Cost to Flake a Roof?

I'm toying with a few paint scheme ideas for my 60 Impala and starting to wonder about costs.

One option is to keep the factory color but flake the roof to give it a different look. If my roof is clean and free of dents, what should I expect to pay someone to flake it?

I understand the figures might vary a great deal depending upon location and who does the work but some ballpark figures would be helpful.

 

$600-800 around here... gets ya a well falked out roof

 

thats cheap and i'd have to question what was being used paint wise. not saying it can't be done because it can but to do it RIGHT takes a good chunk of clear and time.

for the original question. i'd would start the thinking at a grand(ish), and i think thats pretty cheap, and go from there. want panels/lace/scallops/flames/ cobwebbing then keep going up and up...ken....

 

i did it myslef on a 55 Cad, white with white flake. Cost me about $15 for the flake $130 for a good gun, and about $200 for the base and clear and etc. looks almost perfect.

 

well c'mon then duke show us a picture, let us see

 

Thanks for some perspective guys.

luckystiff, I'd love to have some lace ont he roof as well but I'm doubtful that there's anyone in my area that could do it well. Just a guess since I see very little in the way of custom paint that's not on tuner cars around here.

 

if you want it to look really, really good, expect to pay someone with skill at least 2 grand. Otherwise you are just insulting them.

Body shops will charge $800 to fix a small dent in a honda fender.

Think about what you are paying for.

 

ill do them for 1000 all day but at the kustom paint shop i workat it whould cost 2-3g's. I have talked to guys at shows and said ide do flames/roofs ect. for x$$$ to have them say "I want it done RIGHT by a pro" and pay my boss 3 to 4 times as much for ME to do it anyway?

 

Oldskewl61 you are so right and if you were to do it your self you would not be told to cut corners buy your boss and you would take more pride in the job . I know I have taken more pride in a car that I have painted the right way rather than been told to cut corners

 

My son did his 64 Caddy this spring. Painted the top in a silver base, layed downtwo jars of HOC big silver flake. Cleared the hell out of it and then laced the top and shot HOC candy oriental blue over the lace and cleared the hell out of that.
He priced doing a top like his to a guy last weekend. For prep, materials, labor, sanded, buffed, finished out the door, at 2G.

 

I would charge around $1500 at my shop for a basic flake job.

 

I would most likey be in the $1500-$1800 range. All HOK materials.

 

I'm glad this came up. I'm in the market right now to have the roof of my 68 Caddy coupe deville flaked. Anybody know of anyone around the Metro Detroit area that they would recommend for the job?

 

Wow! That is a great deal!?

 

You get what you pay for. Some people dont care or have an eye for quality. $600-800 may get you a metalflaked roof, but it may not be a well done job. How straight is the roof? does it need any body work? It takes a lot of flake, and a lot of clear to do that job, and then a lot of color sanding.

 

i guess i got mine done dirt cheap!!!!!! i got way less than a grand in mine. my buddy put a white base down and hok rainbow flake. maybe he just charged for materials to get his name out

 

How does it look? How many coats of clear did it take to bury the flakes? How long did it take him to color sand the clear, and then polish it out? Did he color sand a few coats of clear, just to level it, and then spray another coat, and the rub that out?

Man, flaking a roof correctly is a lot of work to do just for the materials cost.

 

I'm only in Boston and I could do both the flake or lace with ease.

Wont come out looking like crap & wont be $300.....the paint alone will run you more than that for good paint. I use DuPont Hot Hues in my shop.

You get what you pay for -don't forget that.

Make sure a reputable shop feels the body work underneath is good enough to 'just shoot' .

My guess is, probably not- do it right so you only have to do it once.

If the ride was prepped and ready to go - it would be in the $1000-1500 as it takes two coats of clear (extra drying time).

 

I have had 2 of them done here in Omaha Ne, ( 55 chevy, 64 chevy wagon ) by the same guy, $1000 each excellent jobs. Gary

 

If anyone is in the market for flake, try Old Sc(k?)hool Flake. He prides himself in his flakes being of a thinner material, which translates to less clear to bury it. I used it on my wagons roof and was very pleased.

 

I would charge between $1500-2000, because the time and labor involved.

 

he should pride himself and actually get that chunky ill cut shit better processed. sorry i tried it way back when it was first coming around and that was the clumpyest ragged shit i'd ever tried to use.

then again i'm picky. i use old metflake brand flake when possible. followed by hok. though i have been wanting to try roth flake for a while as i know several folks who have used it and been VERY pleased...ken....

 

So far HOK has been the thinnest I've tried, but like Luckstiff said, I wanna try Roth flake.

 

I talked to a reputable guy here in the bay area about doing my roof and visor a while back.....not cheap.

If you're going to someone that does this stuff for a living...does it well. You're looking at $2000-3500 around here.

 

Ya but thats in an area where if you don't own a Honda or a rat rod, you own something with a flaked roof.

I'm not trying to ring my own bell, but without seeing it, I (or any other good custom painter in the northeast) would definitely be comparable. It just happens to be a matter of supply and demand as well as a slightly different demographic.

 

$1500-$3000??????? Just for a roof?
WTF! Yeah, maybe if you want to win "Best paint" at the National Rodster show. Think about the working man here. Most of us didn't pay half that for our car!

 

the flake was sprayed on wet clear and then 4 or 5 heavy coats of clear over that. its been done for 3 years now and no problems yet. its as smooth as glass and not rough at all. in fact i get pissed at shows for all the people coming up and asking if they can touch the roof to see how it feels. if it usually looks rough, it is, mine dont like rough at all and people always want to touch. after they touch it their like yea thats not rough at all. i want to say no sh!t dumba$$. there is some pics of my car on this board. i know there is some from goodguys columbus coverage.

 

best paint a the roadster show? is more like 40,000.00 dollar job. at the shop i work at 1500-2000 whould get you. an estanite on a paint job.

 

uhhhhhh you are seriously misinformed on the cost of a paint job . let alone something even in the running for best paint at the gnrs .... and all of my customers are '' working men .'' hell some are on the hamb too ..... by the way did you get the new olskool rodzzzzzzzzz yet ? ......

 

eh, if you're broke, do it yourself. Find a buddy with a spray gun with a 2.2 nozzle and a nice enclosed/ventilated garage+ compressor and go to town. Practice on a few sacrificial pieces first to get the hang of it. a gallon of PPG clear. Invest in a good buffer to smooth the clear.