Ready to send to paint????

Hey guys! I have been working on my '54 Bel Air. Got it stripped to the metal, door handles and trunk holes are shaved, body work is done and straight, ospho treated rust spots and I'm now ready to send it off to the paint shop. Is it better to send it like it is and let them apply their own primers before paint or should I apply my own Red Oxide or Epoxy before I send it out? I was thinking red with some heavy pearl accents or suede or suede black. Of course I'm not looking to put $10K+ in no paint job, but I would like something that looks nice and is durable for around $1500-2K. I figure i've done all of the bodywork so the paint job shouldn't cost me no more than that. It's gonna be a daily driver and not a trailor queen.

Just wondering????

 

Not to piss on your corn flakes but depending on the brand, amount of paint and amount of red pearl. The supplies for the paint(the actual materials) reducers hardeners and primers, masking; could unfortunately eat up a better part of $1500. That's just sitting in a box, you haven't payed to have it applied yet. Depending on the shop if you get along with the owners you can as what primers they use and shoot it yourself to cut down on cost. But.... if you accidentally run it or have something go wrong you will have to pay for them to fix it. Kind of a catch 22.

 

My buddy that does it for a living once told me that typically speaking, when a customer drops off a car that's "ready for paint", it's about 20 hours of his time away from being ready for a proper paint job, minimum.

 

you need to do some shopping. 1500-2k for a primer and a full paint with anything other than cheap single stage is gonna be tough(around here anyways). also remember that most shops will not warranty a paint job unless they apply the primer.

 

Not trying to discourage, If you think your close, have them take a look at it. Its better to have them decide if it ready or not. That way its not a total shock when you get the bill. Just make sure that if you have a ton of trim parts(screws clips emblems) that you keep it in a safe place. That way you know where their at and nothing will get lost.

 

I'd send it as is so the shop can see what they have. As said earlier don't be surprized that the cost of the paint may well eat up what you thought the whole job should cost. Paint prices are out of control and are getting worse. Paid $280.00 a gallon for a PPG Urethane Maroon two years ago, it's now at $420.00 a gallon for the exact same thing.

 

In Atlanta, GA paint prices aren't too bad because of all of the compe***ion with the local body shops trying to keep up with the large franchise shops. The custom car shops are a whole different ball game when it comes to paint. Most of them won't even touch the car if they aren't doing the entire job. I had this 1 shop tell me to bring my '57 3100 w/$25K and pick up the truck in a year with the $25k balance. I told that guy my truck was a go to home depot & lowes and throw **** in the back truck not a show truck that the insurance company won't even let me drive!!!

 

Master of None What would you say is a resonable price for a 1 color 2-stage paint job, something like the red on the Cadillac CTS or the new Camaro w/heavy white and orange pearl accents along all of the curved contours??? I'm thinking lay the red base, then the orange pearl followed by the white on top??? I've seen what happens to red once the pink pearl is applied and i definitely don't like how it turns out!!

 

With paint jobs, it's only going to be as good as what's under it. The actual application of the color can be done in a few hours. Even applying a few different colors as described isn't where the real costs are. Yes, materials are very expensive these days, and reds have ALWAYS been more costly than other colors...But, it's the preparation, the priming and block sanding, and priming and block sanding, and maybe even priming and block sanding again that runs up the labor costs. On some jobs, I'd block & prime 2 times, then paint with the base color, let it dry for a few days, then block sand it AGAIN, and then lay on the final coast. 40-50+ hours of block sanding + re-priming, and about 3 hours of spraying. You can put color on a car rolled into a booth in an hour, but what is under it is what determines the durability, and the quality, of the finished product.
I'd take it, as is, to a reputable shop on a trailer, and ask them to look it over carefully, and render an opinion as to what the reality of what needs to be done next to get a "driver quality" paint job on it. A lot of issues, things that might make the paint job not look or last as long as you'd like, might not even show up until primer is applied. Prep is the key to a good quality, and long lasting paint job, the spraying of the material is a very small part of it...Good luck with your project!

Eric

 

Simple paint math, take what you think it will cost and the time to get it done and triple them and you'll be close. Sad but true.

