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So what would the next step below a show quality job be, driver quality? And how great is the difference in appearance between the two? If you were at the drive in and saw the 2 side by side would it be a night and day difference or would you have to really look at the cars to see it. This is my first time having a car painted and want to educate myself before I dig too deep of a hole.

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Keep in mind that just QUALITY paints/primers/fillers/etc will easily set you back $2-$3K...labour is the killer, based on what your requirements are in the finished product, as well as what surprises await the bodyman prepping the car, location of the shop also determines current rates, on the east coast, a quality showcar finish starts at $20K, and that's starting on a clean chassis needing just the minimum in bodywork/blocking for a straight base to paint, and again unless you do bodywork for a living, most Joes have different ideas/concepts of what a clean straight rustfree car really is...

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Most shops won't do a lesser quality job; they do it how they do it and hopefully you are dealing with a shop that does it right or not at all. The only real difference should be whether you want to pay for extra wet sanding and/or addtional layers of clear.

I opted to avoid a wet sanding in the hope that the car would look a little more "factory", but there was no convincing them to add orange peal or do a lesser job somehow...and I don't blame them. Even without the extra wet sanding, mine turned out very nice, shiney and flat which is what you should expect from a skilled painter and body man.

My advice is to avoid the price shopping exercise of going with the cheapest as you will undoubtably get what you pay for. Get some quotes, get some references and inspect some cars that they've done so you have an idea of what to expect. Before I chose a body shop, I looked at a '70 RR and a '67 barracuda that they had done and that's when I decided I would be happy with their work.

400 - 500 hours sounds like it's in the ballpark to me for a car that is already stripped and requires no or minimal rust repair.



Dave