at a fixed rate. If they are good and can complete the work in less time, then they make more. The shop rate per hour around here is way above $60.00 per hour. Bud South West Tennessee

No, if you do the math the 2400 is his half the other 2400 plus materials is the shops half.

Yep, I am getting screwed too. Suppose to be around 40% for an experienced bodyman, but I haven't been payed close. I am around only 20 percent of shop rate. When I look at ads, when they do put a wage, those places don't normally seem any better. Add to that my benefits aren't all that great either. The estimator low balls quite a few of the estimates to get work, and what he charges for the paint is a joke sometime. Think he is stuck in the 60's. No one in the shop I work at works flat rate. I've made better working for a yacht builder then I ever did in a shop, and didn't need my own tools for that job. I've thought a different profession more times then once, but don't know what I'd want to go it and not so easy changing when you get a bit older and you have been mainly doing bodywork since you started working. Our shop is at 63/hr, but I think most bodyshops around the area are more around $50/hr range.