so what does a paint job go for these days?

I know..was just messin

that came out of the mouth of some body paint guy..who obviously had no clue

maybe he just liked to say it because it rhymed..i dont know..strange cat he was..maybe the fumes got to him

with the cost associated with body work and paint these days..
i said F-It..im going to paint mine myself/.. even if i have to do it with a wisk broom and a shovel

 

Starts at around 15k for a quality paintjob around here. I've seen 40k quoted on more than one occasion.

 

if im working on my car i should pay myself for having so much fun.man i probably owe myself $2000.00.paper $4.00 tape$8.00 sandpaper$10.00 wax and grease remover $2.00 DOING IT YOURSELF PRICELESS!!!!!!!!!

 

lol, yeah I hear ya. I just think that quality materials make a huge difference. I lose money when we use the cheap stuff. Anyone buffed Omni clear? The hours it takes makes the extra cost of some HOK well worth it. It may seem like the cost is not justified but if you do more than one you'll realize quickly that you get what you pay for most of the time. I have no problem with someone doing it themselves, I applaud it. But to rag on someone paying for a paint job or those running a business, seems silly to me. If all the "do it yourselfers" tracked their hours they'd see why it costs what it does.

 

I want to know how you painted your car with 1 roll of tape.


You should track your hours and your consumables next time you do something. You'll surprise yourself.

 

But to rag on someone paying for a paint job or those running a business, seems silly to me. If all the "do it yourselfers" tracked their hours they'd see why it costs what it does.[/QUOTE]


Word Z man
completely agree.
I totally get the.."my time is worth something"

learning something new, and seeing if im any good at it, can be a satisfying endevor.sometimes well worth the cost, and screw ups (read learning curve) also the ability to say.." i did it myself" (especially if it turns out nice)

Cost of product(and consumables) is huge(important)..But as said..the good stuff is well worth it in the long run..I wish, or hope someday i will have the coin to use some ones tallent , and the best products

 

$4.00 per roll of blue tape from lowes.i used less than one to tape it off and some cheap masking tape to tape the seams in the paper.

 

i agree that bodyshops have to make money but $60.00hr pluse.i dont know of any body man making more than $20.00 hr.

 

Just for future reference the green 3m tape is the same price if you get it from a paint supply house. And it is so much better. Well worth the trip really.

Just a little business knowledge. Your employees need to bring at least three times what they are paid to cover expenses. Insurance, overhead, rent, uniforms, etc. Just a rule of thumb that actually works out about right.

 

A lot of body shops/ collision repair shops are not interested in doing our old vehicles if you pull up and their lot is full of late model vehicles expect your pride and joy to be put on the back burner. These shops are doing quick insurance repair jobs and making money hand over fist. They bring a Honda in with a wiped out fender order a new one, spray the fender with the original paint code, color sand and buff it, bolt it on and bill the insurance. This is easy money for them unless the shop focuses on older vehicles, which many do not, you are going to pay for what it takes for them to keep the doors open and rightfully so. It takes a lot of hours to make an old body ready for paint. Bottom line is straight panels take time and patients priming-blocking-priming-blocking-priming-blocking-priming-blocking-and so on. Unfortunately most shops will prime a car DA it and spot prime the burn through area and it's ready for paint so when you pick your car up make sure you bring your surf board cause they'll be plenty of great waves! DA's can't do what long boards/blocks can do. Here in California these shops get killed with costs between the EPA impact fee's, county impact fee's, equipment use fee's, workman comp, federal and state tax, utilities, facility mortgage/ rent and on and on. Not to mention the cost of paint materials are unbelievable and they are now forced to use this new waterborne paint that is simply water with food coloring in it-or something like that. Covert your garage to a paint booth, invest in a good gun shoot you color and plenty of clear to buff all the flies, knats, dust out and be happy, unless your rich of coarse then disregard everything I said.

 

i helped a carclub member who ownes a bodyshop.i stripped a old pontiac to bare steal pulled off all of the chrome made 4 patch panels sealed it duraglassed it put some icing on it primed and sanded it in less than a week.car was painted at night and in two days i had all of the chrome back on it.he bought me some parts for my car {$600.00}it should have costed the guy $10,000?

 

i guess the guy was lucky because he is also a carclub member and they did some trading for the paintjob.the shop has about $800.00-$1000.00 into it.and yes it looks like a 10 grand paint job but he got it for and old ford chassie

 

Hours, what was it in hours actually worked on? Hell in less than a week I can have 60-70 hours in a car. Then add the painting in a couple of days, and chrome back on in a few days. Who else worked on it? It adds up. Your mamby pamby math is getting old. It doesn't matter if it was done at night or not. Time is time. And an itemized list of all consumables and supplies. If you can't give that then you can't equate it to a price. It's simple really.

