I have a 1967 Cutlass Supreme in gold with a black vinyl roof. I was told the paint was original, but the front fender was replaced and painted at some point. The paint is chipped and scratched over much of the car. No rust. One small ding that I can have removed easily. All it needs is sanded, primed and painted. I was thinking the same color in enamel and clear coat. What should I expect to pay for the paint job? I do not need an expensive custom or lacquer job.

 

10K —20k

 

It needs no body work. Sanding. Primer. Paint.

 

If you are paying a shop to do it, 10K to 20K is a good estimate. Materials alone will likely be 5K or more. Are you doing any of the work, or are you planning to drive the car to a shop and drive it home finished? Shop labor is $100 - $200 per hour.

 

Drive it to the shop and drive it home finished.

 

. Paint jobs done correctly are a bit costly. I did all and the body work and and painted both my cars myself and still spent a lot of money.But I know I saved myself a bunch of money

 

Yes, I was asking if the shop will be removing the trim, bumpers, etc. A day of shop labor removing all of the parts before even starting to sand will be $800 - $1600 at $100 - $200 per hour and only 1 guy working on it. Putting all those parts back on takes longer to get everything properly aligned and not scratch the fresh paint. Are you looking for the shop to do a quality paint job including jams? It takes me 20-40 hours to cut and buff a car after paint. If you think it should be cheap and easy to paint, I recommend trying it yourself.

 

If your not looking for show job, find a shop where you can remove bumpers, trim and all and even sand it yourself? Many will not paint a car they didn’t prep but you may find one. If you look hard enough and are willing to invest some sweat equity you can cut a lot of cost out..That old lacquer is easy to sand and all but it needs sealed with epoxy primer which is easily 200-400 per gallon, then a quality build primer, another 200-500 per gallon with hardeners as you want a 2k primer. ( there is cheap primers and quality primers, hence the price variations) The base and clear, depending on what brand can be as cheap as 700-800 for both base and clear or as expensive as 2000 for both. Then materials, shop supplies etc. it adds up quickly especially at 100-150 per hourly shop rates. But if you want to do no work, the car is straight, no rust and the paint doesn’t need stripped you should be able to get a decent job for 10-15k tops. Rust and paint stripping are labor intense..you’re lucky you don’t have that to contend with. Nobody uses enamel any longer, it’s base clear or single stage urethanes.

 

Also there's this to consider: you say it needs no bodywork, but do you really know? The process of disassembly and prep for paint could possibly reveal problems you weren't aware you had.

 

If you’re looking for a driver quality paint job take a look at Maaco.

 

Exactly!!!

 

^^^THIS^^^

The only way you could do it cheaper is if you spray it yourself by taking an evening auto body course. That's how I repainted my 71 98 and I still spent several thousand dollars when I did it about 10 years ago.

BTW, why do you want to paint it BC/CC? Our Oldsmobiles were SS paint from the factory.

 

It has a lot of scratches and scrapes over its 58 years. Not so noticeable while driving down a road but they jump out at you when sitting still and looking the car close up. I don't need a show car but would like it looking good.

 

Yep. I did mine 20 years ago in my parents garage. Its an absolute ton of work, even if the body is straight. So much sanding, so much prep, so much sanding, lots of coats of primer, so much more sanding,more coats of primer, more sanding, a few coats of base, a few coats of clear, so much sanding, finally buffing, then getting all the panels lined up without scratching all of the work you just did, then adding all the trim without scratching all of the work you just did...

Genuinely, this is the best option for a cheap job. Do the prep work yourself. Then have Maaco do the actual shooting.

 

I do my own paint and body and quality materials run me at least $2K. A quality paint job is about 90% labor, so do the math. $20K is about right.

 

Going this route - meaning having THEM remove trim, bumpers, etc. Stuff WILL get LOST or STOLEN. DO NOT go down this route unprepared. Do your research, via friends, people in the business, other's experiences and references, etc. There will be massive differences, in both price and quality, due to different types of shops, and different regions of the country with different price points.

