Paint job cost 1949
 

I know it varies big time but what would be a reasonable and unreasonable price on a 2 stage paint job.

Metal work is done. Will need body work and paint. probably one color maybe 2. Base and clear. Nothing fancy but I don't want orange peel.

Got a guy coming on Sunday to give me an estimate and I don't want to get blind sided. My best guess is 5 on the low end 8 on the high end. I know guys have spent less and guys have spent a LOT MORE. Color will be something like Corvette Precision RED

Re: Paint job cost 1949
 

Re: Paint job cost 1949
 

If he does good work and you've seen it, I'd say 8 is middle of the road, depending on body work needed. I paid a little more but the results were spectacular. I hate to say it because I damn near died when I got the estimate but paint is the first and last thing anyone sees when they look at your truck. If it's special, don't scrimp on the paint.

Re: Paint job cost 1949
 

^^ what he said x 2 :metal:

Re: Paint job cost 1949
 

From metalwork all done and in feather fill to finished paint job, including taking everything apart and painting inside and outside (inside cab, jambs, dash, under fenders and hood) , reassemble the cab, doors, fenders and hood to get the gaps all set, color sand and buff - right about $10k

That's a non-metallic color. Ask what he's proposing for material - I like PPG and Sikkens. Make sure his clear top coat is top quality stuff.

Red will cost more - usually has the most expensive pigment

I wouldn't hire any painter that I didn't see his booth setup and work area - plus some of his work product. Make sure he's productive and your job has status in his queue - you want to stay out of 'paint prison'

YMMV

Re: Paint job cost 1949
 

10k!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Re: Paint job cost 1949
 

'Touch' labor is expensive. $50 TO $75 per hour is pretty common here for a shop with overheads. Even more for shops doing insurance work. A good painter in a production shop can pull down $100k but you can hire paint work from Craigslist for $20 an hour. You get what you pay for.

$10k incuded a custom firewall and some fairly significant modifications to the inner fenders to gain header clearance. But it doesn't include the 100 or so hours I've spent doing gruntwork like brackets, jambs and block sanding. Im not terribly efficient at it so it is probably a wash.

I've painted several cars myself from bare metal and kept track of my hours and they've taken a couple hundred hours to produce a good quality paint job. Granted I am not as efficient as someone who does it for a living but thats the ballpark. I had about $1000 in material and another $500 to rent a booth and painter in a production shop to spray it.

Any hobbiest can paint thir own truck - It doesnt take a great deal of skill, you just have to have the time, be meticulous and not take any shortcuts.

Wish I liked 'patina' paint jobs a little more. It would have been a lot cheaper.

Re: Paint job cost 1949
 

$10k +/- $2K

It's a craft. Not like bolting a fender on. You'll likely end up with exactly what you pay for. Hopefully you pay a lot so you're super happy.

I've never heard of or seen an ecstatic customer who thought they under paid.

Re: Paint job cost 1949
 

I smell what your all cookin here and I get it. Hot roddin ain't cheap! So 10k for a paint job eh, so much for the 800 maaco special! I'm gonna be so far over budget it's embarrassing.
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Re: Paint job cost 1949
 

One last way to look at it is to ask yourself if you've ever seen a bad paint job and can remember what is was on compared to a traffic stopping awesome vehicle that you'll remember forever?

The final finish IS what your truck will known by.

And oh yeah... it's easy spending someone else's money!:smoke:

Re: Paint job cost 1949
 

Might add in that thanks to EPA the window of VOC is fading and mandatory water based paint is either here or on the horizon. I might say i just had work done (you can see below) and at a minimum non mechanical costs were closer to 15k at the rate of 50/hr . It did need lots of custom hands on repair and prep work and i did request a military "look".

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I think I'll have close to $500.00 in Paint and Materials in SS Black when I repaint my S10. I bought some sandpaper and SHOT a $50.00 Bill in a Hurry. All I can say is Good Luck!

Re: Paint job cost 1949
 

In Canada we made the switch to low VOC coatings including waterbase a few years back. (about 2009 as I recall) As a large automotive paint wholesale distributor carrying several lines of paints (BASF, RM, Glasurit, Akzo Nobel, Sikkens, Matrix, Lusid and others) we were very concerned about how low VOC products would impact our business and profits. We were coached and told by numerous sources that it would drastically change the whole refinishing process and costs to repair facilities to upgrade were going to be very high.

In fact what happened is we sold less paint (gallons). Why? Because all the scary news we heard was like CNN... fake news! The low VOC paints were far better at coverage. The shops ended up using far less than before compared to when they were using solvent based coatings. The low VOC coatings were slightly higher cost per gallon, but this was offset by the reduced consumption.

The low voc technology is sound. Nothing to be afraid of. It is a little fussier about having to be dry before adding more coats of color and/or clear but compared to having to apply 2 coats of low voc instead of 4 or 5 of solvent in some cases, it was faster in the end.

The clear coat and primer is easily "compliant" at 3.2 so only the color coat was the real change made.

