to all you painters out there, how much to paint a 61 impala if all you have to do is sand, tape & paint ermine white, single stage paint job, no body work. I know this is a hard question without looking at the car, but I just want a general idea.
too many factors to give an exact quote. It varys according to where you live. Me personally.....I would probably do it for about $1500 plus materials. But there are shops in my area charging $2500-6500. It all depends on if any body work has been done previously or if it still has the original paint on it. Also depends on how strict they are in your area about air quality. The more a person has to invest in equipment to meet air quality requirements the more they are going to charge to help pay for the equipment.
Well lets see, strip car back too bare metal-wash primer-epoxy primer-primer surface-block sand-primer surface-block sand-sealer-color-sand & buff. I have never seen a car that did not need some body work, you are looking at $8000. to $10000. for a good paint job. If you do not want to spend that leave the car alone. The materials to do the paint job alone are not cheap. The Impala deserves a good paint job, Great lookin car!
the shade tree special, barn and fence paint reduced with acetone is about 400.00. Prices go up from there. I would think 1500.00 to 2000.00 would be ball park for a cheap paint job that you would be happy with for a few years. And like other have said you could spend upwards of 10K for a serious paint job..
Would you like to paint it using House of Colors flakes? Today the cost of paint is all over the place depending on what you want. I have an everyday 1986 Chevrolet Van I want to paint but I will be using single stage enamel to keep the price down. $ 76.00 bucks a gallon or something like that. I like base/coat clear coat except for when the clear coat starts lifting which seems to a happen more here in Florida then other places. Jimbo
Well, if I had a Benjamin for every time I heard this question I could afford to paint your care for free. To prep, remove/mask, surface, re-prime (always needs something worked a bit more), seal and spray in SS or BC/CC, then cut and polish complete, unmask and reassemble, takes an average of 120+ hours. Some can go closer to 200 depending on the level of finish. We were turning new car conversions with buried stripes under clear, brand new cars, no jambs, 80-100hrs based on the new parts needed. Every hour was hustle as these had to look like the $68,500 they were getting for them. Older cars, especially a 61 with all the window edges and screws that might break as you remove some of the stuff for a truly OEM or better finish? 150hrs minimum. A scuff and shoot? Maybe on some late model shop truck. Then you can pile 3 guys on it for 1 day, no buffing, out the door in 30hrs or less. Materials will be $1200-1500 for cheap stuff, good materials, add at least 75% more. With average custom finish rates at $50/hr and up, do the math. A Maaco refinish looks like it. Preparation is EVERYTHING. When you spend well north of $6K on a general refinish it better look and last like it, and trust me, $6K would be a jumbo deal on a car that size. I have 1, I know what it would take to maximize the the investment and future value. A cheapo paint job will diminish it's ultimate worth by 1/2 again as much as it would take to do it right, so do want to end up with a car worth $14K or $35K? Can you remove all of your own side trim and then replace it? Is it really a 100%-no rust-straight as an arrow-ready to spray car? This where the "Well it could use some blah-blah-blah and maybe some yadda-yadda too..." comes out. Funny side story, a guy was not taking no for an answer wanting a quote over the phone without me seeing the car. Frustrated I said "Hold the phone closer to the car, maybe I can get a better idea." "Ok, hold on, I'm heading out there now." "Seriously?" "Yeah, why?". I hung up on him...
With you being a car guy, you must have a reputable body shop in your town. We have several and the owners of a couple don't seem to mind if their employees moonlight some using the shop and booth. I did years ago and picked up extra money when my family was just starting out. You might can poke around and see who does the best work and inquire about it. There is a lot of difference, money wise, in doing the prep work and just shooting the paint. In our area, I would guess the masking and painting only labor , [ by a professional], to be 500-to 800 bucks. That is just a guess, as there is insurance, booth costs, building rent, all that stuff that adds up. I am not saying that a buddy in your garage could not do the same for less, just thinking out loud about a nice job with good results and clean paint. Let us know how it all works out.
