When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
For the last few weeks I have been going through my area looking at paint and body shops. I have been trying to price out getting my '71 vert painted. The hardest part has been trying to find a shop that will work on older cars. Most just shake their heads. The few that I have found have been giving me estimates of between $18-30 thousand. This is after they would look it over and agree that the only rust is a few minor spots in the rear quarters. My floor pans and trunk are in near perfect condition. This is even after I told them that I would remove all of the trim and chrome ahead of time.
Let that sink in for a minute...$30,000 for a car that if it was "mint" would sell for around $20,000.
Now, I love my Olds, and I understand that you never get back what you put in, but this is a little extreme. All I need are to get 2 rust spots fixed and a respray. What these restoration shops want to do is to either take the car completely apart and do it in pieces, or throw it up on the rotisserie. Either way, they want to media blast the entire car. Bare in mind, I just finally finished my interior. None of them are listening. They all say that "This is the way that we do it", even if that is not what I want.
Thank you for letting me rant a little bit. I guess now I will continue my search of Maryland paint shops until I find one that will do what I want done, not what they want done. Since I'm the one paying the bill, I think that is only reasonable.
I had exactly that same experience 5 years ago. Today’s body shops work on volume insurance work, for them that’s where the money is. As for the restoration shops, through experience, they know that these old cars are better served being completely stripped in order to find and fix hidden problems and previously poorly done repair. I’m sure there is someone out there who will do what you want. Talk to other owners of classic cars, they can be the best source of information about who might be able to help you. Good luck.
I think 30k is insane. Try calling around to a few auto body shops. I get the resto, places have the expertise but that's freaking nuts. With that being said, anytime something like that happened to me, I'd laugh and go learn how to do it myself. I've done that with just about everything from auto repair to quilting to Dortoni's telling me a 30$ cake would cost me 500$ We all have the capacity to learn. At that point its more of just having them bake on the clear coat. I'm already researching how to paint my delta. Shes got some scratches and rock chips. Just make sure you do it under cover or you'll end up with bugs painted in like the guy with my old Camaro
I think 30k is insane. Try calling around to a few auto body shops. I get the resto, places have the expertise but that's freaking nuts. With that being said, anytime something like that happened to me, I'd laugh and go learn how to do it myself. I've done that with just about everything from auto repair to quilting to Dortoni's telling me a 30$ cake would cost me 500$ We all have the capacity to learn. At that point its more of just having them bake on the clear coat. I'm already researching how to paint my delta. Shes got some scratches and rock chips. Just make sure you do it under cover or you'll end up with bugs painted in like the guy with my old Camaro
I did body and paint work at my Father's Garage for several years before joining the Navy. The knowledge and ability are still there (even after 20+ years). Unfortunately, time has passed. I no longer have the garage space to do the work, and more importantly the time to do it myself. With 2 kids in college and 1 in high school I'm working 50-60- hours a week just to pay for it all.
For what I need doing, I was thinking that $10-12 was reasonable. I'll keep searching. Eventually I'll find a place.
I hear ya all to well, I work about the same. On in college and on in middle school here. It sucks, but like I said try some regular auto body shops. Maybe they can help.
A $30k quote is a polite way of saying "I really don't want to mess with it, but if I have to...". If your going to strip it and do some of the prep, look at a Maaco shop. Some do really good work for a reasonable price. Also, talk to people involved in the local car scene, they may point you to someone.
Also, consider taking an auto body course at the local vo-tech in the evenings. Often they have discounts for seniors, vets and high-school students. So, whatever category you might fit into they make it reasonable to take the course. I spent less than $2000 painting my 71 98 when I took an auto body course 2 or 3 semesters in a row at the local vo-tech. The biggest expense was the paint.
I intend to make a booth and paint a few cars. My friends were extremely skeptical of being able to do it well. I said I'd learn first. From what I gather, most of it is good materials, good tools, good shop, and good prep work.
