Average repaint cost?

erikelvis

Active Member
Joined
Jun 20, 2021
Looking to have a proper repaint with glass removed and whatever else to do it properly. Car has some minor dings and scratches. Rust isn’t an issue. What’s a roundabout estimate to do this? I’ve was thinking I’ll have around a 10k budget.

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I’ve was thinking I’ll have around a 10k budget.
Close.
Things that might add/subtract from that.
** You do/don't do all the disassembly/reassembly.
** Car is stripped to bare metal.
Around here, IF you can find someone to do it RIGHT, is $85/90 hr, plus materials.
Materials are sometimes a point of contention. Hi end or mid grade. BIG differences.
The last gallon of PPG DBU blue we bought was $1200 with reducer and a gallon of clear and its components.
The last complete we had done was a 67 GTO. Stripped before it went to the body shop.
Body work, labor, materials = $15K. Customer had to do most all of the assembly.
Personally, I think he got screwed, as there were several areas for "redo".
Around here, body shops that do resto work, are on the same respect level as Biden, da ho, and lawyers.!
BEFORE you send the car to body shop purgatory, talk to a LOT of folks that have had them do work.

Today we're on our way to pick up my buds 33 roadster street rod that was wrecked. We did the body work, the shop did the paint. Supposedly a 60 day deal to paint it, is now 15 months.
 
Thanks guys. Yeah I’m not sure who’s good and who to stay away from around here. I know of one that does a lot of high end classics close to me but something tells me 10k won’t cover it. I could take the car apart the best I can but don’t know how to remove glass. I’ve heard some horror stories of body shop purgatory.
 
Thanks guys. Yeah I’m not sure who’s good and who to stay away from around here. I know of one that does a lot of high end classics close to me but something tells me 10k won’t cover it. I could take the car apart the best I can but don’t know how to remove glass. I’ve heard some horror stories of body shop purgatory.
I don’t need show quality but would like better than driver quality. If there’s such a thing.
 
Mr. Erikelvis, I'm doing some research on getting my 87 GN painted. Who painted and general cost? What is the name of the high end shop you mentioned in your post? Thanks in advance. I'm in Walnut 91789
 
I don’t need show quality but would like better than driver quality. If there’s such a thing.
If your not looking for show quality then no reason to take all the glass out. No rust, little dings and small imperfections. 10,000 should be more than you need for a decent paint job. When I got mine done I asked the guy to call me one week before he was ready,I disassembled and took him the parts then the car, picked up a week later with the parts,fillers,spoilers etc and put it all back together. No rust work was the key though.
 
If your not looking for show quality then no reason to take all the glass out. No rust, little dings and small imperfections. 10,000 should be more than you need for a decent paint job. When I got mine done I asked the guy to call me one week before he was ready,I disassembled and took him the parts then the car, picked up a week later with the parts,fillers,spoilers etc and put it all back together. No rust work was the key though.
Thing is I don’t ever plan on getting rid of this car. Frame off would be nice but def not in budget. My dad bought it new so gonna keep it in the fam. Basically plan on replacing what I can. Already have a parts list totaling over 2k.
 
Thing is I don’t ever plan on getting rid of this car. Frame off would be nice but def not in budget. My dad bought it new so gonna keep it in the fam. Basically plan on replacing what I can. Already have a parts list totaling over 2k.
Where are you located? Makes a big difference in the cost.
With inflation going nutz, take a minute and do a bit of research on materials costs. A yr ago: Urethane primer was $ 100-120 depending on the brand. Just bought a gallon this past week... $200!.
Bondo was right at $80. Well over $100 this past week.
i
In some cases, brand name paints have doubled, such as House of Color, etc.
If your GN has lacquer paint, it needs to come off. No reason to spray a modern paint over that stuff.
 
I’m In northern Delaware.
Where are you located? Makes a big difference in the cost.
With inflation going nutz, take a minute and do a bit of research on materials costs. A yr ago: Urethane primer was $ 100-120 depending on the brand. Just bought a gallon this past week... $200!.
Bondo was right at $80. Well over $100 this past week.
i
In some cases, brand name paints have doubled, such as House of Color, etc.
If your GN has lacquer paint, it needs to come off. No reason to spray a modern paint over that stuff.
I’m in northern Delaware. I’m virtually clueless about the cost of this stuff. I imagine the price of paint has bumped since EVERYTHING else has.
 
