paint costs

[ford1]

there is a discussion farther down the list here about the cost of painting a car, some say dont use a maaco type paint shop, my question is , how many on here can afford a profession restoration type paint job, be honest now, i know i cant afford those thousand dollar paint jobs , can you?

[Scott H]

I can't afford to have a shop restore my truck. Fortunately I have the skills, most of the knowledge, and all the tools to do it myself.

I will probably spend between $600 - $800 on materials. I have no idea on how many hours of body prep time, but since I'm doing it for pleasure and not for profit, and the final result will be pride of ownership it doesn't really matter how many hours I use.

I used to manage a Maaco in the late 1980's. We had a couple guys bring us cars that were all prepped and ready to paint. All body work done, pieces to be painted off the car were already off the car, holes for door handles, etc all sealed up with tape and/or cardboard. We painted them with Sherwin Williams base coat/clear coat and charged under $800 (20+ years ago) and the cars came out gorgeous. The main advantage is the spray booth and oven...things I won't have at home.

[85930tudor]

i do all mine too! thats part of the hobbie to me. I feel better building than any thing seems like when it`s done ya have sort of a empty nest syndrome.

[J Franklin]

I will second scott's observations I have prepped, masked, and removed chrome & etc. and the shop did a glass smooth job. there are limited colors usually, but there are some greens and blues, non metallic, that look nice.

[Glenn C.]

I had an original intention to have a professional body restoration shop do the finish body prep, and complete the paint job, for a early 28 Briggs Fordor, that would also have the different color reveals around the windows. The cost for this would be totally prohibitive. Enitial cost extimate $10,000 Looks like I will be acquiring a lot of advise and help, to frame up my own temporary paint both, with exhaust blower, lighting, and personal protective gear, to do our car. Good quality paint won't be cheap anyway, but labor will be reasonable.
The problem is, with any body work in our region, experienced people with a good hand, receive top pay, relative to the pay scale of the auto mechanics in the larger garages.

[inex01]

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Two years ago I actually had a couple of C3 Corvettes painted at MACCO that I prepped. The cars came out perfect and sold them in record time plus only cost $400.00 per car. I would not hesitate having my A painted if it was needed at MAACO. Hey I drive my A and do respect the car, but it is not a show car and never will be.

[HARLEYJOE]

If you take your time and prep the car/truck and have it painted by someone that can paint you will save yourself tons of money.
The prep / body work is what takes all the time and adds to the cost.
Depending how straight you want your body panels and rust to be fixed.
But painting your car can be fun but like anything you do it looks easier
then it is.
I used Dupont Imron for years and wow the results were really good.
But the cost of all the additives and cost of paint was extremely high.
But the months I would spend on flat boarding and redoing and redoing
what I thought was straight .
Add a dark color and that highlights all the flaws in a panel..
But any paint you buy today is not cheap and when you add all the material
and sand paper up you will probably have spent close to 1k
Good luck in your decision

[BRENT in 10-uh-C]

Oh come on now FORD1, ....your comments are extremely skewed IMHO. If you cannot afford the services of a professional shop, then it is what it is, --but the jest I was reading is when people start making statements that MAACO and like shops turn out work that is equal to what a professional restoration shop such as mine can do, that is NOT an accurate statement.

Correct me if I am wrong but I think your comment was "Macco (MAACO) is your best and cheapest bet, ..." which basically what you implied was that if the car owner does all the hard work and completes it all to their satisfaction (the paint shop does no other labor other than paint), MAACO will spray the outside only in just one color. That really isn't comparing Apples-to-Apples towards the $7,000-$10,000 jobs, is it?? Sure if someone wants to do 90% of the work themselves before bringing it to a resto shop, naturally the estimate I will give to paint it will be much less.

Also please understand that we as a professional restoration shop are providing a service to assist someone, and for that service we entitled earn a profit. Kinda like going to a restaurant and complaining about their $18.00 price for a steak by using the example that you can buy a steak for $6.00 at the grocery store and cook it for free at home. It's just not the same. I have no problem with hobbyists that want to do their own bodywork and paint, --and I generally always try to give free and accurate advice here based on what our/my experiences have been when someone comes with an question. I do however, like for the comments to be factual and realistic. Intelligent men can make great decisions when they know all the Facts!!


Scott H, I appreciate your honestly and experience both regarding MAACO in what it costs and why it was a benefit to you.

.

[oldredford]

I don't like having more into a car than what it is worth. I found myself in that trap with my 30 coupe. I do the work myself and a professional painter paints my cars.

[ford1]

Brent, never in any of my posts did i say a do it your selfer or maaco could turn out a paint job like any professional shop, what i said was maaco can turn out a very good (and have) paint job that is in there price range, not every one here has thousands of dollars to spend on there A's, i could say the same thing to you come on Brent , the hobby is what it is, working men and women trying to make there cars as nice as they can with in there means. and maaco or earl schib one a day paint, carcoa or a dozen others can do that, if they can afford your services let them do it, if they cant use maaco and have a decent paint job that wont embaress them at car shows, its not how much your paint job cost, its the friend ship at the shows that is the reason for being in this hobby, not i spent more money on my car, or my paint job cost more than yours, or i had mine done by a shop. any way the question was ask how much for paint, the simple answer is, what ever you can afford

[ford1]

and before this post turns ugly im done with this discussion, and Brent you and i may have different opinions on this i do respect your knowledge and your taking time to help with a lot of the problems that arise while fixing these cars

[J Franklin]

One thing I have found is if you do good prep work and then go to an economy paint shop they seem to do a better job in the paint booth. I think they are happy to see a nice job sitting out to show it can be done, and the man painting it knows you will take care of his work.

