VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - GENERAL Body - Sheet Metal, Paint & Wood Cost of a Paint Job

How much should it cost to repaint a Chevy Coupe that is already prepped and ready for primer sealer, base coat and clear? All prep and bodywork is complete.

There are many factors that determine the cost of a paing job. How good of a job do you want? The work load of the shop. What color do you want? How quick do you want th get it done? Pay scale in your area. They may not accept your "prep" work.

Your best bet is to check reputation of some local shops and get estimates. Be sure they know what you expect of them. Do they guarintee their work?

I agree there are many factors, but I have had quotes ranging from $7,000 to $12,000 and all say the same things. Any car owner I have ever spoken to in this area tells me horror stories about painters charging $10,000 + and keeping their cars for a year before they complete the work. I guess you just have to keep asking car owners until you find one happy with their car painting experience. Are there any good recommendations for quality painters in the lower New York area?

I recently looked into the purchase of a Mustang coupe, for the wife, good car needed nothing but a front fender and paint. Got two quotes on paint, both teetered on $5,000.00 IF there was no body work that had to be done. That was 3 years ago. Both the estimators were shops where I know the owners personally and have for years.

In this area (west coast) a nice paint job runs, on average, somewhere between $5,000 and $10,000. Of course, on the higher end of the scale the quality is a lot better. There is one high quality painter in the area (he is known for his high quality paint jobs on street rods and etc.) that starts his paint jobs at $10,000 and the price goes up from there. It is not uncommon among the street rodders here to pay anywhere from $15,000 to $20,000 for a paint job.

:o :cry: :(

A lot of shops won't touch a car that they didn't do the prep work on, unless a very strict type of "guarantee" is agreed upon. They don't want it coming back in 6 mos. if it peels or some other problem shows up, then getting in a fight with the owner over whose fault it is. I don't mean to point a finger at you, but it has happened to a lot of painters so they tend to be a little gun shy.
A top quality paint can also run upwards of $3000 just for materials, so don't overlook that.
And one more thing, unless you go with a strictly resto shop, most body shops will put insurance work before your car, since that's where the money is at. A specialty job is usually worked on after hours or during slow periods, so it's not uncommon for a well done job to take 6 months to a year.

Bob

A lot of shops will quote you a high price as code for "we don't want to do it" because crash work is faster and more profitable.

Since you prepped it, why don't you go ahead and paint it? On the job training and all that. Yes, you will have to paint some of those panels 3 or 4 times, but you will have the satistaction in learning a new skill and add to you tool collection.

One of our members, years ago, painted his '28 baby blue with a paint brush. Looked OK at 100+ feet away. Another used MAACO for his '48 convertible and got what he wanted: a paint job that looked good at 10 feet that he could take it to cruises and enjoy it. He paid about $2,000 10 years ago.

If you really want somebody else to paint it, find a car owner who had a 50+ year old vehicle successfully painted and talk to their painter.

Chevy50Jim

I agree that painting is easy; the hard part is the prep work I have already done. I painted my last 33 Coupe thirty years ago, but it was lacquer. My concern now is the toxicity of the current Urethane Enamels. I am concerned with my health and the health of my family as I only have an attached garage in which to paint. Are my health concerns overblown? Everything I read would scare anyone. Maybe the books are written by professional painters who want to protect their livelihood. Should I be concerned?

jolo

They do not print the warnings on the paint cans just to use up empty space. I have a friend who was an excellent painter, he gave up painting due to his concerns about health. He feels the only way to apply new paints are in a manufactured paint booth and wearing a paint suit with OUTSIDE air supply. Your concerns are valid.

Absolutely, paint concerns regarding health are valid! I always paint outside in the fresh air and I wear a mask as well. Don't use any modern paints since because of their toxicity. I still use lacquer 100% of the time.

:) :grin:

Thanks for the feedback. Good to hear that my concerns are valid. I did paint my old 33 in the driveway with Acrylic Lacquer. I wore a respirator outdoors and any mosquitos and dust were easily sanded and redone. The car was like a mirror and the paint job looked great 15 years later when I regrettably sold the car for financial reasons. It's good to hear that lacquer is still being used. I guess today's acrylic lacquers are still relatively safe to use and don't have the isocyanates that the urethane enamels have. I will reconsider painting it myself with lacquer. There is nothing more satisfying than doing it yourself. No one is more meticulous about the result than the car owner.

Thanks again.

Cheers
Jolo

I too have a paint job in my future, but am considering going down another path. I have been talking to a friend whose son had a car painted by a local high school auto body shop about 5 years ago. The car was taken to bare metal, had minor body work done and then repainted. Part of the deal was he had to let them enter the car in a couple of shows so that the class could show off their work. I don't know what kind of shows the car was entered in, but he took a second and a third prize. He has now driven the car for 5 years and has had no problems with the paint. Same shop teacher is running the program and they do have a paint booth. If they do it, all I have to do is pay for all of the materials.