 

last 2 just about hit it on the head..most shops won't touch it if you have already primed it ..good luck..keep positive

 

In my shop we typically never get customers who have completed much of anything on their cars. However if I were to be on the receiving end of your car I would ***ume the following work if the bodywork were really ready. Not doubting your skill, just estimating whats normally seen. Our shop rate is 85.00 per hour; we use PPG and HOK products.

1) Application of a high build primer. We use House of Kolor KP Series, your cost for the materials would be about 300 for the Gallon and about 8 hours in Labor.

2) Blocking of the entire car, roughly 80-120 hours; just depends on what we are working with, your expectations and budget. An ***umed material cost of 150.00 during this phase for additional fillers, sand paper etc.

3) Final prep for paint, application of a sealer, your final paint choice.

The least expensive colors are going to be solids, preceded by plain old white and black.

The most recent car a 49 Merc, didn't have the budget for a full paint job. We attended to all the bodywork, application of ploys, primers, sealers and the old stand by (flat black). The cost of the final color was 865.00 a gallon at my cost; we hope that will be done next year.

My advice, choose a solid shop with a good reputation. Agree and be clear on what your expectations are for the car, IE anything from panel alignment, door jambs, to how flat you want the clear.

My quotes are typically 5-8 pages longs, filled with step by step information so my clients know what they are paying for. Clarity is king in my book; I've delivered many cars and we never have "Oh I thought your were" conversations. Want to come to NJ? Lol..best of luck

 

Yea, I owned half of a body shop for a few years. I mostly did mechanical and welding panels etc and my buddy did all the finish work. There was a very large abiss between what I considered ready for paint and what he being a painter considered ready for paint.

That said I would not prime one I was going to take to a pro unless it was primer that he told me to use. Painters are finicky as well as paint products themselves.

 

maybe there's a maaco that can do a driver quality paint job for that price somewhere near gerogia, where ever that is.

 

If you have completed all the body work shoot it yourself, the paint is the easy part compared to the bodywork IMO. I see you mentioned suede black, that would be your cheapest route and we all know how forgiving it is on small imperfections. I would think you could get all your materials for $750 if you went that route. We just did a Coca-cola machine and it was almost $100 for the red paint materials and I used the value line stuff! Some of the "pay for our name" stuff would have been over $200!

 

I would talk to the shop about what they want.
SRC... 80 hours to block a car with finished body work? you need to see how a production shop works. At Mako they go in one door and go out the other in less than 4 hours. sand, mask and shoot. That is the typical used car paint job. All for about $500. Yes I know the quality is less. I have worked in both.

It sounds like this guy wants a job that is a bit better than a used car paint job. He is too far from me to talk about doing any work. But I bet if he looks around He can find shop that will fit his price.

 

weve been doing custom painting here for a long time.we have never had a complaint.we took in a job once that we were told was ready for paint. WRONG. running my hand over flat panels was like trying to run your hand over the ocean.primer was thick in spots and thin in others. and 2 different colors of primer.under the rocker panels hadnt even been touched.that was the first and last time i took one in that we didnt get ready.i used to have a sign that said if we start it we will finish it, if we finish it we will be the ones starting it.about the cost. well here its REALLY hard for people to pay our costs so we try to work with them.i would do that not to get the job, we had plent of them in line but to help someone get their project done.i love to see peoples eyes when they first see their car. thats why we painted. it was a rush for me to say hey i painted that one.anyway, the cost of paint and supplies will knock most people in the dirt.they had no idea that its that high now.i can get everything we need alot cheaper than most body shops.(my friend owns the store)so they pay what i pay i dont tack on any profit for the materials.your cost is my labor.and if i like you and you leave me alone qwhile i got your ride its not as high as some pay.the last real big job was a ot firebird with lambo doors. painted the car .jambs under the hood. every where .like it should be done.as we do everyone.then we put 3 different color flames all on the hood and down to tail lights.well almost there.color sanded that car 4 times starting with 1000.ending with 2500. hit it with the buffer 3 times till we hand waxed it. $ 2800.that was because it was for a freind who just had a baby.normally it would have been around 5000. because thats about all this area can stand.atleast te working guys, not the rich.

 

A lot of good advice here. Pay attention.

You ask about custom painting in one sentence and then mention flat black.

I think you would be better with something in between. The flat or satin black thing is overdone, hard to take care of and really just doesn't really look that great. Others will argue and it comes down to taste, but many flat or satin finishes make the car look worse than it could have.