Make no mistake! It is not safe to drink, breath, put on your skin or in your eyes!!! It is STILL CHEMICAL so please use all PPE as you should with any other chemical.

Some coatings declared as low VOC are in fact still solvent based. Not all low VOC coatings are water based....just an FYI.

VOC - Volatile Organic Compounds cause smog.

What does all this mean to us who are keeping these old trucks alive you ask? Nothing super important to most of us except that the old formulas that the paint companies have that would match the original coatings used back in the 50's are no longer any good with the new paint systems. This means that your neighbourhood paint store is not going to be able to mix up any color from the code. They will have to custom tint their paint to match. Keep their formula whenever they make paint for you to ensure you can make more if needed. It will be considered a custom color!

Re: Paint job cost 1949
 

Just wanted to share....I contacted a few mobile painters from Craigslist. To put a 1970 Nova into final primer, they were around $1,800 - 2,200 and would be completed in 5-7 days. They would come to my house and work on the vehicle, I just had to put it on jackstands and remove the wheels. All my supplies, but they used their own tools. I have already done all the metal work/rust repairs.

Re: Paint job cost 1949
 

That's a good start. Add a couple hundred (min) for primer, sand paper and tape. Then you can add the cost of paint, clear, more tape and supplies and don't forget the cost of a booth rental and a tow truck and a painter. Then do you want it cut and buffed to a mirror like finish? Then add another grand or two.

Not trying to scare anyone off, but these are real numbers for a real paint job.

Re: Paint job cost 1949
 

$2000/5days = $400/day or $50/hr

5 days gets you 40 hours of labor.

IMO 40 hours isn't enough labor to produce a satisfactory paint job and would likely be cutting a lot of corners. The time and money you think you'll save will be eaten up by the painter trying to straighten it out so he can stand behind his paint job.

If you're going to pay $50/hr, why not hire someone with a facility to work in and you can find next year when you need him again?

I'm not being a smart ass or critical, I'm just telling you what my experience has been when I tried to do the same thing and expected a quality paint job.

Re: Paint job cost 1949
 

Foot Stomper, e015475;

I totally agree. That's why I decided that I should just do the work myself.

I just wanted to share my pricing with the OP so he could get some ideas or comparison.

Re: Paint job cost 1949
 

Not everyone needs a show paint..
Fact , most that fall for this need to spend 10K + for paint don't dare drive it after it's painted..
If we ever have a time machine many will have a heart attack when they see what the factory paint was like.. and gaps..

Nothing against those that want a perfect gaps and paint..
but most don't need it..
And a basic clean straight paint is just fine.. no need to spend 30 hours on welding and grinding gaps..

These are trucks not a 100k cuda..

Re: Paint job cost 1949
 

True, I live on a big cattle ranch with a 3/4 mile gravel driveway, there is no way to keep a show quality paint job pristine. I am closing in on paint time, may just paint it myself or possibly send it out for final paint. If I had to pay for all the work I've done I could never recover the cost. Filling speaker holes in doors, replace radio panel, fill many unused holes, sanding, welding etc. I want a nice truck when done but not bad enough to empty my wallet.

Re: Paint job cost 1949
 

I agree guys. There is a challenge however.

We all see fabulous looking paint jobs and very few really and truly understand or can appreciate how much time and money went into them. Just think about the last crappy paint job you saw and try to remember what you thought.... might be something like "wow! such a nice looking (insert vehicle) except the paint job is so crappy!"

So, yes, not everybody needs a show car quality paint job, but most truly are disappointed in the flaws after spending half or 3/4 of what they should have to have had it come out they way they've imagined it.

It's a matter of imagination vs budget. Budget wins everytime. We can all say that a few imperfections are just fine until the job is done and it's all shiny and new looking...except for the imperfections that you have to live with... or can you? If you truly can, fantastic! :metal:

How many times have you had an accident/insurance claim on your car and after getting it back looked at the new repairs and compared them to the other parts that weren't repaired and wished they could have just painted the whole car??? Imagination vs Budget.

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I am willing to pay 3 or 4 thousand for a good paint job on my 72 K20, but cant justify more than that, it is not a show truck...

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Is there much for savings going with a higher end single stage?

I'm the same boat as many on here, I want my truck to look good but not a high gloss show finish. I'd prefer it looks like it was painted with some kind of enamel that was used in the factory. Any recommendations for a paint to use?

Re: Paint job cost 1949
 

Although you'd likely see some savings by going to a good quality single stage it's going to dry high gloss. Paint companies have put much energy to have them do this.

The enamels dried shiny too when they were fresh... they just didn't hold their shine over time. Aerosol paint is typically enamel but I'm not recommending you use them but you can decide that. Alkyd enamel is available in many brands such as Tremclad or Rustoleum and are very affordable, dries shiny too.

Re: Paint job cost 1949
 

Okay thanks for the info footstomper, I'm reading good things about the ppg concept line but will have to see if the savings are even worth considering single stage.

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My painter friend is painting my truck with "free labor" still cost me $4500.00 in materials