While I feel that I could paint the car, it is a huge project and I don't have a very good place to do it. I am also having a tough time when it comes to selecting a color. You can see the current color on the photo to the left. This appears close to one of the original colors, but I don't like it very much. When I look at the original color chart, none of the original colors really appeal to me. The red is the color that I like the best of the original colors, but I am seriously considering expanding my choices.

Rich

RichK, You go man!!

FYI: A fellow VCCA member in my region has been taking body shop and car repair classes at a local JC for 3+ years. He painted his Chevy using the schools facilities {spray booth etc.} and I presume guidance of the instructors. It turned out very nice.

I also presume he saved a ton of money. In So. Cal. $15.-25,000. & UP is a TYPICAL price. Along with having your car at the body shop for 6+ months.

Good Luck, and be sure to post a photo of the finished product. Actually, your painting efforts would make a good step-by-step article for G&D, How to paint your own Chevy.

Enjoy life, it is a choice,
Michael41

There's possibly one more option to consider, especially when we're all concerned about health and safety issues, VOC's and government reg's. I've heard some chatter about the new water based automotive paints but I really hadn't done much research until now. I did a quick search and found that Eastwood offers water-based paints for cars...it's worth looking into. Check this:
http://www.eastwoodco.com/jump.jsp?...TEGORY&iMainCat=688&iSubCat=1496

You can see in Members projects how mine looked and looks now. I wanted to get by as reasonable as possible as mine is a driver. Took it to a high class body shop and he quoted me $4,800 for the body work only. A fellow with a small shop in his garage quoted me $4,000 for the body work and paint job if he could do it between jobs. It took 1 1/2 years to get it back but that was OK as it took me that long to assemble the wood and go through the motor. I ended up giving him $4,500 because it came out really nice for that price and he did a few extra things to it. He was happy too. The upholstery from Hamptons would of been around $2,500 I believe and another $2,500 to install at a high price shop. Found a small shop that does it and it cost me a total of $2,600 for material and labor. He also got a little bonus because I was happy with it. I took the frame to another small shop and he they sandblasted and painted it for I think around $400-$600 dollars. Will try and get a complete break down of about how much it cost to restore in a couple of months. Already misplaced some of the slips but I know it still cost a bundle of money. Retired but have to go to my part time job now to pay for it. Will take the '31 though.

Maybe I was not too clear in my previous post. If the high school auto shop class takes my car, they will do all of the work, all I have to do is provide the money to buy what ever materials are used in the project.

I don't think I could stand a long term project. I have been enjoying driving the car since March. I continue to make progress. I have had a few problems while driving, but none too serious. I recently had the fuel pump clog up after running only three tanks of gas through the engine. I now have an added fuel filter ahead of the pump and a spare in the trunk. A couple of weeks ago, the throttle return spring broke while driving. I managed to do an on site repair and now have a new spring in place. I also had a bad ground on the negative battery cable and the battery was not charging as well as it could have been. This also caused the car to be hard to start once in a while. Those problems are behind me, but I still travel with a full tool box in the trunk. I am getting more confidence in the reliability of the car, but I am currently not doing any long distance driving. The most I have driven the car is 75 miles in one day. I now have about 400 miles on the car since I started to drive it. I will soon drive it up on lookout mountain just west of Golden, Colorado. This is only about a 50 mile round trip and will give the car a climb of about 2,000 feet from where I live.

I just don't want to be too far from help if the car breaks down. As near as I can tell the car was last driven in the early 70's. I have done a lot of work on it, but the engine remains completely original. I have rebuilt the carb, fuel pump, replaced the water pump, replaced a leaky freeze plug, new clutch, rebuilt the transmission, replaced the universal joint, new brake shoes, rebuilt master and wheel cylinders, new exhaust system, installed seat belts and turn signals, new wiring harness, plus other small items. On the engine, all I have done is to adjust the valves, new plugs, points and rotor and dist. cap. It starts and runs well, but in the back of my mind, I am still waiting for something else to bite me. This may be a feeling that all of you have too.

Rich

Rich,
Your experience sounds very similar to mine. The usual bugs crop up and you need to deal with them as they happen. I believe this happens if you did the original work yourself or even if a high-end shop does the work. There's always something that needs re-restoring, tweaking or replacing/rebuilding. It's all just part of the hobby.
It sounds like you've tackled all the major components so anything that occurs now should be minor. It probably took me several years before I came to think of my car as being reliable rather than waiting for something to go wrong. Relax and enjy it!