[rdscouple]

I do all my own prep and painting because it's fun and also because I know I can fix any problems later on. I'm going to try that single stage I've seen advertised for about $20 per quart. It comes in 40 colors so I think I can mix Model A colors with a few quarts and a little time.

[Marvin/TN]

I probably going to have to side with Brent on this. I wouldn't let Macco or Earl Schibe paint a bicycle for me especially if you depend on them to do Prep work. If you pick out a color from what they stock I will bet the farm that a year from the time they painted your car and you happen to need a fender repaired and repainted the paint will not match except maybe black and thats just a maybe. Not all black is created equal. Any thing I have ever had to repair in my shop that Macco painted I could not find a paint that would match it not even from them. When they paint a car all they do is close the doors and shoot it which leaves nasty looking over spray in side the door jams. I could go on and on. As with most everything else you get exactly what you pay for. As for making what a mechanic makes per hour a good skilled Paint and Body man is as skilled or more so than a mechanic doing mechanical work.

[Tim]

I think it's all perspective guys. Maaco does a good job for the average non-picky guy who just wants a car one color. Having said that you can spot the job a mile away if your expectations are great for $400.00 you need to re-adjust your cash to result ratio. I am lucky enough to be able to tackle this job myself. There is nothing better than driving your car, on your favorite road knowing you've done the best you can with what you have and your ability and funds allow. IT's the same feeling for all of us when it rolls out shiny no matter where the shine comes from. Where's the harm in that. Take your car to Maaco if it makes you happy, I'll cruise with you.


Tim

[inex01]

If you want a show car head to the PRO, if you want a driver do your own prep and head to MAACO, My car is a driver, always will be a driver and when I sell the car the next person may want to spend whatever it takes to be a show car but tha is his/her choice. My feeling the Model A was built to use, it is not a Packard and never will be, just a simple peoples car like the VW, besides that most of the people I know who own a A are regular hard working folks who can not afford a 6K paint job and that is the story like it or not.

[Mike V. Florida]

Originally Posted by inex01

...besides that most of the people I know who own a A are regular hard working folks who can not afford a 6K paint job and that is the story like it or not.

Remembering that this site is designed to be for the resoration of the Model A, I can see where those that advocate a "professional" paint job are coming from.

Owning a driver I can see where the Maaco guys are coming from.

I wonder what a "professional" paint job would cost if you did all the prep as is advocated for Maaco, and brought it to the "pros"?

[Jack '29 Sport Coupe]

This reminds me of a story about the rancher who went to the feed store to buy some feed for his horses. The rancher yelled at the merchant at the quoted price.
The merchant said: "Good quality oats are expensive---however, if you can be
satisfied with oats that have already been through the horse----well, that's a little cheaper."

My personal experience with my own coupe happened about a year ago when I took
"her" to a place that does everything from the ground up. The coupe was in for a new engine, and I asked for a quote on a repaint. The body and paint were excellent
except for a 1-1/2" fender tear and a very tiny dent on the rumble door with a 2-1/2"
diameter. The only reason I even considered a new paint job was to bring it up to
spec with the correct shade of yellow. The quote was for 13,000.00. Since this was not a "fine point" car, I declined. It is what it is...........JMHO. I do know that the builder
does excellent body/paint work.

Jack

[1931 flamingo]

You get what you pay for. Remember each maaco is independently owned, no two are probably the same in terms of who's been hired to spray. In my opinion it's all in the prep. I've painted whole cars in the backyard/driveway, even with an electrolux vacuum cleaner (came out good, 29 sport coupe in 1959). If you can afford to have it done professionally, good for you. If you can afford something for a driver, good for you. But nothing turns me off more when I go somewhere and see the trailer in the background. Sorry for the rant, just my .02. Even painted one A with rustoleum and a brush with no brush marks.
Paul in CT

[Keith True]

I don't know of any high quality(restoration level) shops that will paint over any work but their own.I do know of some quality shops here that will,but no guarantee of any kind.There are guys around though that will come to your house on a weekend and squirt your car.My painting experience has been limited to painting a few hundred trucks and pieces of equipment,and maybe a hundred cars or so.Kind of like Maaco with better materials.I felt I got burned a few years ago by a man that had his 41 Ford truck ready to paint.He was disabled,and put the truck together over 15 or 20 years on nickles and dimes.The truck was a clam to start with,and when he got done with the bodywork it was quite presentable.I put some blue paint on it and it was a nice looking driver.He took the truck to local cruise nights and old home weekends for years.When lookers picked the bodywork apart he would tell them that I had painted it.He wouldn't tell anybody that he had done the bodywork,well,he would if somebody asked him outright.Where I'm not in the car painting business it never hurt me,but it could hurt guys who are in the business who paint over others work.If and when the paint peels,or the substrate shrinks and the sanding scratches in the plastic and primer jump out the paint guy gets the blame.Maaco doesn't care.when you bring in a car that you have done the prep on you get to sign a waiver of the quality of the end result.Most people I know would be happy with Maaco paint jobs.If kept under cover when parked they can look presentable for a long time.At one time the one here was using a paint called Sun Belt.It would start to fade on its way out the door.One sure thing about Maaco here,you will not see the same guy who painted your car if you come back in six months.The fresh out of body school kids will stick around for a while,they are young and can keep up the pace.There are no places left that will rent you booth space now either,unless you have a friend that owns one.The guys here tell me the insurance companies closed that door with a slam.I never saw any profit in that anyway.You have to make room,move cars out of the way,get the car in,let the guy set up,get ready,mix,paint,clean up,usually dispose of his paper and scraps,run the lights,fan,compressor,then put everything back so you can get back to work the next day,then on top of it all it has to be done after hours so you are there instead of home or doing something else.A couple hundred bucks to rent a booth out gets to be more work than it is worth.