Between paint and materials and labor. My simple repaint with minimal body work would have cost 10k. Bit i did it my self as im a body man . i also used alot of generic products. Good products but not like high end nexa or anything like that.
A $30k quote is a polite way of saying "I really don't want to mess with it, but if I have to...". If your going to strip it and do some of the prep, look at a Maaco shop. Some do really good work for a reasonable price. Also, talk to people involved in the local car scene, they may point you to someone.
That $30 grand number is an actual quote from 2 different auto restoration shops. The 3rd one gave me what he called a ballpark of $18. So far, every auto body shop in my area that I have either visited or called (about 15 and counting) has told me that they do not work on old cars. They tie up their bays and they said that they make their money in collision repair for newer vehicles.
I did find one guy at an unnamed collision repair shop that said that he could do it so long as I did not have a time frame. He explained by saying that he works on older cars when there isn't something else in the shop. His garage sees about 300 cars a month (I've taken my Hyundai there when it had to get some insurance work done). He explained that he has been working on a Plymouth Belvedere for a little over a year and he can not start anything else until he gets it done. When I asked him when that would be, he said sometime late next spring.
A $30k quote is a polite way of saying "I really don't want to mess with it, but if I have to...". If your going to strip it and do some of the prep, look at a Maaco shop. Some do really good work for a reasonable price. Also, talk to people involved in the local car scene, they may point you to someone.
I agree. Removing the moldings, bumpers, handles and other stuff and stripping the paint , you're winning half the battle. But taking care of the rotted rusty spots is going to be a challenge when you dont have a welder and materials. Have you heard of this company (http://www.mobileblastaway.com/automotive.html) they come to you and strip the paint for you? Im thinking of letting them do this to my 70 vert next yea
,have you checked the price of supplies lately?i painted my neighbors old beretta last fall.just the gallon of paint was over $900,around here most body shop rates are 75 bucks and up per hour.so thats 600 bucks a day.40 days gets ya 24k in the hole.supplies 5-6 there ya go 30k.
as mentioned try maaco.but shop around some of em do damn good work some don't.if you do alot of the prep that will really help.some of the trim is hell to get off.also if you are staying with the same color will also save as the jambs can be left alone.
You may have to expand your radius of how far you are willing to go. Talk to other people at cruise nights or shows and get commendations.I had my car done by a one man shop. He had a garage good for three or four cars. He wasn't set up for insurance work so he'd do small collision jobs for people that had to go out of pocket. His bread & better was old cars, from body on resprays to body off with extensive rust repair. He promised me my car back in a month & took five weeks. I was also hearing all sorts of crazy numbers but he was very reasonable. This is a guy with a small shop (didn't even have a sign up) no advertising that I found through word of mouth
This is why I took on this part of the restoration myself. I was not tooled and had little experience but willing to take on the challenge. Yes I have more time on my hands but you may surprise yourself as to what you can do to help with the cost. But if you ask around as others have said something will come your way. Every town has this old classics and they get done by people that love this hobby and willing to help you get what you need done. Allot of the skills I had to learn came this way and most of the time they don't want anything for it. They just say I want a ride when your done with it.
My wife and I had her car 07 altima, painted at Maaco just three weeks ago. A PPG single stage urethane for $1200 bucks. It took one week and it didn't need any collision work or parts.
This shop offered 8 levels or packages as to quality finishes all PPG ranging from about 600 bucks to about 1800 bucks plus body work and parts. They showed us many of the examples in the shop that week.This was a busy but tidy shop with muscle cars and everyday sedans being worked on.
I was pleasantly surprised at the work they were turning out.
My wife and I had her car 07 altima, painted at Maaco just three weeks ago. A PPG single stage urethane for $1200 bucks. It took one week and it didn't need any collision work or parts.
This shop offered 8 levels or packages as to quality finishes all PPG ranging from about 600 bucks to about 1800 bucks plus body work and parts. They showed us many of the examples in the shop that week.This was a busy but tidy shop with muscle cars and everyday sedans being worked on.