"Funny side story, a guy was not taking no for an answer wanting a quote over the phone without me seeing the car. Frustrated I said "Hold the phone closer to the car, maybe I can get a better idea." "Ok, hold on, I'm heading out there now." "Seriously?" "Yeah, why?". I hung up on him...[/QUOTE] LMAO - I'll have to remember that. I've been picking up paint work again with the intent of paying down the bills and building the shop I really need so I have a couple ads out there. I get a lot of those quote requests. I'm in the middle of painting a '66 Q-code (428) Thunderbird that the owner had someone else "do" the body work on. They took off the vinyl top, but left the trim. I pulled the trim to find the whole area rotted out. As I was sanding the sail panel, found that when they removed the "S" scroll, they just filled with a blob of bondo. As I sanded the quarters, found that they just plugged the rust holes with bondo. All of these were items I did not expect nor did I quote for. So guess who has an additional 20 hours that will not be charged for? I'm cutting out and making panels. Suddenly a straight forward "prep, tape, prime, paint, w etsand, buff" is becoming "strip, cut, fit, weld, grind, fill, sand, prime, block, prime, paint, wetsand, buff...."
Unfortunately, yes. I gave the quote, he budgeted the money. He already paid for the "work" (putting it nicely) to be done once. He didn't know how bad the work was done. A lesson to me to be wary of others body work OR lay out the possibility of additional cost in advance. On the plus side, he has other work and I've gained his trust.
guess people did not read the question. car is ready to go.... all he wants is a "scratch and squirt". I haven't talked to this guy for a while, but a few years back he would do a single stage scratch and squirt for $100.00 plus materials. you put it back together and do any buffing. people are funny. assuming all this extra work the car might need when that was not the question. I did a OT 67 Sunbeam Alpine several years ago, got it to the point where it was jambed, and inside the hood and trunk were painted, we were looking for someone to spray it. if I brought it somewhere to get sprayed and some dumbass touched my bodywork there would have been big trouble.
as stated above, alot depends on alot of variables. if you just want a basic paint job, MAACO has a 1/2 price paint job sale going on now. I have an OT pick up taking in next week for their enamel with required sealer = $250. will be having a couple dings filled, which cost extra. had another OT truck painted with same deal 3 years ago and still get compliments on how good looking it is. they do offer other paint too. or bite the bullet and get your local top notch body shop to do it for you.
Wow- $100 - 150,000 is pretty general. Your description sounds like a scuff and squirt special. Work van quality paint job you should be able to get that done for under 1000.00. But don't expect perfection because you didn't describe perfection. The money is in the prep, you are wanting bare essential & minimal - clean mask scuff squirt. No body work means you want every imperfection amplified by shiny paint and will accept that. Not removing trim means you are willing to accept a little offness and lack of coverage, no paint behind your bumpers and a little over spray. Hopefully you are not doing a color change.
I used to paint in a little body shop. My boss got those kind of calls all the time, always told them "It'll be less than $10,000." We thought that was funny then (1981) but now you'd have to say it wouldn't be more than $50,000.
Umm, honestly why would you want something like that? I mean you do plan to drive it dont you? not just put it in a display box or sell it off right after.... If you were more local id make you the offer I make my friends, you get ready, buy the beer, and Ill spray... Not everyone want a 10K paint job. most just want it to look nice...
So I take you're wanting to freshen the paint before you take it to auction? Seeing as how I do this all the time I'll say it depend's on what you expect to get out of it. If you hope to get 10K out of the car then a $2000 scuff and shoot will probably do, if your want 35K or better then it better have one of those 10K paint jobs. The buyers there are very picky if it's a high dollar ride and they DO look at them really close. The cars I sell at B-J are in the 35 to 65K range and I budget a minumum of 10K for paint on them. Poor paint and/or rust issues are the death of auction cars as far as value goes.
thats what they ALL say... and the next thing ya know it's entered in a CAR SHOW... and the painters rep is on the line,... when things go south (bad) he's the 1st one to CATCH heck if the body work and no stick primer FALL off.
I know...don't you just hate it when you get MORE than you paid for. Fortunately, THIS dumbass let the owner know what I found, sent him pics, and explained my pride required I either fix it or he could have someone else do a shit job.
EXACTLY. If it looks like crap, the owner never fesses up to the crap body work and prep. The easiest scapegoat when his friends laugh at the pieces chunking out is the painter...
well being a amature just spraying for the heck of it I wouldnt personally give a shit. I do the best I can with what I got, but if something is really fucked up i would tell the guy to fix it or it will look like crap. This B/J crap has really blown things out of proportion..... Cars are meant to be fun, cherished, and passed on to kin and loved ones. Not just some status symbol for the rich and famous. Damn, now I need to take anothe BP pill.....
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