HWYSTR455

So the car is almost ready to pick up from the paint shop, guys shoots me a druel-shot to my phone, and, I notice the end pieces, the ones that continue onto the 1/4 panels, are missing. Dang. Well, easy enough to correct, I just need a good example!

Can someone post a decent or high quality shot of the quarter and trunk area where the stripe is please? So I can provide as an example? The 'eyebrow' one that's on the quarter?

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Hairy Olds

This is the best I have and they are original. The factory didn't do a perfect job on striping as this shows.

mmurphy77

How about this?

stevengerard

here is mine from the stripe kit mask you can purchase - I never noticed how much narrower the deck lid was on a convertible than the hardtops

HWYSTR455

Excellent! Thank you much guys!

stevengerard - I hope mine turn out that nice! And yeah, I bought the stripe stencil kit from Parts Place, but the shop pitched it after they did all but the eyebrow stripes by accident. I'm tempted to bring up the trim pieces so they can get it aligned right, but guess it's a little too late, since the deck lid is already done.

And the Parts Place stencil kit is the wide second strip like yours, FYI...
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507OLDS

That's a pretty good stencil kit,but it needs some tweaking to get the stripes on there correctly.I often see them "running uphill" on the sides,where they need to stay parallel with the line of the marker lights.The stripes can make or break the whole job.

stevengerard

and it needs a lot of attention around the wheel wells that was the trickiest palcement - most of mine were hand taped around there

HWYSTR455

Yes, the painter mentioned he had some issues getting it lined up, some due to the fact that the body wasn't perfectly flat, and the stencil was on a waxy paper that doesn't lay on anything but flat surfaces. They nailed it though, or as far as I could tell. Once I get up there friday I will look at it harder, but I trust they did a good job.

The one guy ended up doing some dumpster diving, and came up with the stencil portion that was for the eyebrow sections that got missed. With these examples from here, he will knock those out without a problem. He did say it will be another day and a half though, but that makes me feel comfortable they're being done right.

I will post some better pics on the build thread I have going once I get them friday....

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stevengerard

looks good from that distance, lets see some close ups, I think you'll be happy. Funny as many variations as there are when they are off they are really off, I think many folks make the thin stripe too thin and gap it too far or too close to the thick stripe - those are the easiest issues to see. Yours look right on from the pic.

HWYSTR455

Ok, looks like they did a good job on the trunk strips, and I included a pic of the side strips. Sorry for the quality, my camera battery needed charging, and it's tough to get a good pic with it being so shiny...

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stevengerard

looks really nice, nice color combo - are your fenders original, looks like the two is up just a little higher - just wondering, its so hard to place those correctly when you are using replacement fenders but I have seen some numbers that were way off on supposedly original W30 fenders too

RetroRanger

paint does look really shiny !!!

when are we going to see full shots (not cel phone) of the whole car....all the little bits look great

HWYSTR455

Used a 'blue' black, and the silver for the stripes are a BMW color, looks grey in the shade, almost white in the light. Pretty reflective too.

Those are OE Cutlass S fenders, used the template from Parts Place for the emblems, and the '2' is right, it's the pic, it's an illusion. If I held a ruler up there, you'd see it's all straight. Now spacing, might be another story, since not sure if the templates are right, or if the body shop got it right or not!

And again, they tossed the template for the trunk lid emblems! Doh!

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HWYSTR455

Yeah, I'm trimming it out, should have it done not too far in the future! My garage is so tight, hard to have room to move around, sure not going to get a full side shot! I will get it cleaned up after I trim it and take some good pics, will post on the major build thread. Figure a couple weeks...

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HWYSTR455

Just for laughs, the paint guy shot me a pic of a 10 dollar bill, reflected, and you can read the entire bill in the pic! Heh-heh!

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Hot 442

Curious....I'm approaching a paint job as well with the exact striping u have done.

Keeping in mind the each car is different what with each needing different body work etc, what should I budget?

It's a pretty solid car all around but it'll need patch panels on the lower front fenders (dog leg) in my estimation.....lots of mud in there. otherwise pretty rot free car but I'm lost as to what they ding u for a paint job these days....it'll be just a driver not a show car.