 

It's possible to get a car painted these days for less than 10k, but you'll have to all of the grunt work yourself. If you plan on dropping it off and driving home you're at 20k. Unless you want a maaco job where they simply scuff, mask and spray..

 

Unfortunately most shops these days are reluctant to share the work, since that clouds the issue of who's responsible if there is a problem after painting.

 

True, most shops won’t touch cars unless they do all the work in house. The owner can bring the vehicle with bumpers and trim removed, had my 442 painted that way, 17k in 2005, with no bodywork.

 

You have to find the right shop. Most won't even think about an old car.

Pay your body guy to do body work only. Don't pay him to disassemble or reassemble anything, or worse clean parts. I do all of the heavy rust repair/patches and hammer out all of dings i can handle. I'll drop off parts in bare steel, he will do the finish body work and epoxy prime. I pick them up and will jamb the parts, hang them and drop the car back off. He will do the high build, final sanding and color. I won't pay him to mess with gaps or paint anything that I can handle- jambs, firewall, under side of hood/deck lid. He doesn't mind this at all. He likes body work and we work well together. He likes to sand and paint and make cars look great. I handle most everything else.

This is the only way I can afford it.

 

You have a beautiful Olds, if she is garage kept I would just maintain and not repaint in entirety.


1967 Cutlass Supreme Coupes are valued up to 20k and convertible versions up to 40k.

This below is a current offering.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/37679131428...mis&media=COPY


Taking all that into consideration, if I liked my cars original color and it looked as good as yours I would feel nuts to spend 20k on a well preserved time capsule.

 

You making it sound much easier than it is. All the scratches and scrapes means it will require more than just sand and paint. Even if you could have it done for $5,000, why would you put new paint over that old, worn out and damaged finish? It wouldn't last.

The car's going to need to be stripped, adhesion primed, then primed with primer surfacer and block sanded. If you really want it to look good, repeat the last step before paint. It's expensive. If your attached to this car, I recommend that you save until you can afford a nice paint job, then get off the cash and get one. You'll live happily ever after, I guarantee it. If your not attached to it, you may want to leave it the way it is.

 

You can get it wrapped in colored ceramic film for about 8 or 9k It will last in direct sunlight for about 10 to15 years. Probably way longer if it is garaged.

 

If you are dropping off and picking up without doing any work and want a quality job it will be far more than $20K. I do my own disassembly and re-assembly and my last paint job was over $13,000. That was a local guy doing it for lower price than a restoration or collision shop. That was also several years ago. Like others have said, materials are going to be $5K or more.

It is sadly pricing most of us out of the hobby.

 

‘You don’t know it needs stripped without seeing it personally..if that’s the car in the photo, beige black top and that’s original paint if it’s not flaking, cracking or anything it can be sanded and sealed with epoxy,then a 2k build primer..top coated.everything doesn’t have to be stripped. Especially when he said he doesn’t want a show paint job. If it’s never been stripped and definitely would keep factory primer intact as best as I could

 

It is, the car is gorgeous. I'm not familiar with the color but love it. I guess its Champagne Gold. And my download to upload degraded the quality, Its from the OPs newbie thread. And is far nicer in original quality.

Outrageous.

Had my first car painted for 1000 by a professional custom shop back in 1992. Not Schieb not Maaco. Lacquer with minimal bodywork. The car itself cost 1500 back in 1986, from a used car lot no less. Here she is 10 years after that paint job and after sitting in my yard for 7 years straight under a breathable car cover. I never went back for the final buff after the paint had cured, I was already more than satisfied. She looked very good in person, this pic is a pic of a pic.


The prices have jumped enormously since. 20k makes a lot of sense on a 70 W30s paint job. But on regular Cutlii that don't really seem to need paint, it's hard to rationalize.

 

That's what I am talking about. Taking it on trips, cruising and local car meets. Not looking for a trophy.