I was pleasantly surprised at the work they were turning out.
Post a pic if you can. I'd like to see it.
On my car I saved quite a bit because I didn't spray the door jambs, the inner fenders or the trunk. All that stuff was still in very good condition and I wanted to maintain the originality
Go to a local car show and ask around. You will likely find some high quality paint jobs that someone is doing out of a garage as a side gig. I am finding that many towns across the country have these guys and some of them do incredible work. They are most often MUCH cheaper.
He does good work from what I have seen. I have seen several cars he has done. Very nice. On the bad because he is good he can be backed up and I don't know how quick he can get to you.
As a painter I love when people say "it just needs a re-spray" like its nothing. No such thing as just a respray. Sanding, blocking, priming, blocking, priming, blocking, sanding, sealing, painting, clearing, color sanding at least 3-4 times, buffing and detailing. I have never charged $15000 but I can sure see why most shops do.
Sanding, blocking, priming, blocking, priming, blocking, sanding, sealing, painting, clearing, color sanding at least 3-4 times, buffing and detailing.
This is so true. I painted the convertible myself and I hand sanded the entire car 5 times in one night before getting the final coat of paint laid on.
Also, consider taking an auto body course at the local vo-tech in the evenings. Often they have discounts for seniors, vets and high-school students. So, whatever category you might fit into they make it reasonable to take the course. I spent less than $2000 painting my 71 98 when I took an auto body course 2 or 3 semesters in a row at the local vo-tech. The biggest expense was the paint.
THIS
Often you don't even have to be IN the autobody course at the voctech- the schools are looking for projects. I know a few local guys who have done this with stunning results.
Its not free (unless you are in the class), but a heck of a lot cheaper than what you were quoted (one guy paid i think $3500 for his 68 gto)
The instructors will ensure that the car is done right, and the students really get a kick out of working on something cool as opposed to modern junk that gets donated to the programs so they also make extra sure it turns out right. Downside is they are slow, i think the GTO took a full year from when he dropped it off.
I will also second what folks have said about Maaco's, If you do all the prep work and dis-assembly yourself, they can do a heck of a good job if you are not looking for show quality. my neighbor had his 68 chevy truck painted there and it was fantastic. Minimal finish bodywork, plus paint plus cut and buff (they have an outside guy that comes in for the cut & buff) total was $3800. This was 2 years ago. They had it in and out in less than 2 weeks.
On my car I saved quite a bit because I didn't spray the door jambs, the inner fenders or the trunk. All that stuff was still in very good condition and I wanted to maintain the originality
We haven't taken any photos..yet. Like i said I'm pleasantly surprised it turned out as good as it did. I'm no virgin to car painting but I don't consider myself a painter with several cars,trucks a van and motorcycle to my experience. No way I could of done this level of work and turn it around in a week in my garage. I"m done with painting cars, my last was in 2005 and the paint and clear were over $1400 (dupont) back then. I mean, I'm blessed with some skills and tools but no desire what so ever to do this again.
I'm almost impressed. Its as good as I possibly could do myself, if not better and the price was right. Its just a utilitarian vehicle with 238000 miles on it. The man said it should look good for a few years with waxing and care. He really pushed UV protection with the product line up.
If two other people hadn't mentioned maaco I wouldn't have never posted my thoughts.
Remember Earl Schrieb commercials...." I'll paint any car for $99 dollars" I used to laugh at those.
My buddy had his 73 Chevelle ( Malibu ) done. ( nothing fancy ) The price they negotiated was $8500.00 then 5 days into the job, shop called him to say it would take another $3500.00 to see it to completion.
Some times things are overlooked during an estimate, not that easy to quote on older cars. Most shops will go a little higher to cover any possible issues that arise.
As Toocool also mentioned, a good job is never cheap even though we may feel its just a quick sand 'n' shoot.
Also, As others mentioned, look around and find a decent shop nearest you by word of mouth .
