Cost of pre-prepped Body work

[88Sleeper]

Hi Guys,

It has been a couple of weeks, and I have managed to snag most of the removable body parts for my 3G off of some 3Gs in the junk yard.

I got a trunk, all the doors, both fenders, and a hood, and they are all non-rusted, and in good shape with barely visible dents.

My Idea was to just strip them down (like I did) so that there is only a shell of the door or whatever, and I am going to do the same thing pretty soon here to the body, including pulling the front and rear windshields.

Then I used aircraft stripper to take the paint off of the "new" parts, sanded all the other stuff off, and treated them with a Phosphoric acid gel, so they are pretty much ready for painting.

Now I took them in today to a body shop, asking how much it would run to paint them and cover over any dents so that it is perfect (cause they are body shop guys, so they can do better, right?) and prime and paint them, jus the normal stuff.

Guy quoted me $3500 to do the entire car. I was like "wtf!!!" If somebody else get's quoted $4K to just drive the whole car into the shop (with everything on it, and untouched) for the same kind of work, then how the hell can the total be $3500 when I already am doing 60-80% of the work by doing all of the taking apart and prep work?

They said the materials would run $1500 for paint and its supposedly "good stuff" over maaco materials and labor.... I can understand that they would want more for being professionals, but I am at a loss of what to think.


This got me thinking. My dad is a truck driver, and he knows that I am trying to restore the Accord. He would be ok with taking the shells somewhere else to have somebody else do it.

But first, is this a reasonable charge? and why?
Do you guys know any other people who are not really like the "highschoolers" at maaco, but can still do a good job?

Help... please, lol.

[derolph]

I think $3500 is outrageous. I would be looking elsewhere for paintwork. I know automotive paint costs a lot more than home paint but it's still not anywhere near $1500. I believe 1 gallon of paint is usually sufficient. In addition to paint, some additives (called reducers) and clearcoat (if applicable) might also be required but this can all be obtained for much less than $1500.

Some other members of this forum may have more precised info but I know you can find online sources of automotive paint and that will give you an idea of what's reasonable for this cost. Based on some online suppliers whose websites I've visited in the past, I'm sure the cost of paint and materials can be less than $500. Of course, there's some low quality paint for perhaps less than $100/gal but I think I'd stay away from it.

I have two older cars, both of which I'd like to re-paint. I'm tempted to buy (or possibly borrow or rent) a sprayer and try doing this myself. You can find plenty of youtube videos on painting a car. If I decide to proceed with this, I think I might paint some area, such as the trunk, as a test area before tackling the whole car.

[Dr_Snooz]

It does seem kind of steep, but I don't think it's entirely atypical. Maaco painted my whole car for $600. After my wreck, I took the bare hood and bumper in to have them painted. These were bare parts, off the car, primed and ready to go. Guess what, they still wanted $600. I called the boss man and complained and they agreed to do it for $200. The next time I went in, the guy who had quoted me the high price was gone. So that guy was a bum. But maybe not. Maaco painted the bare pieces, but they didn't bother to cut and buff them. I still need to do that. Nor did they paint the underside of the hood. It's still primer black. Scariest of all, they had a hard time finding the parts when I returned to collect them. Basically, they got kicked into a corner where no one would trip over them.

I'm not sure what to make of this. My guess is that body shops have a kind of system set up. They have a couple guys that take off the bigger trim pieces. They have another couple guys that tape everything off, a guy who blows paint, another who cuts and buffs and another one who details the car before you get it. If you bring in one-off parts, it throws a wrench into their system. Half the crew has to sit idle while they paint your part, so they gouge you for it. You can complain and maybe get a better price, but they might take it out on you by doing a crappy job.

I'm not sure what to advise you to do. You probably don't have the experience, money or tools to do the painting yourself. Then again, $3500 will buy a lot of tools and spare parts that you can ruin until you learn how to do the job well. So there's that option. Another option that I will certainly try the next time I have to paint is the vinyl sheeting that everyone is using these days. You can buy all the materials to "paint" your whole car for something like $125 on eBay. I haven't tried it, but people who have done it swear by it.

Good luck, whatever you decide to do.

[SeanSelander]

I'm pretty familiar with the Maaco in Hamden and they always do a great job.

You need to understand they have different packages for what you're looking for. My friend got the stock color, prepped and everything for 600 bucks on his integra and it looks great after 3 years.

The cheapest 350 package is stock color, no door jambs, little prep, etc.

Call your local Maaco up and ask them to work something out with you. I wouldn't spend more than a grand at a decent bodywork shop though

[derolph]

Years ago, I had some body work, i.e. rust repair, and painting done a MAACO. I was not pleased with the body work but I will say the painting was pretty good, at least a pretty good value for the price. The body work involved welding some metal in at the back of the right rear wheel well, where the metal has a contour. They did not get it contoured right. I accepted it but was always dissatisfied with that part of the job.

In any case, since you've done a lot of prep work, I agree with SeanSelander's when he said "I wouldn't spend more than a grand at a decent bodywork shop though". I've done a lot of interior home painting and the prep time usually takes longer than the actual painting. I'm sure the same is true for automotive painting; in fact, the prep probably usually takes MUCH longer than the actual painting. So, if the prospective paint contractor won't listen to your bargaining point about you having done the prep work, they're not being reasonable.

[88Sleeper]

Thanks for the great replies. I was pretty sure that it was a little bit steep, but I just wanted some consolation, lol.

