guppie

I scrounged a few bucks together for paint and decals to put my 78 Pace car back to black/silver like it's supposed to be. My question is what questions do I ask the painter or body shop or what do I need to know to halfway insure a good or correct job?
I've been quoted a few prices so far, $500 and $800. The whole thing has been repainted within the last year or so, so all I need is the silver shot on probably with minimal body prep. I want a good job done and not be cleaning out over-spray for the next 5 years. Anybody recommend someone in the Dayton, Oh area? :cheers:

ImBatman

guppie,

I painted my on because I couldn't get a satisfactory answer from any of the shops that I went to unless the price reached $7000 :eek: The biggest concearn that you should have is how do they prep the car before painting. As I learned from the guys here on the forum. It is a no brainer to shoot paint. Anybody can do that. The real secret and where the time and money comes from is what is done to the surface before the paint is applied. I have about 150 hours in the prep and paint of my Vette. Multiply that by $60-$70 per hour and you can get an idea of how costly it becomes. Now mind you I am a first time painter so I am sure that more experienced guys can cut that 150 hours and still acheive the same or better results.

But as to your origional question. .Prep work! Prep work! Prep work! :yesnod:

For my car the proccess was.
1. Strip all old paint (5 layers :eek: ).
2. Wash thoroughly.
3. Air dry in hot sun for several days.
4. wash again.
5. Do any bodywork.
6. Spray PPG DP sealer on entire body.
7. Spray PPG high build primer.
8. Block sand entire car.
9. Prime again.
10. Block sand.
11. Prime again.
12. Wet sand.
13. Base coat.
15. clear coat.
16. Wet sand.
17. Buff.

I am sure other can provide more info. I hope this helps. Good Luck!

biggjimm

Hey guppie, Wade hit it right on the nose. Prep work. I do paint and body work for a living at a GM dealership. As said earlier just about anybody can spray it on. But the prep work is what makes a good looking long lasting paint job. And vettes are in a league all their own because of being 'glass. They are harder to sand because you have to be careful not to go into the gel coat. And anything chemical that is applied to the surface has to have ample drying time as the chemicals can soak into the glass. If painted with these chemicals trapped in the glass disaster will occur when the vapors decide to surface, they can cause bubbling and solvent pop,( little bity bubbles that have popped leaving tiny holes in your finish) and many other blemishes. The key is using each product correctly as per the product directions. I know that we as being men dont particularly care for "directions" of any sort. But believe me they are on these containers for a reason. Some products can be forgiving, while others are not. As far as the $500 - $800 price goes, I dont know how much you are having painted. The whole car or just the two- tone color, but the old cliche' goes here---you get what you pay for. I can paint two panels on a car and have it top the $500.00 mark. Just becareful. Talk to previous customers and even the Better Busines Burea to see if any complaints have been made against said shop. Go into the shop and look around. Most shops will let you in the work area. You can learn alot here. If there are guys in there jackassing around all the time, you may not whant them to work on your car? And depending on your mechanical inclinations and access to proper tools, You can always " do it yourself" Well I hope all this jibberish helps you out. If you have any questions feel free to post them or email me or IM. Good luck Biggjimm

guppie

Well I guess I'm nobody because there's no way I would shoot the paint myself. If I was starting with primer or something yes, but this paint job is awesome and I know me it would look like a 2 year old did it.
All I need is the silver done and the decals and striping. I don't think there would be a whole lot of prep work so about all would be needed is to shoot the paint. I don't know if I'm talking in circles or not. I'm almost tempted to leave it alone because it does look good all black.

MotorHead

Leave it alone. looks great black, for the price quoted there is a good chance it will come out worse. :D