Eric
I have talked to two guys that restore cars, and the quotes for a "nice" basecoat/clearcoat were $5,000 & $6,000. That is not for a car to enter a concourse event, but very nice paint jobs that 90% of us can be happy to have. I have seen the work of both of them.
I took a slightly different approach when it was time to have my 66 Project painted. I had done all of the body work, epoxy primer, wet sand, etc. The car was ready for paint. Springing 5-10K for a nice paint job would put me WAY over budget. (who am I kidding, it was already way over budget) I called several of the local Auto Paint Stores and asked for recommendations of guys that they would recommend to paint it. I got several names, called each one, and found a guy who would BC/CC it for $500, add cut & buff for another $500. I purchased the paint supplies, (not an expensive brand), he painted it 3 coats of Jet Black and 5 coats of Clear, and it turned out beautiful. He had the car for about 3 weeks. When I added everything up, it came to around $2000 all in. (He even came over to my house to fix a small scratch I put in the door frame putting it back together - no charge). You can save quite a lot, it all depends on how much of your own time you want to put in to it.
In 2014 I paid a local body shop $1600 to paint my '67 Delta 88 convertible. He had the car for about four weeks.
Below are before and after photos. I had him do it in red because I much preferred that color. The original paint was yellow, obviously, but quite faded. The cost included rolling out a few minor dents, such as the one just behind the bumper ahead of the left front wheel in the first photo.
The after photo was taken back in May of this year. The paint job was done in February 2014. It has held up beautifully in those four years. It really looks like it just left the paint shop yesterday.
In July of last year (July 2017) I paid the same body shop $2600 to repaint my '78 Toronado. The price included installing and painting the fender extensions, which were missing completely on the car when I got it. I bought new ones from one of the several vendors who now reproduce the fender fillers found on many mid-'70s GM cars. The price also included the pinstriping. I didn't notice until after I got the car home that he had forgotten to do the pinstriping on the hood (the before photo shows it). I think he just didn't realize it was supposed to be there. One of these days I'll take it back to him and have him do it, but it doesn't bother me that it's not there.
Here are before and after photos. He had the car about seven weeks.
In both of these cases, I didn't have to do any prep-work prior to bringing him the car. He did all trim removal and reattachment.
I think what 1969w3155 says above is right on. These are not paint jobs that would win anything at Pebble Beach Concourse or anything like that. But for pleasure use as collector cars, they look great, they turn heads all day long, and they didn't cost me my first two newborn children.
This is the guy who did the work. On the far eastern edge of town. He's now in my will just ahead of those first two newborn children I didn't have to give him.
Last edited by jaunty75; October 17th, 2018 at 09:42 PM.
Chip- My neighbor had two Model T's painted at a Maaco in Hanover PA. They looked really good. They go around to local car shows and hand out flyers. I was told by a local restoration shop 20 years ago that they would start at $20,000.00 to paint my 56 olds. I took a body and paint class twice at the community college and got it ready for paint. Found a guy to paint it. He did a great job! Now he is so booked up that he just picks and chooses what he want's to work on and his prices have really increased.
Good luck on finding someone!
Rick
As Don mentioned in post #15 don't forget about single stage paints. You could probably save some money using a SS paint. Plus, our cars were originally painted with single stage, weren't they? I painted my 71 98 with a SS urethane and it looks great. I've heard folks say that BC/CC is more forgiving for the novice but I used SS to paint the bumper of my wife's Kia Soul in our backyard and it turned out lookin' good.
As Don mentioned in post #15 don't forget about single stage paints. You could probably save some money using a SS paint. Plus, our cars were originally painted with single stage, weren't they? I painted my 71 98 with a SS urethane and it looks great. I've heard folks say that BC/CC is more forgiving for the novice but I used SS to paint the bumper of my wife's Kia Soul in our backyard and it turned out lookin' good.
The only thing is, you can't do single stage if you have metallic in the paint.
Chipper !