 

So I'd budget for $15K and leave extra for surprises.

 

"All it needs is....." We've all said that a dozen times (or thousands).

You'll pay as much, or as little, as you want. As said, if you just want fresh paint that looks good - for a year or two, at least - go to MAACO. We did that back in '98. It looked great! Paint literally fell off the hood in sheets after 2 years. But it was cheap.
From there you just pay as much as you want. Or, just do a wrap. They can look really good, sometimes even up close, but the really good jobs cost as much as a paint job. A less-great job will still look pretty good as long as you don't look real close at the edges. But, cheap paint jobs also don't look great if you pay close attention.

I'd recommend setting your budget and expectations and go visit a few shops. See if anyone will do the type of job you want for what you want to pay. A "Good" paint job, even on a car in good starting condition, is easily $15k - especially if the car isn't prepped. I shopped around in '18 and got estimates from $10k to $40k based on the same request - I even wrote it all down! The car was in bare metal so all the problems were visible.
Paint cost from my local jobber (English Colour - PPG) has almost doubled in the past ~3 years. Nothing is cheap.

 

I just bought paint for a car I am doing from my local PPG store. I get no discount. I bought shopline base coat,tropic turquoise. 5 quarts were right at 375.00, the reducer another 130 etc, then the build primer 2k was close to 300 for a gallon and the gardener, epoxy primer was about the same. Now the clear they quoted me was dcu 2021, they wanted 800 a gallon. I bought it on eBay fresh date coded sealed PPG dcu 2021 for 385.00. So total including sanding supplies, a gallon of filler, a quart of glazing filler etc was right at 1900.00. Oh, and I bought a quart of single stage for the trunk and that was 105.00 so total supplies was right around 2000.00. Shopline isn’t top of the line and sometimes depending on color it takes 4-5 coats of base to get good color but using a very good clear should do me a very good job. Now the labor and all is on me.

 

Cost also depends on the color. There are some tints/flakes/additives that are only available in Omni+DBC or only in DBC. I did a shitty "in a shed" job on my '02 Lincoln in the stock 3 coat pearl. Not available in Shopline, but did have Omni.
I did a color match ~15 years ago on a blue that I really like for the interior and used that specific DBC mix ever since. That quart has doubled in price in just the past few years.
My exterior color is a '15 GM blue that has a boat load of pearl and flake in it. Adds up.
I'm working on a '54 hot rod with what is probably a house of kolor paint on it. A somewhat similar DBC mix is $550 per QUART!

 

I will save the cost of a paint job and fix everything else. A/C, controls for A/C and heater, windshield wiper switch, fix turn signal return/cancel, engine/engine bay cleaning, replace power steering, reupholster rear seat and have windshield replaced. Money better spent and still way cheaper than a paint job. I can do all of it myself but for the upholstery and windshield. It may be like the Harley Davidson I had in the 1970s. I had it painted a deep purple with white lettering. Some cement head pulled up next to me at a light and said he did not like the color. I looked at him and said: "That's okay it's not yours." I rode away with a big smile.

 

Damn straight. It's yours, do what you want!

Upholstery is actually pretty easy if you're installing pre-made covers. The only real trick is you want the covers to be warm so they can stretch a bit. You'll sit on it, pull, stretch, cuss a little. Some guys show using plastic bags to help tight covers slip over the foam. RAMBOW has written some excellent guides on here and there are choices in vendors (PUI for quick and "good enough", Legendary for genuinely good but you have to pay and wait). Note that almost every reseller uses PUI. I'd encourage giving that a try. If you're going custom, then yeah, gotta find someone that can sew.

 

Can only imagine that dude would be just insufferable.
Has to offer his opinion to a complete stranger, must be a complete joy at the dinner table.

 

There are maaco paint centers that will paint classic cars correctly

 

At extra cost, Maaco in East Windsor/Hightstown NJ will do beautiful work in a reasonable time frame.