Respray prices

[mat_the_cat]

I'm thinking of a complete respray on the Stellar at some point, but the question is can I afford it? I've done a spot of Googling which comes up with some crazy prices, and occasionally someone who reckons they had a cheaper job done and are happy with it. Usually shot down by others who reckon that anything under several grand is worthless.

 

But the thing is, I'm guessing most people who go for a complete respray are after a show winning, perfect job. Which I'm not. All I want is for it to be the same colour all over, and to be painted in something which resists chips better than anything I can spray from an aerosol or (small) compressor gun. I don't mind if there is a bit of orange peel, so long as it's durable and not a quick cover up job. There's very little filler work needed, thanks to a donor car which gave up all of its mint bolt-on panels, and I'll be doing any welding required.

 

So does anyone have a feel for what I need to be looking at? I.e. can I get the job done without going into 4 figures? Or not massively over? If I have more of a feel for it then I'll know whether to save up this year, or just give up on the idea. A home job is out, as if it's not raining it'll either be too cold or windy to do the job, and if by some chance the weather isn't cold, windy or raining then the midges will be out...

[dollywobbler]

Your problem is, who would want to knock-out an 'ok' job? Anyone who can do it well, will want to do it well. And that'll be comfortably into four-figures I would have thought.

[lisbon_road]

One way of getting a bargain is to let the bodyshop park it up until they are quiet and then do it.  For some reason, shops I have known go very quiet in August, perhaps everyone goes away or something.  That way you can get a good price - the problem can be it takes ages.

 

Trouble these days is that the paint is so crazy expensive. 

[cort16]

You see adverts for complete resprays for 400 quid on gumtree but for that you'll probably get overspray all everything and a finish like jackie stallones face.

I recon you can a decent job for sub 1000 quid but it'll be someone doing it in a shed rather than an oven so you'll get bits of contamination etc but it'll probably still look okay.

 

It's also cheaper if it's a solid colour. My mate does paint work and I saw him paint a BMW with industrial tractor paint. It look amazing after he'd polished it up.

[Junkman]

I'm thinking of a complete respray on the Stellar at some point, but the question is can I afford it?

 

Nope.

If you have to ask, you can't.

[Wilko220]

Depending on the state of the car, often most of the cost is in the prep work - it's all the sanding, filling, welding, etc that is the man-hours intensive part of a re-spray job.

 

If you have the time and ability to do all, or much, of that yourself, then getting the actual spray done for three figures should be easily possible, I would have thought.

[FredTransit]

rustoleum and small rollers!!

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

You see adverts for complete resprays for 400 quid on gumtree but for that you'll probably get overspray all everything and a finish like jackie stallones face.

 

 

(originally posted by Mr Bo11ox in the eBay thread)

[Ratdat]

If you do the bulk of the hard graft you can get the paint done for around £1200 - £1500 but it doesn't come much cheaper than that. That sort of money should buy you acceptable but not really great paintwork. If you make sure they get enough paint on, then you have the option to flat and polish it after should it need it.

[Bren]

A grand is a starting price.

 

A lot of body shops do not like you doing your own prep, and will not entertain just putting on paint.

 

As I have found with my sd1 a paint job is prohibitively expensive - so much so I may be forced to break it for spares - I have neither the skill or facilities to do a full paint job myself.

[Barry Cade]

Google Plastikote!

[cort16]

cover it in squeezycheese

[mat_the_cat]

A lot of body shops do not like you doing your own prep, and will not entertain just putting on paint.

 

That's my worry, and understandable as I'd be very reluctant to guarantee a job if I didn't know what I was painting over. So I'd have to forego any comeback, which might lead some people wanting to take shortcuts on the job if they know I can't complain...

 

I've used Rustoleum on the van and been happy with it, although that was very much a 'get it all the same colour and don't worry about the finish' job - I'd be wanting something between that and a decent respray for the car I think. My bike is going on eBay in the next couple of weeks, so if that fetches more than I expect I might be able to afford more than I think.

