Cost of Paint Job

[T-Bucket Bob]

Hey Guys,

How does $1,000 - $1,500 for a paint job sound? I found a local body shop blocks from the
house. Talk to the man in charge...he would not only paint it, but prime it.

T-Bucket Bob

 

[Golly]

depends what he's painting. Does that include the chassis , rear end housng, head light buckets, suspension parts? etc etc. sounds pretty inexpensive to me , and you'll probably get what you pay for. I reckon good quality materials would cost that alone, so I'm not sure what he's gonna use. The money is in time prepping everything, plus good quality paint, primers and fillers.

 

[bobs66440]

That price is dirt cheap if he's painting the whole thing. Preparation is the key here. You can use the best paint available and if it's not prepared correctly, it will not last. Make sure you get some type of written warranty with it. I used Summit base/clear paint on mine. I think all the materials including paint, primer, sealer reducers, etc, etc, were about $400. Crazy cheap I know but it worked real well for me and others I know have used it.

 

[Zandoz]

It would depend on if you are talking about painting a single color free standing bucket or an assembled vehicle. if the figure is for a single color free standing bucket, it seems high to me.

For mine, I'm planning a different route...using self applied Plasti-Dip instead of paint. From what I've learned, it's pretty forgiving going on, and if the results are bad just peal it off and try again.

 

[2old2fast]

If you're expecting the shop to straighten & prep the body , then prime & paint it & furnish all needed materials .... $1500 is dirt cheap !!!
dave

 

[409T]

I guess it depends on what you expect for a finished product. If the materials can cost $400.00 ( I always do base coat - clear coat and spend more than twice as much) that leaves only $1100.00 for labor. At $80 per hour = less than 14 hours. 10 for prep; 4 to mix, shoot and clean-up; no masking, no color sanding, no buffing? I'm always afraid of doing those sort of things because the customer may be expecting a lot more quality than can be given in that time frame.

The old saying is "Good, Fast and Cheap, pick any two."

 

[hulkamania]

that is dirt cheap! Seems to good to be true. I know we couldn't prep, prime, paint and buff for that.

 

[choppedtop]

Guards red is 974.00 a gallon, plus activator. Paint isn't low cost anymore. Good primer is more than 400.00 per gallon.

 

[EX JUNK]

Check out Summit for some very good paint and primer at reasonable prices. I've used it and it's like using PPG, which I've used for years. They also have a nice array of colors from which to choose. For example, single stage acrylic urethane red is $80.97 a gallon (reds are always higher than other colors) and primer is $46.97 a gallon.

Jim

 

[Hotrod46]

Back in 2008 when I painted my bucket, I wound up with around $900 in materials alone. I did all the work and have no idea how many hours of body, prep and buff work I have in it. That was for high quality materials (mostly PPG). I'm sure it would be much higher now. Most good body shops can mix and tint their own paint, so their cost is a little lower than consumer packed material, but I wouldn't think it would be a lot lower.

Be careful about the cheap paints available, now. They can have durability problems so do some research before you buy. I painted my son's truck with a cheaper line of paint and it faded pretty quick. Red has been mentioned in this thread (don't know if you're going to use red) and it is notorious for fading problems. The truck was painted Torch Red, if I remember right. Go for the best paint you can afford.

 

[butch27]

I got lucky and a neighbor gave me a gal. of Guards red for all of my suspension parts.

 

[409T]

Go for the best paint you can afford.

Words of wisdom.

 

[choppedtop]

Most of the good clears have uv protection in them now. To old to change my ways, so I still use DuPont products. I did end up using Flatz on my sedan delivery, and it seems to be holding up well.

 

[tfeverfred]

You get what you pay for.

 

[fletcherson]

Have you seen his work or talked to any past customers? That should help. Most shops have pics and will show you some of their work. Ask what type, brand paint, and exactly what he wil do for that price. Is he disassembling, reassembling, or just masking around stuff, etc... Sounds pretty cheap.

 

[tfeverfred]

A few years ago, I was approached by a supposed painter. He said he could do my car in metal flake for $600. Yea.... $600 WITHOUT removing the body! . And you know what, I almost did it, but I decided to do a surprise visit to his shop. Talk about a hack shop. I'll bet that shop spends more on bondo, than paint. He showed my some of his "high dollar" work and it was scary. Over spray everywhere, like they forgot to tape and paper stuff off. Needless to say, I politely refused.

On another note, I met another painter/fabricator and went by his shop. "Bare Bones Customs", ask for Tim. I didn't have my T at the time, but he sat me down and gave me a long, in depth chat about paint jobs. He told me about the different types of paint and prep to do a job right. He told me his cheapest paint job was $8,000, but that customer won't need a redo for a long time. So, when ever I hear or read about someone getting a paint job for cheap, I cringe and wish them well. Because, unless you do it yourself, a GOOD, CHEAP paint job is a hoax. And even doing it yourself, the cost of paint and associated supplies will blow your mind.

Don't believe it? GOOGLE it!

 

[benT]

In my experience, the only way to get a good inexpensive paint job is to do it yourself or if you have a good friend that is a competent painter. Like others have said, it's all in the prep. The good thing is that these little cars do not take as much prep and paint as a full size car or truck. Between dad and I, we've painted probably a dozen cars over the last 30 years. Not saying they are show-winners, but pretty decent. On our recent build, we have less than $400 in the whole thing including prep, supplies, and paint. Yes, it's an inexpensive acrylic enamel paint, but performed very well for the low dough we paid ($65!). Other supplies include a gallon of hi-build primer, a quart of short strand bondo, a quart of filler, some fine feather fill, some lacquer thinner, a roll of tape, tack cloth, a couple of packs of sand paper and a few DA pads. The rest is just a bunch of time and sweat!

 

[fletcherson]

The thing about body and paint work is once you have done a few, you have many supplies that are left over, such as thinner, reducer, sand paper, and so on that makes it much less expensive as opposed to having to buy everything for one job. Prep is the key to a good job, as is disassembly and proper masking. There is nothing wrong with acrylic enamel as long as you catylize it, imho. I have painted dozens of cars with it. Get the right reducer for the conditions, keep the bugs and dirt out! I always liked watching it build that high gloss as it began to cure, I also liked to unmask as soon as it wasn't tacky, so there were no hard lines or stuck masking.

 

[hulkamania]

We have had experience with cheaper paints and we have used some that have been good, some ok and some horrible. You can prep the body all you want but some paints will not lay down good. I can't remember which ones work the best and which ones don't. We stick to PPG paint brand paint. We have used House of Kolors in the past too. We like PPG paint and have used them for years.

 

[EX JUNK]

PPG is very user friendly.

Jim