 

The reason that body shops don't like to do old cars, is that they EAT time and materials like a free buffet. A shop can turn out fifty insurance jobs in the time it takes to make one sled straight and shiny. It's simple economics. Your own labor costs you nothing, so it's hard to justify spending the coin to get your ride done professionally. After all, you are doing the car as a "hobby". The difference is that most homebuilts are just another car at any meet, it is the blood sweat and tears of the professional that usually makes one a show stopper. You get what you pay for is not always true, alot of the time, you get more than you paid for. If you track hours and materials spent on doing one car right, it quickly becomes apparent how much time and money gets lost or absorbed in a project. Most times, the shop owner is lucky to break even, not to mention the losses his shop has incurred for being unproductive for a month. In the end, he gets a bad rap for charging "too much", and taking too long to get it done. Just rember thet a shop owner has a responsibility to his business, his employees, and customers to keep his doors open. If you can live with a homestyle job, do it yourself. If you want perfection, get your wallet out...

 

Exactly! You also haven't factored in a weeks worth of rent for the building, the electricity used, the insurance on the building, investment in equipment (booths, guns etc) all of these things cost money and have to be paid for. Yeah it is great if you can borrow them but most can't and shops have to pay for all this stuff and then pay employess.

 

I paint for "fun"....I've never charged over $1500 to paint something (yeah, I undersell myself alot). Customer buys and supplies me with all products. And bodywork must be @ done. And I'm very picky as to what I'll paint.
You don't have to pay and arm and a leg for nice paint.....just gotta find the "right" guy, or even a small shop. I've seen PLENTY of paintwork from "professional" shops that looked like crap. And it wasn't the bodywork, the actually paintjob was shit.

 

i didnt mean to cause a big stink its just i have always been pretty tight with the little money i have.it usually takes me one or two months to come up with an extra $100.oo so i have to make it count!!all im saying is that when im not working and making money my time is free.i take alot of pride in being able to say I DID IT.not HE DID IT.anyone can spray a car but not everyone can do bodywork.with that said i think with some help from friends and some time you can paint your car with very little money invested.

 

Like I said earlier, $1600 in material is nothing. Thats what it cost me to spray my 1968 Firebird 6 years ago.
The base paint was $400 with my discount. Sealers and surfacers and clears with all the hardeners, reducers all add up.

 

No ones time is "free"..
that statement isnt even free.

do you conciter yourself "worthless"?

Dammit..I think I just got myself involved in another drama thread..im outa here

 

And you know what that is cool. I like to do everything that I can myself as well. I enjoy doing it and I like the challange of learning new things. Alot of people don't.

The problem is guys do this for a living and when people start questioning the costs involved without really considering ALL the costs it upsets them and quite honestly comes across as guys questioning their honesty.

I'm not saying that was your intent but the whining about doing things yourself as the traditional way and if you pay someone to do work for you your not a real car guy gets old.

 

I know this thread is gettin' old and weary, but I would invite anyone that wants to hang out with us for a couple of days to see just what goes into a $10/12,000 paint job. Trust me, you'll leave with a real appreciation for what all goes into it.
On top of all the issues listed a few posts back (insurance, investment in tools & equipt, o-head, etc.) factor in the time spent talking to the customer (selling the job, keeping him in the loop as to the progress, etc,) talking to vendors, fussing when the wrong products arrive, seeing that the right ones get here, jumping through hoops to make sure the job is done on time (or having a darn good answer as to why not!) plus factor in payroll taxes on your guys, maybe a little profit on the materials, the inevitable "unforeseen problem" that every vehicle has mysteriously hidden SOMEwhere... when it's all said and done, sometimes I question my own sanity! BUT!!! I absolutely love what I do and I guess I'll do it until the day I die. Again... I'm just very thankful to have the jobs we've got, the reputation, the back-log and most of all... the top-notch customers that trust us with their toys.
A few pages back I posted a saying that I'll close off with again...
"Good work not cheap, cheap work not good"
That's as true a statement as I've ever heard!

 

really, that's funny.... and entirely untrue.

 

Ditto....I was talking with a freind who has a bodyshop and he's having a hard time finding a good PAINTER.
It's not just "blow and go" or "Run the paint and wetsand/buff it out"....
There is a SKILL involved with laying paint....those who say otherwise have never shot a metallic, pearl or candy.....

 

very true........this and zmans posts about sum it up........i find that at 10-12 gs most of the paint jobs we do are close to money loosers.
also , it seem when you paint a complete, you become the waranty company for the car, lol



skull

 

true.........painters at most shops dont even have a complete grasp on the job, though there are plenty of good ones.

the paint dept in a body shop has the biggest potential for loosing money, and is the hardest to run at a profit


skull

 

It's all very good saying a monkey can be trained to pull the trigger on the gun but this is one human that's sub monkey.
My car's little but I've shoved money into it like it's 22 feet long.
The moral of the story is don't try to be Gene Winfield.

 

painting a car black to find the imperfections is pretty much a waste of time and materials now days. back in the day, i know guys who did, i still thought it was a waste of time.
a good painter sees the flaws in wet primer, or before.....


skull

 

or at least uses guide coat when blocking. if you can't do it with guide coat maybe you should rethink doing it.

 

word...

 

.........yes, everything gets guide coated here




skull