Random question. How much should I sock away in the build budget for a new paint job? I've been looking at cars and have seen ones that would likely need painting.
A proper paint job would include at a minimum removing the spoiler, headlight doors, rocker panels and door skins and. Paint them all off body otherwise, no matter how good the painter is you will get overspray
For a panels off show car type paint job, you can expect to spend between $10,000 to $15,000 for materials and labor for a base coat/clear coat finish. You can budget at least $5000 for a panels on show car type paint job. Custom or extensive body work can add considerable expense to either type of paint process. Depending on the local market, labor costs could easily drive this cost up even higher. I have seen paint shops charge anywhere from $45 to $100+ per hour.
A really high end paint job could cost $3000 plus just for materials and there are around 325 man hours of labor involved in the panels off type of painting process. The other end of the spectrum is a single stage Earl Schibe/Macco type of paint job that starts at around $600.
As others have previously stated, you need to decide what quality of paint/body work you need for your purposes. Sort of like cars, you can drive a VW or a Ferrari and both will get you to the destination. One may have a bit more style and/or speed but both vehicles provide transportation capability.
I personally do body work out of my own shop on the side of my 8-5 in the actual body shop. To take it into a the body shop I work at is about 5 grand for a full body off prime and paint.
me personally charge 3000 at my shop on the side for a full body of prime and paint. It goes up from there if you want any sort of body mods, 3 stage paint, or two tone
You can always follow my current Job in the shop which has a lot of custom mods here on the Forum
88Fiero GT TTops just completed a panel off repaint. He and I spent many an hour after work sanding the peeling clear coat down to the bare glass. We used a standard 5hp 30 gallon compressor for tool power. Like most home use compressors it is not rated for the DA sander they provide with the unit. A lot of time was spent waiting for the compressor to recharge but we got thru it. We then drove the stripped car ( Looked like a dune buggy) to a body shop that glazed the panels, made necessary corrections to chips and dings then painted it with a base clear that was sanded/buffed to a final finish. Our labor was free, we had the tools (but needed a real compressor and we went thru 2 rolls or 80 grit and half a roll of 180) The paint job with labor was $4200.00 (This is a correction from my original 3K ish) His car looks fantastic and it was great to see a 'rolling shed' get restored to a showroom quality finish.
[This message has been edited by steve308 (edited 08-17-2017).]
Ok, the most economical would be do it yourself if you have a garage. It's super easy I was a first time painter and it turned out great. Budget depending on whether you have the equipment or not would be around $500. Single stage paint and primer. The single stage paint with various colors here $50 a gallon, which will cover the car( http://stores.ebay.com/Auto...trksid=p4634.c0.m322 ). Air compressor, paint gun kit $200, tape and sand paper $50. If you have the equipment already your looking at $200 and some time. Not to mention the fact you did it yourself.
This comes down to what you want.. what color you want and if you want single stage or base (color) and clear over it base/clear paint. if there is any body work that needs to be done.. and how much parts need to be removed to do the job.. If the car is 2 colors main color and different lower (rockers) it cost more as they have materials of 2 different colors /base. labor will be whatever the shop charges.. the better the job the more billable hours.. a single stage takes less "spray" time than a base/clear paint.. the color, reds are costly.. a gallon of red can be 500.00 depending on color/brand/etc clears depending on what brand and what line in that brand can be 120-600 a gallon materials are not cheap.. but without knowing what you are after.. I'd get quotes from local shops that your local car shows/cruises throw out names off.. many body shops will not touch a full re-spray on a hobby car . They rather do insurance work.. So if you want better than maacco , your best bet is the local car cruise/shows and ask around.. then ask those shops/people for a ballpark, it is best if they can see the car..
No matter what price range of paint job you decide on, there are lot of little things you can do to make the final outcome look MUCH more professional. If you go for a cheaper paint job, these steps will make it look far better. If you go for an expensive paint job, doing these things will save you some money in labor, saving them from having to do it.
If possible, and if you are looking to replace them anyways, remove the quarter windows / wing windows.
Remove the reflectors inside the bumper, all marker lights and tail lights (Take a screwdriver to the shop to remove the tail lights, you will need those to drive it there)
Remove the headlight doors.
Remove the plastic cowl (Under the windshield wipers).
Remove the gas cap surround and door
If equipped, remove the sunroof and tracks.
Remove all the body molding all the way around the car (unless you want it body color)
Remove the side view mirrors
Remove the spoiler
Remove the antennae
Remove any stickers and emblems (Nose emblem, 2M4/6 on the rear ect.)
For that extra touch, I had my windshield removed and new molding installed when put back in. The windshield gasket is one of the first places to look to tell if a car has been repainted.