I plan the stripes as well...same as yours. Looks great!

HWYSTR455

Well, there's done 'right', and there's patched up, so depends on the level of job, and what your body shop charges. It's a big range, no way can someone guesstimate. Maybe $4k - $24k? Or more.

Best thing anyone can tell you, take it up to a shop you want or plan to have do it, and get an estimate.

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stevengerard

yep find a shop, get references and make sure they update you all the time and don't do anything with your car in advance you don't know about. And be very careful if you sign a time and materials contract.

I got quotes from 4k - 80K+ most were around 7500 - 15000

worst thing about it no matter how great the car looks there is always more to me done, rule of thumb plan on 50% more than expected

Hot 442

Okay you guys are scaring the crap outta me. Five or six years back I had my grand nat'l painted and tons of body work done. Were talking trunk lip, part of the roof, doors and fenders all redone with new metal. Plus new rockers welded on!

It was a ton of work. End of the day it was 3400 out the door.

This car doesn't need nearly as much work but tell me has the cost of this stuff gone up that much? I've heard the materials are more but that's due to them not being environmentally friendly and such.....

Wow, I was hoping for around 3-4 grand......ouch

dc2x4drvr

Probably close to double your GN paint job..

507OLDS

My 72 was $4,100.00 to paint,in 1997.The was rust-free,and dod not need any metal repair.I disassembled the car,and sent the rolling body to the shop.They kept all of the time documented on a sheet,and dated it.Yes,there were many times that it just sat,but I didn't want it rushed.They had it 51 weeks.I had the whole body stripped to zero,including all of the door,window,and trunk jambs.I didn't want any traces of the original color anywhere.I wanted all of the molding holes welded shut,not puttied.
I would plan on $5k for a quality job.I plan on setting aside $10K for my next W30.All of my cars have zero rust,as that cuts down on labor to do repairs.You ca have $3500.00 tied-up in getting two 1/4's hung & roughed-in for paint.

Hot 442

Okay so have any of you toyed with doing it yourself?

As far as the sanding and priming go, it's pretty straight forward, not that I'd take anything away from the trade because I know it's definitely a skill. I'm wondering if you took it in for fender patch panels and some minor work then carted it home, how much would it cost you in materials to just paint it yourself?

I worked in a body shop a lil when I was 19 just as a part time job, but that was a long time ago and I don't dare say I retained much. It looks like there's tons of YouTube vids on the subject tho....

Gary's 2 442-S

I painted my car myself, I used PPG paint. I would say it cost me about 1200-1500 for my materials. I had inquired with a restoration shop to paint it after I had did all the metal replacement work just to paint it. It was my intent to let a shop paint the car, but when they gave me a quote of 4000 and that was with me supplying the paint I then decided to do it myself. I had taken paint and body work for a couple of years many years ago but had not done anything paint and body wise since, but I very happy with my results.

HWYSTR455

You get what you pay for, for the most part. Less you spend, it shows in the finished product, and the sooner you will be doing it again.

Most shops make a living on collision work, which the rates are pretty much laid out. Once you get into older cars, it's called/considered 'restoration' work, and you get charged at an hourly rate. The shop who did mine had like 180+ hours in the car, but were nice, and kept to the original quote. You do the math.

Stripping a car, doing metal work, and then skimming for intial paint is labor intensive, period. And it's rare you get a car that can be just scuffed and shot. Rare.

You can save money by removing all the trim and glass, gutting it, but some shops charge more when they have to push it around. I was quoted $2500-3K to trim my car out, to give you an idea. And after doing it, I think it's money well spent. And that's, as well as metal repair, is the easy part of a 'paint job'. You still have to prime, sand, fix, spray, color sand, maybe spray again, you get the idea. I have probably 120 hours in trimming it out, and I'm not done.

My initial quote for a strip, metal repair, and paint was 15k+, the shop leaving an open end for any 'surprises'. Add 3k to that for a trim out. I talked them into doing the job by just stripping repair areas, and not giving any garantee ( 5 year is norm) for call-backs, for 8k. And they were the least expensive shop I would have do it. (Others were cheaper, but would be unacceptable quality).