I agree with Maniac _ _ _ you know how its done, from your fathers wisdom. Put those kids on a sanding block and pay them for it too. _ _ _ extra $$$ = more motivation.
Egads, yes, the price of paint products today ! yikes. I just assisted a buddy painting his 72 Ford Bronco tub. I was the "Stupidvisor" and did the paint mixing. He had trouble accepting the fact that I reduced the paint beyond what the directions said on the label. I reminded him that the instructions get you to a "starting-point" then we must reduce further until the paint "lays-on" and "lays-down" in a Uniform manner. I prepped my '56 Chevy Nomad wagon in my front yard, and I get my Best paint jobs right out in the sun in the open air so I can see how the paint is laying-on. If you cannot see how it is laying-on, you're screwed, and all is a 'best-guess' situation.
On my buddies Bronco this was his First ever paint job, and I made him do the spraying. He had a new Sharpe HVLP ( high volume low pressure ). I had to keep jacking the pressure up above what the guage showed to be 28 lbs, I think the guage showed 34 to get the paint to lay-out. Personally, my Divilbiss siphon gun would have done a much better job. He asked me if I brought my 'gun', and I told him No, you are spraying this job with your equipment. That way he gets the "Credit" for the paint job.
Hmmm _ _ _ how much to Bragging-Rights cost us. hahahaha
Oh by the way, back then 1979, the Nomad was my first over-all paint job. I painted it indoors with poor lighting. You know the result. I had to wait several days and sand the runs out, and then rolled it outside, and sprayed it again, and this time I could SEE what I was doing, and it came out very nice.
if any bugs land on my paint job, they get painted-in and I deal with them after-the-fact.
If you do the prep outside, _ _ _ then, for $30k, you could rent a nice booth ( big commercial Party Tent rental ) and put exhaust fans in one end and have a Paint Party.
Len
Last edited by Greaser007; October 18th, 2018 at 11:04 AM.
What part of Maryland are you in Chip? How far is Martinsburg, WV for you? I have a neighbor who has done several old cars and I think the shop he uses is in Martinsburg, WV. Next time I see him I will get the number for you.
Find a new recently opened shop that is looking to make a reputation. They should have been in business long enough to provide references but not so long that they're established and complacent/jaded. The two times I've managed to locate shops like this I've gotten excellent work at reasonable prices. The only potential downside is lack of experience at time management and budgeting, so make sure you spell out exactly what you want, get a written estimate and that you make it clear that you're to be consulted about any "while-we're-at-it" work. And don't be in a hurry.
Last edited by BangScreech4-4-2; October 18th, 2018 at 12:04 PM.
What part of Maryland are you in Chip? How far is Martinsburg, WV for you? I have a neighbor who has done several old cars and I think the shop he uses is in Martinsburg, WV. Next time I see him I will get the number for you.
I'm down in southern Maryland, about 2 1/2 hours from Martinsburg. Thanks for the offer. I'm checking 2 more shops today, hopefully with better luck.
Find a new recently opened shop that is looking to make a reputation. They should have been in business long enough to provide references but not so long that they're established and complacent/jaded. The two times I've managed to locate shops like this I've gotten excellent work at reasonable prices. The only potential downside is lack of experience at time management and budgeting, so make sure you spell out exactly what you want, get a written estimate and that you make it clear that you're to be consulted about any "while-we're-at-it" work. And don't be in a hurry.
The shop that quoted me $30 grand had just opened recently. They wanted to take the frame off and media blast the whole car. Since they are still "establishing" themselves, they didn't want people to think that they were half-a$$ing their work. Understandable. More power to them. Just not what I need.
The shop that quoted me $30 grand had just opened recently. They wanted to take the frame off and media blast the whole car. Since they are still "establishing" themselves, they didn't want people to think that they were half-a$$ing their work. Understandable. More power to them. Just not what I need.
Bet they aren't there in a year! I also bet I could take a part there 30k paint job!
October 17th, 2018, 03:28 AM
