What Does A Very Nice Paint Job Cost Today??

[earntaz]

In the past, I've used DuPont -- had all kinds of their product and then they decided to go with Axalta and raise the $$. They claim old DuPont stuff is not compatible -- so no more DuPont/Axalta. Lately have used PPG (+++$$ as Marlin said) but seems to work just fine ... TAZ

[L78steve]

Its the EPA that is killing us. Paint product prices have gone through the roof and the components that gave the finish longevity are banned.
House paints included.

[CamarosRus]

http://www.southernpolyurethanes.com/

SPI manufactures quality primers and clears
Shipped directly from Mfg to YOU (no dealer/store mark up)
YOU should read their Website, Read Their Forum.
Great Customer service...Speak directly with the owner.

Two Gallons of Epoxy Primer (A & B) shipped to my home
was $212......Every bit as good as PPG , Axalta at $400+++

[302moz]

We use SPI primers and clear. Way better then ppg dp90lf

[jer]

Yes, for SPI. I've been using their epoxy and clear since 2000 or so. I use the UPOL high build which is a third the price of K38. It makes paying $600 up or down for base far more tolerable.

[mr 707]

PPG --> base coat clear coat is state of the art

[EZ Nova]

Ok I've been following this as I might be in the market with a car or 2? I think I'm looking at about the same quality as what "WHITETOP" is for a nice driver. And being up in Canada, I was figuring the cost would be more, but not looking that way????

There is a small shop I spoke with that just finished "restoring" a mid 70's BIG CAR Pontiac convertible. This was with welding on the floors and rear quarters, working the truck, doors and fenders. Price was $14K. said he had about a grand in "paint stuff" and rest was mostly labour and consumables.

But what it strange is when guys come on here and say the COST of stuff is? Like tape, paper welding equipment??? Isn't "most" of this included in you high shop rates???? Now don't get me started on the shop rate as I HAVE my own machine shop so I know quite well the costs of consumables. So when I quote on doing a $30,000 injection mold and thinking the 2/3 months it takes me, and guys are doing that doing paint and body???? Yet I HAVE to used 100 of thousands of dollars worth of equipment and programing ABOVE the cost of consumables??? Thinks like Die-Sink EDM's, 3/4 axis CNC mills, precisions grinders and MASTERCAM CadCam that's about 20K up here alone????

Now before anyone gets uptight, YES I know you have Paint booths and equipment. But do you honestly think that you have anywhere near the investment that a full machine shop with CNC capabilities has???? I was just at one of the shops I did work for, they have bought a few more CNC lathes in the last 2 years. The last one was 1.3 Million???

And YES most machine shops will get more PER HOUR, but to what extent?? I was in the $90.00/hr range, made good money and had as much free time as I liked.

I know the governments are screwing these trades up to some extent with regulations, but come on, "MOST" classic cars are not worth more than $50K. For for someone who just wants and nice driver, like this Mustang painted, and to get prices in the high teens to $25K, that not only crazy, but also killing a big part of this hobby?

FYI I DID bodywork in highschool co-op and for 2 years after. I'm no pro and been out for 30 years. But I know any respectable body guy can get a fairly decent car to paint stage in about 2 weeks or LESS. No major work, just stripped to bare metal, fix door dings and gaps, epoxy primer, filler prime and into the both in 80 hours or less, IF they work on it. Another 3 days to buff after paint. I just don't see the $$$$ for most people`s cars. These are not Ac Cobra`s, Yenko`s. Hemi`s or other special or 1-off cars. These are your run of the mill, 350 Nova or 289 Mustang or even Impala`s.

[markinnaples]

EZ Nova, Interesting post. I watched my dad do bodywork out of our house for 30 years (he did it for 20 years before I came along so 50+ in total), and before he got "old" he was amazing. Absolutely no waves and paint that was spot-on matching with no computer matching, just by eye and factory formulas mixed down the street at NAPA.

I know there is a huge time and effort element to bodywork and painting, but we've seem to have gone past the point of reasonableness and into ridiculousness in some cases. I respect all trades, but the hourly rates a lot of them are charging now are crazy. If you take the hourly rate and double it, generally that's their yearly wage in thousands, so if a guy is charging $125/hour in his shop, his gross is $250k, which is unbelievable money. I get that there are consumable costs as have been mentioned, but isn't that generally part of what the materials charge is?

[whitetop]

Originally Posted by EZ Nova

FYI I DID bodywork in highschool co-op and for 2 years after. I'm no pro and been out for 30 years. But I know any respectable body guy can get a fairly decent car to paint stage in about 2 weeks or LESS. No major work, just stripped to bare metal, fix door dings and gaps, epoxy primer, filler prime and into the both in 80 hours or less, IF they work on it. Another 3 days to buff after paint.

I don't agree with the 80 hours. Maybe for something that is a notch above Earl Sheib or Maaco or laow level dealership paint job. A friend paints his own vehicles on the side-has been doing this for 40 years.

He bought a southwest USA truck that was straight and rust free. It took him most of the summer working nights to strip and block it out-making sure door jambs were nice etc. I will ask him how many hours but I know it was way above 80 hours.

[NorCam]

Body and paint is very subjective, and each person has a different perspective on what is considered driver grade body & paint, and what is considered show quality. The biggest problem is that 60%-70% of owners will walk in saying they want driver grade work and a reasonable price (say 10K to 15K budget) and that later escalates as they come in to check progress and start adding this or asking for that. Of course the bodywork can escalate quickly where an initial quote may call for 15K as a repaint with lets say 80 hours to bodywork and prep, but then some previous repairs or rust issues are found and the owner wants it fixed properly which can add another 40+ hours to a project before the blink of an eye. That involves costs of another $3000 give or take and then the owner shows up asking for House of Kolor paint with a metallic silver finish and a 3 stage cut and polish. Yup...just added another grand or two in materials and another 60-80 hours to prep the body to properly block it out before the paint is laid on. Add to that another 20-30 hours for a high end cut and polish and that 15K job just rose to 25K-28K

My last HOK painted car had nearly 400 hours in the body & paint work and was virtually rust free to begin with. A few small rust issues and older repairs were found once we dove in. Those required about 40 hours of proper repairs before moving on. I then decided I wanted the firewall smoothed (add 20 hours), and the engine bay finished in gloss black (another 20 hours) and the list went on. The total project included 4 stage paint and final finishing with a 3 level cut and a full 3 stage polish. Over 2000 sheets of sand paper were used on the wet sand finish and those kinds of materials do add to the final costs. FWIW sanding alone required tens of thousands of cross hatch sanding strokes to be made before the paint and clear were ready for final polishing. What i'm saying here is that it takes a lot of time for proper show quality paint. I was given a break on the price as I have done a few cars in this small private shop but it still cost north of 25K for that one. The final finish was an award winning paint job, but I didn't go into this project with anything more than a good driver quality job in mind. In comparison, any of the upper end shops in this area that can deliver this quality wouldn't have touched that car for less than 50K at this level of finish. (The above rates are Canadian are not typical in most high end shops. In some cases you can expect to pay double for this kind of paint. In USD it may be less per hour but the outcome will likely be similar as hours do costs money)

A few pictures of that paint job for those who want to see the car I am referring to.


House of Kolor Orion Silver (Custom tinted with 5% black and metallic fillers added)


As with any black car, the body prep must be perfect and takes hundreds of hours.


A shot of the black taken at Goodguys Colorado to show the depth in this paint job.