Trying to go for some sort of custom finish with your extremely limited budget is not a good idea. Recipe for disaster really.

Think about it. One guy working a couple of days finish prepping the car. 20 hours at $60 an hour and you are already at $1,200 for no paint whatsoever.

If you are looking for a "decent" looking finish... Forget metallics, pearls and red tones (too expensive for the material). I would pick a stock color in a non-metallic and have the car shot at Maaco, fully knowing it isn't gonna be perfect, but it will look decent. Lighter colors will tend to show less as far as wavy panels and inconsistent bodywork. You will end up with a nice driver for not too much money. Even a regular bodyshop can do a quick shoot of a solid lighter color in a single stage fleet type paint for the money you are looking to spend.

Don't waste money fooling around with special paints and masking. Spend it where it counts by going with a single stage solid color paint and using the extra money to get it applied decently.

 

This is the no-brainer answer...ask the guy who's gonna paint it, how on earth would WE know what HE wants?

 

I know a lot of guys who talk to the local Maaco franchise owner and get a pretty decent paint job for $2500 - usually done at the week end or after hours. As far as i know they use Dupont products which are pretty decent. This comes from someone who is a compulsive perfectionist. You would be amazed at what they can do....

 

Weasel
I think the quality depends on the location. You really have to go hang out and see what is rolling out the door. I know of a couple of fellas that went to a specific Maaco here in the metro that got complete ****. Painted over body tags etc. But not 10 miles away is another Maaco that puts out work that rivals any that you would expect on show room fresh car. Same price, different franchise owners and employees.

When ever I see someone that wants a driver quality paint job on a budget I always suggest Maaco but I also suggest that they do as much of the prep as possible prior and they check out the Maaco prior to showing up for paint.

 

I run a body shop, and as stated the customers ready for paint and my ready for paint are not even close. Plus most wouldn't touch it if you did the body work , because they don't know that you put bondo over rust or something and the paint is gonna crack in 2 monthes

 

Many good points made, as stated I would never paint a car that I did not do the foundation work on because as stated you do not know quality of product used and what was that product used over and the coment of who painted that car it looks like sh-t - kills your reputation as a professional body shop and it had every thing to do with foundation work. I would not paint your car!

 

Thanks for the advice Eric! I'll have to hook it up to my towbar and pull it up to the shop to see what they say. Most of the large franchises don't even want to touch it. Abra says they were'nt even interested because all they wanted to do is insurance work.

 

@ autobodyed...MAACO gave me a bunch of excuses too, when I showed them pictures of the car. They gave me this spill about the cars that they do typically has orange peel and their painter is a contractor....blah, blah, blah. Who does that??? I'm just saying... Why not just say we only do insurance work???

 

Here are some shots of my ride. It's a '54 Bel Air. It's all original, paint, interior, moldings and original tires. Scored it from a guy from Dothan, Alabama who fell on hard times. Picked it up for a grand. I still have to stip off the rest of the paint, using gel paint stripper. y'all can see how tight i have the seams. The hood is a pain in the ***, but once i get the fender cuts welded up and re-aligned to the rest of the body i'll tackle that before i pull it to a shop to look over.

I wan't to chop the top on it but I don't that to hurt the value of it when I will it to 1 of my kids. They are always willing to help me work on the car. Trying to bring them up with the p***ion of the beauty of owning a Cl***ic.

Please excuse my junky garage but y'all see that I like to work on my own rides. I brought a 2nd hand Lincoln MIG120 that I use for all of patch jobs. Gonna be using it to tack in the Jag front/rear set up like zman did with his '57 Buick!!! I also have a Vortec 4200 like efi-diy

 

You all make really good points. As you see...i'm not afraid of doing the hard work. I've cut every one of those seams with my dremel and grinder to get them to where you see them in the pics.

All things being said, what I would really like is to apprentince with someone so that I can say that I did all of the work MYSELF, so when anybody asks me about the car i can tell them all of the work that it took to get the car to the point where they see it!!! I'd be willing to pay for all of the materials and a work off the rest of the labor getting it ready for paint.

 

Hey SRC I am in the same boat,however I completed 80% of the body work and choose to have the shop complete the final filling and sanding, then paint (black). I live in Richboro, pa (Bucks County) What part of NJ are you in? Looking for quotes.