52 replies to this topic

[dattoman]

$15K Start price sounds fair
30k+ for alot of body or rust work
Depends where you shop and what you expect

[hanra]

Yeah prices have certainly gone up these days.. I paid $8000 on my little red car back in 2001.

[S pack]

^^^^^ Yep, spent $6200 on the LJ's repaint back in 1996, was told a show quality job would be $12,000

[a9x868]

well i got a good deal
with a best mate as a spray painter
prices don,t sound to far off the mark imo
i have learned alot watchin what the process is all about
full credit to those who can do it!
rubbin backs a real bitch and prep is the key
to a great result
brad h! i do sympathise with ya
cheers to a great forum
davemc

[BIG KEV]

how's $22000.00

I have a very clean and straight car with clean panels this price includes bare metal full respray inside ,outside plus under car using quality paint etc
remember you get what you pay for and this is for show quality lucky i have no rust or damage price would big $$$

[71xu1]

I'm a panel beater by trade & even after doing all the work except the final colour/clear coats myself, i still shelled out around $5000 for an in/out repaint on my LH, except engine bay. And that was using cheap primers & clear. Some people think panel shops are rip offs & trying to get rich, but a quality body/paint restoration done properly & to last years, not months, is very labour intensive plus the materials are expensive to buy. Also, as these cars are approaching 40 years or older, most will have some rust & old repairs. I've seen cars that looked clean in their original paint, only to come back from the media blaster full of holes & panels that look like they've been bounced off every pillar & post in town, so when you add up an hourly rate to repair/paint these panels to an acceptable standard, the final price can be fairly high.

Ex panelbeater/spray painter and I have to agree very labour intensive work and material prices are just a rip off. By the end of a Resto you have really poured your heart and soul and lots of hours into the job if you are doing them right. Just like everyone that does there own restos except there is a monetary value attached.

[lxsstorana]

I'm currently preparing my LX SS hatch for paint and I'm not enjoying it. (only doing it to save money)

It has the full body kit and so many pieces that need to be painted separately.

I reckon most panel beaters and spray painters are reasonably priced but the quality of work varies greatly.

15k sounds reasonable, would be even better if you could get them to include fitting & painting the body kit.

I'd also recommend looking at some of the cars they have finished and talk to the owners if they let you.

P.S. I have a friend who paid 20k for paint and 20k for panel repairs for his SLR5000 and its better than new.

Edited by lxsstorana, 03 May 2012 - 02:08 PM.

[71xu1]

I recently spent 15 hours doing a quick jam job on a mates hilux, that was just two front guards bonnet and bullbar, as he had had a few busters......

Shit takes ages.

Cheers.

I'm hearing you. Even if you go gang busters it still takes time and at the end of the day hrs =quality. My view is if the panelbeater adopts the attitude he is going to do everything right and not take on the attitude she will be right Il leave that for the painter to fix you get a top class job. Be careful as well just cause a shop has turned out good work that panelbeater may have left and you might get whoever on your car even though the owner may be big on quality control its sometimes hard to control. One more word of advice don't trust them go in visit your car to check on the progress it lets them know you are keen and also let them know your are fussy that,s if you are trust me it makes a difference if they think you are fussy a lot of panelbeaters not all get away with what they can.
Cheers Dave

[LXCHEV]

You definitely get what you pay for. As everyone else has said - it all comes down to labour - it's endless hours of work. As the famous saying goes... "It's all in the prep".

So I agree - the prices being thrown around above certainly seem on the money.

The only other option to cut costs is to do most of the work yourself. This is the approach I took with LXCHEV. Since I was only around 18 at the time, earning a couple of hundred bucks a week, a professional paint job was never an option. So I spent around 12 - 18 months of hard yakka pulling the car apart, repairing, sanding, and priming it all. I wanted 2-pack and was too scared to do the colour & clear myself (never painted before in my life, let alone metallic). So I talked to my local panel shop who agreed to take the job on. I gave them a bare car completely finished in primer, as well as all doors, panels, bodykit etc.... all they did was tidy up one or two tiny areas, and then hit it all with colour in the booth. I then bought it back home and put it back together.

Back in year 2000, this cost me $1,600. 12 years later, after spending it's entire life in carports open to the weather, the paint is still decent enough. Far from show quality, but for a streeter it's served me well. Bloody hard work though, but for anyone who doesn't want to dump 15k - 30k on paint, it's worth considering.

Here's my cheap-ass paint-job....



PS. When I see a real pro-paint job at a car show though, you notice the difference. The next car I build will have a much bigger budget for paint.

[hanra]

I tend to find a lot of peoples ideas of a good paint job differ. Some people are just happy that its glossy and dont seem to care about the orange peel or wobbly panels or poor panel gaps...

[Mort]

Ooooooo XC hardtop, me likey, always had a soft spot for the hardtops (yes i'm a closet Ford fan).

Don't know what mine has cost yet it still at the panel/painter but it started ay $12000 for rust, panel and paint, on top of that i have asked him to strip and paint the underside, he is also doing the stainless trim, fitting the larger flares for the big tyres and cutting the front and rear guards, putting in the glass and rubbers.

Hopefully i will have a final figure i can post with in the next couple of months.