[trigger]

I stripped my Cortina down myself and took it to the bodyshop, they quoted £2000 to rub it all down, fit 2 new wings, etch primer, primer the car and then paint in metallic.

 

I spoke to the chap doing the work this evening who's words were "there's a lots of scabs under the old paintwork that they went expecting" which translates as "bugger, it's going to cost more then we quoted".

 

I can't say I'm surprised though, you never know what your going to find once you stripping back the paintwork.

[sierraman]

Depending on where you live depends a lot. Its not cheap, my insurance just paid out £375 on spraying a bumper on a 11 year old Mondeo, so £1,000 is pretty accurate. Your best bet may be to find a retired old fella who might do it for 'beer money'

[Joey spud]

When i got the Brat done back in the summer i dropped it off stripped of every bit of trim.

It still needed various dents on its rear flanks sorting out,

And after 6 weeks weeks it came home looking like this,

and now this,

 

It was done 2 pack paint and laid on nice and thick too.

I collected various quotes and they varied from £1250 to £3200,i went with the lowest quote.

Obviously in most cases the cost of the paint job wont increase the value of the vehicle by the same amount and for me i am now shit scared to do any green lane stuff or tip runs in case i scratch it so dont enjoy the truck as much as when it was multi coloured.

[dieselnutjob]

A mate of mine is good sprayer, but he works for someone else and so I would have to pay his bosses rates to get him.

 

He told me that a solid car with no rust would cost about 2 grand, or about 1 grand if already stripped of trim etc and prepped.

 

This was on the basis that he would check if my prep is good enough before accepting it on site and that I do it his way, and of course agreement of his boss.

 

This is for metallic with 2K lacquer which is what I want as you can actually sand and polish the stuff if it gets scratched (provided it hasn't gone right through) unlike 1K which I don't think you can.

[TRW]

Coach paint + a few £20 brushes = fairly decent job. After flatting off and a good mop session that is.

 

Saw it done several times by a local indie Bus company in this neck of the woods. Good results were had even without the flat/mop session.

[Keymaster]

If you dont need show quality finish then shop around & you'll find someone who will do the work for sensible money. I had my talbot motorhome cab done last month - work was to have the rot cut out of a pillars & new metal welded in, front arches cut out & replaced, scuttle panel cut out & replaced, drivers sill repaired, windscreen surround replaced, slam panel rot cut out & replaced, delaminated windscreen replaced, cab zinc primered & resprayed, arches & cab underseal stripped & replaced. Final bill was just under £1100 all in. Yes, theres a bit of overspray in the engine bay & some orange peel here & there but for that money I'm not complaining.....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mat_the_cat]

i am now shit scared to do any green lane stuff or tip runs in case i scratch it so dont enjoy the truck as much as when it was multi coloured.

 

That's another reason why a less than concours job would be what I'd go for (apart from cost!) So long as the prep is done well so it doesn't flake off, or rust bubbling back through again then a functional job appeals more than a perfect one. If I paid a few grand and then got a few stone chips I'd probably feel like crying! With my location being very rural I guess it means low overheads, but also less choice...

[vulgalour]

£750 is the cheapest I've ever seen a quote for good work but it came with some provisions.  It had to be a flat colour, it had to be a colour they had a lot of, the prep work all had to be done by the owner and they had to not be in a rush (read, 6 months completion time) or be bothered about orange peel and runs.  However, the paint would be to a standard that it could be finished off with sanding, polishing and whatnot at home by the dedicated enthusiast.

 

£2000 seems about the going rate for an average saloon in flat paint, a little more for metallic, and while the prep work doesn't need doing by the owner if you can strip the shell down and offer to rebuild it yourself it tends to keep costs to a minimum.