I also highly recommend getting new mirror gaskets, spoiler gaskets, nose emblem, rear stickers, side markers and such to install when the paint is done. Its surprising how bad old molding, stickers and trim looks on a brand new paint job! All of these items can be purchased from the Fiero Store.
Now is also a good time to upgrade the marker lights while you have them off. Here is a tutorial I did that is super cheap and easy.
[This message has been edited by JohnWPB (edited 11-13-2017).]
Concerning replacement of the spoiler gaskets, if yours are in any type of decent shape, save them as no one makes a good replacement. TFS ones do not fit properly.
Fieros are actually the easiest car in the world to do a color change. The door jambs and under the hood and decklid are black on all color Fieros.
This is not correct. Go look.
While MOST of the underpanel area on the hood and decklid are indeed black, the color of the top of the panel does "roll under" to the bottom side. In addition, there is a portion of the colored fender that is exposed when the panels are open.
If the job entails taking off the panels then a color change isn't a problem but if it's a panel on job it is.
And while MOST of the door jam is black there's a sizable portion on the rear of the door jam that is colored.
You need to take the panels off, but it's still an easier job that most cars. In most cars, the engine bay is painted body color, therefore, the engine needs to be removed and the bay completely stripped to do a color change.
While MOST of the underpanel area on the hood and decklid are indeed black, the color of the top of the panel does "roll under" to the bottom side. In addition, there is a portion of the colored fender that is exposed when the panels are open.
If the job entails taking off the panels then a color change isn't a problem but if it's a panel on job it is.
And while MOST of the door jam is black there's a sizable portion on the rear of the door jam that is colored.
Same for inside the fuel door.
Well if you want to pick nits, but the amount of paint in the jambs and under the decklid and hood is about 1% of a regular car. A Fiero color change can easily be done without removing panels. I had it done so I know what I'm talking about.
Took door skins off spoiler bottom skirts and good. Did one section at a time. Cost me about 1k for materials including base coat and clear Took place t to Carlisle and everyone was surprised how good it looked
How long do you intend to keep it? Hard to gauge because life happens How much do you have to spend? Will it be garaged when not driven?
I have a nice paintjob on mine, took mine to a few shops for estimates, ranged from 1500- 6500.
I went with Maaco, they did a great job, had them paint the car, my mirrors, vents, and install my dew wipes for 1500.
This was the color plus clearcoat, it was the top package they offer, not the 499 paintjob
I couldn't justify spending 6500 on it, maybe you can.
Good luck
If you go this route, the more prep you do the better.. I.E. removing parts,, sanding, and small fixes to body. grease and oil remover.. all that armorall and tire dressing totally messes with paint sticking , the more cleaning you can do, the better the final product.. you want it and all the wax off any parts/surfaces that are going to get paint..
you want to remove all decals, and the glue.. this will take time.. but maaco isn't going to spend half a day doing it,, Wash the car.. including the jams,, the under hood, the under deck lid.. a and b pillars.. you want anything that could blow out and on to the paint from the air spraying, to be cleaned out of the car.. same with the wheels.. yes they cover them with covers but air does funny things and when they paint the wheel well lip the air will put any crap in the wheel well into the air/paint.. When I have helped others prep a car.. that was going to a place like maaco to b sprayed.. after final cleaning and blow off.. it went on a trailer or a flat bed so no dirt got back in te wells.. yes again they do take/mask it up but not all shops take the same care in this.. This is a big part of the large swings in quotes shop to shop.. The more you can do the better.. We used to the day before buy the painters lunch.. did it help them do a better job, no way of truly knowing but the car looked dam good for the 699.00 it cost (1987) and the guy still has the car and it still looks awesome.. other than rock chips.. We prepped cleaned the car.. in their parking log one last time, then taped up much of the little things that are a pain to take up , lock cyl.. mirror gaskets (we didn't remove either) door molding, etc.. That was his only ***** , that we should've went the extra mile and removed the lock ,mirrors, moldings, but as 16-17 y/o we didn't think it matter.. those details do..
My point was that a color change would be more expensive because of the added effort.
That's all.
The difference is trivial. Mask off the parts you don't want painted and spray the parts not masked off. You can easily reach all the painted areas you can see without removing anything. And if you can't see it, no reason to paint it.
The difference is trivial. Mask off the parts you don't want painted and spray the parts not masked off. You can easily reach all the painted areas you can see without removing anything. And if you can't see it, no reason to paint it.
You had someone else paint your car correct, ? You did not do the re-paint ,color change? Am I reading this correctly, if so.. you really don't understand the extra work involved, you didn't do it..
[This message has been edited by Keel (edited 08-18-2017).]
You had someone else paint your car correct, ? You did not do the re-paint ,color change? Am I reading this correctly, if so.. you really don't understand the extra work involved, you didn't do it..