I was the same way. I was scared to drive my truck on any long distance tour but after the 300 mile VCCA Al-Cal tour with temps up to 105 degrees I will drive this truck anywhere now. She did better then me. I was getting cramps in my legs and feet and she just kept saying come on fat boy lets go. I didn't use a drop of oil or a drop of water when driving her for almost 100 miles straight or the whole weekend. I sure consumed a lot of drinking water but she just kept on going and ran like a top. I was very proud and very hot. When I got back to the motel I kissed her right on the headlight. So Rich I say take her out for a nice long drive and you will build your confidence like I did. I will drive her anywhere after that tour. I noticed a lot of people go through this and I guess it is just part of the hobby..Oscar :vcca:

Old Blue has given me a few lessons along the way too. Most recently after the 4th of July Parade. I wasn't driving her fast enough, I quess, for the generator to keep the battery charged. We stopped for some ice cold lemonade at a local drive in and she wouldn't start--dead battery. Lesson learned; next time I'll also throw in the jump/battery pack.

Also, I recall Dad years and years ago never leaving home without his tool box and an assortment of spare parts. I don't recall he ever needed any of it, but somewhere in his more youthful experiences must have learned the hard way.

Back to the topic: I found a small P&B shop near my place last summer to paint the interior and a new tailgate. They just wanted me to do as much of the rough prep as I was comfortable doing and buy the materials. They did the rest. The whole job, with materials was less than $400. I am pleased with the job. It's not "concourse perfect" but more than acceptable for a driver. Oh, I'd driven by these guys hundreds of times over the years and never even considered them until I saw them working on another guys street rod.
Cheers!

Well, it's good to hear that I am not alone with my "fears." This is my first (and likely only) vintage car. I want it to be comfortable, attractive and reliable. It is not and will never be a "show" car. I bought it to drive and I don't want to be afraid of a rock chip in the paint or a little dirt and grime on it from a drive.

Now that I have most of the small stuff done, I still have to rebuild the front end and steering gear, get new tires, paint the car and complete the upholstery. With a little luck, I hope to have this done by the end of the year.

Rich

"Old Blue" is "not" a show truck either--but I show her anyway. So far she's won 9 trophies in 11 shows. Not bragging merely illustrating that we can be much harder on our accomplishemts than others including our peers. Blue blazes and all, as the man said (Woody Allen?)" ...(90%(?) of success is just showing up...." Besides, if us Chevy guys don't show up at these events the Fird guys in there as common as house flys Model A's and Mustangs walk away uncontested...ugh..barf.... I've had guys come up to me at shows and thank me for showing her just because they're sick to death of seeing the samo samo.
Go for it...it's a hoot and you get to meet some really neat people too.

Thanks for the encouragement. I must admit that I have enjoyed the conversations that I have had with perfect strangers in parking lots and even at stop lights. However, I still have a ways to go before I could allow up close scrutinty.

If there were any awards for the "in progress" class, I might take it to a show. Maybe next year. As for now, I will drive it to the August Mile Hi Region meeting. The guys there have seen photos and heard some of my stories, so, I don't mind them nosing around it.

Rich

37Blue,

I am curious, what did it cost for the materials for your paint job? I can get my car painted for material cost if I want to give it up for 6 - 12 months. A tech school will take on the project, but I am not thrilled about the time frame. I am going to do some research at some of the smaller independent body shops in the area to see what they will charge for a paint job. Did they take the fenders off of the car when they painted it? Did they remove the glass? Did you do a color change?

Thanks for the information,

Rich

The cost of materials is sort of a moving target, depending on the choices you make. I too had painted several cars, always with lacquer, which is very forgiving. But I found that it wasn't available any longer in my area other than some mail order source so I was forced to look elsewhere.

I found a knowledgable counter man at one of the older paint stores and presented my situation to him. After a lot of discussion, he suggested a Nason Acrylic Enamel with a hardner. Cost was not too bad, around $130 a gallon for red plus the hardner. I bought 3 gallons, more than needed, and mixed them all together in a plastic container to avoid any possible variation. I did use a urethane sealer that was recommended when I was ready to put on the finish coats.

All the preparation was the same I had always done, using lacquer primer/surfacer.

I was very pleased with the results. I let it dry for four days, block sanded wet w/1000 grit, then block sanded wet w/1500 grit, and finished wet w/2000 grit. Then went to work with the buffer.

My material cost were around $600, not including the preparation.

My problem with the paint shops was that I wanted everything painted disassembled and not many shops will commit to that, outside of the really high $ shops since you're talking about a lot of time and labor.

However, if I paid myself $5 an hour, I probably would have a $10,000 paint job!

Well, I have jumped in hook, line and sinker. I have purchased PPG primer, sealer and paint as well as a new HVLP 3-gun paint kit. I have a three bay garage that I can turn into a cross draft paint booth and when I return from vacation in late September I will tackel the project.

I plan to remove the glass, doors, hood, trunk, fenders, head lights and tail lights. I figure that I can get everything ready for paint then paint three coats on the car body in the morning and then move it outside in a few hours. Then then I will have more room in the garage to scatter all of the other parts out and paint them in the afternoon. If this takes two days instead of one that will be fine too. Anyone want to come over? I will provide the grub and drinks.

Rich