 

Paint is a bugger of a thing to sort well, it's time consuming to do even the most basic job and anything short of a job with effort put in is worse than leaving it with scabby paint and mismatched panels.  I'd recommend just doing the bits that need it on the shell and blend it in as best you can with the good stuff on the car rather than a full respray or a quick blow over, it's a compromise but should give you a smart looking machine for minimal expense.

[Formula Autos]

 

 

 

You are Max and/or Paddy AICMFP.

[alf892]

I had a Civic done for £1500 by a very good restoration place that I have used a few times now. He described it as a quick blow over and said it was cheap because the car was very straight apart from just flat paint. No filling at all. This was coming up for three years ago and you really would not know it was painted - even if you look under screen rubbers and around panel shuts.

 

I think the difference on cost will show in the details like others have said. If you don't mind a bit of detailing it yourself once it gets back from the paintshop a cheaper job from a good place will be fine - discuss your expectation with them.

 

I had a Cortina estate painted a few years ago for £400 but I sent that in already primed and stripped with no windows.........looked lovely when done.

[derskine]

Buy a £200 compressor and some cellulose paint.

That's what I've done and will be painting 3 of my cars in the summer.

[michael1703]

If you were very good at paint prep and all they had to do was pull the trigger, then £1500, if there's still prep to do £2500 +

 

I restore cars but use paint shops for the paint

 

Most are £2500-£3500 worst case is normally £7500-£8500 if there's a lot more involved

[Station]

I'd rather have an OK job for 700 quid than pay 2 - 3 grand+! I know it's fair to say good money for a good job but F*CK THAT! I've seen rattle can jobs that are a near comparison to top spec finishes - OK the difference is noticable close up and rattle cans aren't equal to spray guns, but I honestly think you're paying for 95% decent job for big money as opposed to 90% for home done job, and it's surely about the end product, and not the technique for doing it?

I'm also not saying we mustn't pay these people money as it does take time and is a bit of a dirty job, but I'd rather not.

 

Buy a decent compressor that works (and doesn't spray variably like mine did), and some cellulose paint (two pack is great but it's a pain in the arse) and get the mixture right (there's no hardener to make the paint run).

I used two pack on the whole sides of this (doors included) and it cost me 30 quid. I just spent ages on preparation (which was quite enjoyable on a nice warm summer week) rubbing the odd drip mark out. It's a myth it'll be covered in twigs and flies as I had one fly land on it in two weeks.

 

 

[KruJoe]

That's some nice results there Dave, good work!

[mat_the_cat]

I'd like to be able to do it myself, but like I said, I really do think that the weather and midges are against me. You can't even spend any time outside on a summer evening without them swarming all over you and in your ears, up your nose etc. But maybe if I could borrow a suitable space inside that wouldn't be an issue. The other worry I have is removing trim - everything plastic is likely to be both brittle and irreplaceable! So masking off rather than removing might be the way forwards although the end result won't look as good. If I do take it somewhere I'll get their advice...

 

The other thought I've had is to keep the donor panels (which are near immaculate) in their original colour, and just spray the roof, A pillars and rear wings to match. I'd prefer to keep it original ideally, but then again the donor car was fairly similar, silver with a touch of gold rather than plain silver. That would keep the price down I would expect.

 

Will try and get a photo to show.

[fordperv]

Find the one/two man bodyshop who are old school, save money by breaking the car down and build it back up after, do as much of the repair work as you can, any self respecting painter would do a final prep before painting anyway, if you are keeping the same colour you can save cash by not having the door shuts, engine bay and boot shut done.

 

Or buy a compressor and get playing

[mat_the_cat]

/\ I can see their worry, but obviously I'd have to convince them that so long as the paint stays on, anything will look better than the multicoloured, partly brush painted look it now has!

 

 

The doors/boot lid etc. aren't quite as similar as I'd remembered, so I wouldn't be able to get away with leaving the door shuts in silver. I might knock on the head the idea of just painting the shell to match the 'new' panels, and stick with my initial plan of all over in the original silver.