CentralCoaster

My car was hit in the door, and cracked, and that needs to be done, but I have other things on the car that need repaint, so I'm thinking of just getting the whole thing painted. Based on estimates, I already got a check from the other driver for $1000... so that's done. Most of a paint job comes in labor costs, so I want to do as much of that as possible.

And I don't want a $5K show quality job, but I don't want this maaco garbage that it has on it right now. I think the used door I'm getting, and the right rear fender will also need a little fiberglass work... is it easier with em removed or on the car?

The door is easy to remove, but the panel going all around the door jams and rear decklid just doesn't sound possible. And the hood is heavy! Suggestion?

Draven

I think you should've had it professionally done at their expense, IMO. Settling on $1000 before the total was done is risky, and I would imagine it will run more then that.

-Joe

CentralCoaster

I think an honest person would only ask for $$ to fix what was damaged, and not take advantage of the other party with a full paint job.

JohnyH

And I don't want a $5K show quality job

$5K is NOT going to buy you a show quality paint job!!!

Muffin

How much of the "grunt" work you do depends on your painter. First you need to select a painter and settle on what you do and what he does. Shop around. Do not be surprised at the numbers quoted even with you doing the grunt work. Paint and primer for mine were $800.00.

CentralCoaster

Depends on the type of show I guess.

I just want a "good as new in '85" paint job.

jsup

Allot of how the paint looks really depends on the prep work. Bad prep can result in things like fish eyes and an uneven finish.

My .02, and that's all it's worth, I'd go single stage acrylic to save money and let a decent professional do the prep work. That's more of an art than putting the paint on.

Spending more on prep will allow more imperfections in the paint.

$1000 was risky.

redwing76

I took the body and paint course at LA Trade Tech.
You might find a JC in your area that offers such a course.
Sometimes the school will take on outside repairs to teach the class
on the proper repair procedures. The door would be easier to repair than installing a used door that needs repair.

Short of that buy a book.

JrRifleCoach

JohnyH is right. A good/decent job will cost at least 4K and that depends on the guy running the shop. My DRM is gonna cost me 1K just in materials. Of course DRM is more expensive than black. Yet the primers, sealers, color and clear coat is easily 1K. My deal on the 86 is that I must remove the panels, parts and pieces as my paint guy requires. I provided most of the hand sand labor to remove the old clear coat and sanded the contours during each primer coat. He did all the blocking and quality control including yelling at me for not constantly washing my hands after touching anything but sandpaper. Its been a real learning experience to say the least. I can say his final price will be affordable, since this is a one man shop he fills in his free time on the vette. The price? Would you believe? 2K

I still don't know how I'm gonna get the door handles back on!!!!


-JRC-

MrRenoman

I painted my own car in urethane and the materials didn't cost more than about $1000. This includes PPG basecoat, PPG clear, some primer, reducers, masking tape and paper, wax and grease remover. Any other extras like sandpaper, polishing compounds, some evercoat can are minor but the total should be around $1000. But for that money and the knowledge to paint a car can give you a paintjob that easily rivals a $5000 paintjob. Plus you can control the quality of the masking, removal of the parts, so it looks better than a $5000 paintjob. It's all in the prep and application of quality paint. You can spend a lot less on paint but do the same work and the paintjob still looks cheap. Go for a basecoat/clearcoat system. It's very forgiving to work with. Basecoat can be fixed within a few minutes of application. Clearcoat dirt, bugs, runs and sags can easily be repaired after curing and the results are virtually undetectable. If you mess up a single stage paint you have to wait for it to cure, sand it down, and hope it matches when you shoot it again. Don't even think of removing the rear fenders, you'll damage them permanently. They're not made to be removed and reinstalled. You don't have to remove the doors or hood to do a paint job. Once you remove the door panels and front fenders, you can paint around the entire door. I'd remove the bumpers, front fenders, sill covers and rockers. Remove all the mouldings, emblems, weatherstrips and retainers, outer window weatherstrips, mirrors, door handles, headlight covers and doors, gas door assembly and separate the lid, antenna bezel and any interior trim that wraps any body color or comes close to it. I removed everything off the car that I could unbolt including the rear hatch. My car went from Medium Gray Metallic to "98 Torch Red. It is virtually undetectable to tell that I changed colors. This is the kind of labor a paint shop would charge a fortune for and even then I don't think they'd want to do it. But you can do it for just your time. It's very time consuming and can be frustrating putting the bumpers back on plus all the little stuff you took off like door handles and mirrors. But what you end up with is a paint job that will stand the test of time as long as you care for it. My paint job on my El Camino is 13 years old and it still looks fantastic for it's age. The Vet is 6 years old now and I still get comments. "Nice paint job", "Who did it for you?" Everybody that knows I paint for a hobby wants me to paint their car. Problem is, I am only doing my cars, my way, cause they can't afford the labor to make it look like mine.
Art

MrRenoman

CentralCoaster, I sent you an email. Removing the rear fenders will ony render them useless and broken. They are not designed to be removed without permanent damage. Before you go and start tearing things apart, find a shop that will work with you on the work you intend on doing. Removing all the removable stuff to make your car look better than if you left it on will require the paint shop to mask all the openings to paint the car. Plus they have to paint all the removed items separately. This results in a great paint job after you put everything back on especially if you replace all the weatherstrips, rub strips, emblems, and spoiler. The end result is a paint job that looks better than new with no peek throughs due to poor masking. You could get a great paint job for about $2500 and after you put everything back on (CAREFULLY) you could get what appears to be = to or > than a $5000 paint job.

Art