Thank you EE. Mr. Leeper, please call me as I would like to have your input on my planning for paint. 626 423 2686
 
You're looking at $20K or more if you want somebody to do it for you.

Doing it right requires taking it apart. Chuck already noted you need to go down to bare metal, because painting over top of the lacquer with modern paints does not work long term.

Taking it apart will find problems that have to be fixed. The entire project could unravel like a sweater and turn into a frame off restoration. That's not good or bad, it just is. Set expectations, and make sure you have the ability to finance the contingency before starting.
 
My bud is having his street machine Vega painted this week.
He/we do all of the work except the actual spray and buff.
That part is $85 hr for as long as it takes. Estimated at 150 hrs.
My bud is supplying the House of Color materials...At/close to $3K as of now.
This does not include a couple grand for all the other "stuff" required.
The shop doing the work is known for quality. Obviously, quality is not cheap.
John, I'm working today. I'll call you in the evening time.
 
Hmm well we’ll see if I can go up in cost. Already plan on 2-3k in replacement parts. Guess I could take a good bit apart myself. Only thing I wouldn’t know how to do is mess with the window trim. And damn the engine bay should be gone over but don’t know if that will be in The budget.
 
Hmm well we’ll see if I can go up in cost. Already plan on 2-3k in replacement parts. Guess I could take a good bit apart myself. Only thing I wouldn’t know how to do is mess with the window trim. And damn the engine bay should be gone over but don’t know if that will be in The budget.
Data point, and some can laugh all they want.

I plasti-dipped my Probe. It came out fantastic. The prep is low compared to paint. You want to fix dents and rust, but the substrate doesn't have to be perfect. The dip hides scratches. Beyond that, you just have to have the car completely clean and dry and masked well.

I'm probably going to dip my Buick this winter, for a few reasons:

1) It'll protect my decent condition OEM paint a few more years. I'm at the point now where 30+ years of "love" has left me with very thin paint. I can't really polish it anymore without risking a burn-through, and I'm not ready to blow it apart for a real paint job just yet.
2) It's a good value. $700 for the kit, and that's including the spraying equipment. Once you have the equipment, a materials-only kit to change the color is ~$400
3) Assuming the paint under the dip is in decent shape, not peeling or cracked, you can just peel the dip off and respray if you don't like the color or screw it up.
4) You can do it in a well ventilated home garage. The material is naptha thinner based. The sprayer is literally a Wagner power-painter product with a remote fan unit to keep the motor away from the product so you don't blow yourself up.
5) it's a rubberized coating, sort of like the handles on a wrench. So it's resistant to impacts like rocks or dropped sockets. It also doesn't show fingerprints, either. Despite the texture, I had trouble getting stickers to stick, which means dirt doesn't stick, either. To clean you literally just hose it off.

Drawbacks?
You can't get a mirror finish gloss with this stuff. It's rubber
It probably isn't very UV resistant over the long term, so if you park outside where it sits in the sun a lot, this wouldn't be a good option.

For reference, I turned this:

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into this, in a weekend:

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There are a bunch of grays with various levels of pop available that would look great on your T-Type.

And no, they didn't pay me to say this. Not pushing, just adding a data point. I had a good experience. It's a legit option.

Google Dipyourcar.com
 
What about a "wrap"?

Don't know what's involved. See them more often though.
 
What about a "wrap"?

Don't know what's involved. See them more often though.
Wraps are more expensive and difficult to apply than the dip. They sort of slot in between dip and paint. You can get things with a wrap that you can't do with a dip, like a gloss finish or even printed graphics. Once they've been on the car awhile, they can also get pretty difficult to remove. They are a giant sticker, after all.

Even if dip gets stubborn and won't peel off, you can spray it with thinner to liquify it, then pressure wash it off.

But installation is a bear. Figure $2K-$10K depending onthe complexity of the design and the size of the vehicle for a professionally installed wrap.
 
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