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65 B body, no rust, no dents bigger than a door ding and all original paint except fenders which have been dipped and E-coated. Got an estimate of 4-500 hours, does that seem in the ballpark?

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If the car is that rust free, 500hrs is not out of line. But you know, there's always surprises when the car is stripped. Knowing you're looking for a show finish, expect the hours to be in the 600-700 range.

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Thats 35 to 45K depending on shop rate. WOW!!!!!!!!! Just go buy one done.

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I'd say closer to 700 hours

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I'd say closer to 700 hours

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I'm also sure for a top of the line paint job it would take at least 700 hours.

I just bought a 400 dollar gallon of white urethane paint and 200 dollar gallon of epoxy primer. Both DuPont and that does not include any activator or reducers. Paint is way expensive nowadays. What if the paint you bought is not the regular paint that a guys sprays, then what? Bad idea buying the paint ahead of time imo. Do you have all the activators, reducers, additives to go along with your brand paint? Do you even know what should be used together?

And I don't think you will have much luck buying the paint ahead of time and then expect to give to a painter and have him apply over your body work. Do you take your steak to a restaurant and ask them to grill it??

No way I would do it, not unless you let me block the car until I'm satisfied that the car is straight. And even then I would not offer any guarantee as to the paint job because I don't know what's underneath your primer.

Good luck. Unless you have deep pockets and know a really good shop, I think it's better for you to do it yourself nowadays. Then you will understand what it takes and why 10 grand is not out of line today, matter of fact it's pretty cheap.

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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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Rather than "beat around the bush", just drop the dollar amount your "willing" to spend, and what you actually have budgeted for body/paint, that will give a clear indication to the posters, as to what you can expect for your money....


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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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

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Rather than "beat around the bush", just drop the dollar amount your "willing" to spend, and what you actually have budgeted for body/paint, that will give a clear indication to the posters, as to what you can expect for your money....

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Wow,

So it will take 1 man between 18 and 19 40 hour weeks to paint one car or 2 men between 9 and 10 weeks of continuous work. Is this what is being said here?

Russ

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