Doing it yourself, well, you can spend 1500-3k+ on paints alone, if not more. The better the paint, the better the final product, and the longer (for the most part) it will last. There's a butt-load of tools you would have to invest in, or at least rent, not including disposables. (sand paper, etc). Then there's your time, which you can rate in $ appropriately. Think you can do it for less than a shop? And get acceptable results? If so, it would be close, close enough to seriously consider paying the difference. You also have to consider the fact that in the event you mess something up, it has to be done over, and sometimes that's much more than having the shop originally do it.

Then there's the mess the whole thing makes, and the physical hazzard associated with it. Chemicals, airborne or through the skin, you will be exposed, and it takes a toll.

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Hot 442

HWYSTR455 - I must first apologize for the hijack..I hope it didnt interfere or take away from what you were orig posting.

Thing is for me, I already have the compressor and gun, I'd of course need the raw materials though like paint, reducer, primer, body fill and numerous other goodies for the actual job. I would need to purchase an air sander as far as air tools go, but who's not lookin to increase their tool chest?

I just dont know if I can part with 5,6 or 8 grand....definitely would put my investment over the top of what the finished car would be worth considering my purchase price, motor and trans rebuild etc.

I would likely build a make shift booth inside my garage, out of 2x4's and poly...plus use my 2 construction heaters to heat it up while I paint and dry.

I definitely need to buy the patch panels for the fenders, saw them on Fusick for $59 each, then have them installed, plus some metal work around both quater panels, where the stainless trim kept the moisture in but its not terrible. All that would have to be a shop.

gh5168 - What did you do when you painted yours?? A makeshift booth?? Howd ya keep it a clean job? Could I talk you into posting some pics of your job??

HWYSTR455

Nope, don't mind a bit, good info for others I'm sure.

Well, 5-8k, you'll still probably spend 5k in stuff to do it yourself, and then you need to do the time. Pay a shop, and it's their' time. It's kind of a time/money thing, if you have more time, it may work for you.

Look at some of the other threads on builds, see how long it takes roughly for what they've done, give you an idea of what you're getting involved in. I see too many projects for sale, people who start, and life gets in the way. Hate seeing those.

Booth is the least of the concerns, for spraying anyway. You can use old bed sheets, hang them, wet them down, and the floor, and you're good to go. Dust (on the paint job) is the killler, not really what escapes (into other areas).

Patch panels are cheap, but sometimes it's easier, and cheaper, to make your own repair panel. And patch panels, as well as full repop panels, usually need work to get them right.

Do a budget, a work-up, on a project like that, and you can get an idea of what it will cost. There are body shop job-estimate 'templates' or 'forms', as well as other resources on the internet to lay a project like that out. The better your homework, the more accurate your estimate. The homework alone will give you a better idea on the project overall too.

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Gary's 2 442-S

I reposted my thread to also keek from hijacking this one

fourtwenty

I did my own work and have to say less than 3k for materials and paint. I did get a deal on the paint as they screwed up the color. I replaced the drivers quarter and inner and a small patch on the drivers front bottom of fender. Etch primed and fill primed and primed and many days of sanding in between coats and then painted. My friend painted the car and we used a make shift poly booth. He used my gun that I got from canadian tire for 50 bucks.

fourtwenty

Don't forget that does not include the cost of your time or your friends time. Thank goodness Dave likes beer The things that cost the most quarter 250 bucks paint 300 primer and etching primer 200 and sandpaper and misc stuff around 400 we did our own welding and cutting and bondo and fiberglass. It took about 5 weeks of pretty steady afterwork weekends and it turned out pretty good. I did get a real deal on paint at just under 500 with reducers. Take your time and it can be done. Cheerio Orrick

Hot 442

Wow that looks awesome.

Real nice for doing it yourself I'd say.

You have experience or??

The more I think about it the more I'm considering having them do the body work...I need some metal work on the trunk lid and drivers door, plus patch panels on the bottom of the fenders. Maybe pay for that then do the rest myself...it'll depend on the estimate I get.

Awaiting a call back from the body shop that came by to look at the car. Ill keep you all posted on how bad or good it is....says he'll need the car for at least three months to take his time and do a decent job.