What is this vinyl sheeting that you are talking about? Do you just stick it over the top of you paint and then paint the plastic sheet?? :confused:

Dr Snooz - if they have such a system then Im still not getting why it is that much difference? The guy doing the parts off the car just has to spray them.?
I do not really care about where they get paint on an empty door shell, just as long as the bare metal is covered, right? I washed them out nice and clean inside/out, and the part to paint is bare... I just want them to fill in any tiny dings and spray it with primer, paint, clear coat... (at least I think it is like that)

The shell of the car will be clean the same way, they just have to cover the holes for front/back windshield and I guess door and trunk opening and spray it.

I am mainly just taking out the work of the guys who have to take it apart, and prepare the metal for painting, aside from the dings...

I will try a few other places I guess. Is there any advice on what to do to not scream "Please rip me off" when I walk in the door??

Thanks!!

[2oodoor]

Ok so you took every removable piece\panel and striped all the surface off to bare metal? And then took it to a shop for an estimate to completley resurface , remove dings, prime, seal and paint them? $3500 is a bargain my friend, im sorry. That is a lot of work and materials.
I will be glad to help out since I've done complete restoration strip work on corvettes, Mustangs, among others but you have to understand that on most modern cars the factory surface is the best surface to work with unless its been covered with Maaco paint Or had some serious clear coat cancer. Building up the base surface is time consuming and at 70 to 120 dollars an hour shop rates you have to make decisions where you want your money's strength in your project.

[DBMaster]

The body shop that replaced the front end on my daughter's Infiniti quoted me about $3,200 to paint my Accord as a "friend of the shop" because I spent a lot of money on the I30 there. Said that $3,500-3,700 is the regular price. Excellent two-stage paint jobs cost over $3,000 back in the late 80's. I had a friend who had a 1970 Cutlass W31 with two stage gold paint.

[Dr_Snooz]

What is this vinyl sheeting that you are talking about? Do you just stick it over the top of you paint and then paint the plastic sheet?? :confused:

Dr Snooz - if they have such a system then Im still not getting why it is that much difference? The guy doing the parts off the car just has to spray them.?
I do not really care about where they get paint on an empty door shell, just as long as the bare metal is covered, right? I washed them out nice and clean inside/out, and the part to paint is bare... I just want them to fill in any tiny dings and spray it with primer, paint, clear coat... (at least I think it is like that)

I'm talking about vinyl car wraps. This is the kind of thing that radio stations put on their vans. Instead of having someone paint the station's logo on the van, they print the logo on a vinyl sheet and wrap the van in it. The wrap comes in all kinds of colors, and if wild prints are your thing, they have those too. It goes on easy, lasts about 7 years and comes off again, just as easily.

http://www.en-derin.com/wp-content/plugins/wp-o-matic/images/9ee56_montage-wraps.jpg

http://www.en-derin.com/artworks/30-brilliant-vinyl-car-wrap-designs

I wouldn't try to wrap bare metal with it, but I will probably do a "respray" with it eventually, or just use it to preserve the good paint I have.

I'm not a paint and body guy, so I can't say whether they are quoting you a good price. I'm just trying to give you an idea as to what your options might be and some of the complications of each one. You have to do your own research and decide what you really want. If you are looking for a show car, then $3,500 is cheap. If you just want something to cover the metal and don't want to start bawling when the kids run their tricycle into it, then $3,500 is too much and you need to find an alternative.

Whatever you do, definitely ask to walk through their shop and see the kind of work they do. If the work is awesome, then you should pay them a lot. If it sucks, then pay them little. It would be a tragedy to spend too much and get a crummy job.

Oh, and don't forget the insurance factor. If you're working with a shop that does a lot of insurance work, then expect their prices to be at least double what a reasonable price would be.

You might try standing outside the shop at 5 pm with a cold six pack and seeing if you can talk their paint guy into moonlighting for you. No warranties there, of course.

[derolph]

Well, you have a wide spectrum of opinions here. :D It boils down to what you want to achieve with your car and how much you're able and willing to spend. For myself, I can't justify spending $3500 on my 88 Accord, I just can't see spending that much on a 24 year old car that, inevitably, will be showing more signs of rust in next few years. I can't realistically expect to avoid that if I'm going to actually drive this car year round in Ohio. If you live in a state where winter doesn't involve application of chemicals on snow covered roads or you can avoid driving the car in winter, then you can feel safer in investing more in a paint job.

MAACO still looks like a practical option to me.

[2ndGenGuy]

If the prep work wasn't done properly, or was done with the wrong materials, it will completely fuck up the paint work. Body shops don't like it when people do their own prep work, because most of the time people do it wrong, and it has to be completely redone, which is harder to do than just doing it the first time. I'm sure that's what they were going to do. I'm not saying your prep work was done wrong, or was bad, but they have have their own process and chemicals they use, and if what they use is incompatible with what you've done on the car, it could cause problems down the line. The last thing they want is to paint a car, and have it peel, fisheye, or look wavy or dull. What happens, is the customer will come back and ask why it looks like shit, and they get the blame. So that's probably why the price was so high, even though that's not really that bad of a price. Paint and materials are ridiculously expensive too.

[SeanSelander]

By the way, I know Maaco cuts deals for people who supply their own paint. Just make sure it's a quality automotive paint brand like Dupont.

[88Sleeper]

Hey guys, thanks for all of the replies; definitely a lot to munch on in my brain.

I was out for a while thanks to wisdom tooth removal. Luckily I used the down-time to get the car road worthy, so at least I can drive it again.

I am seeing that it is a lot of work, especially if its supposed to be done right.
I am planning on going to several body shops in the area and asking them for an opinion, estimate, and what I can do to help with it (aside from selling it for scrap).

What kinds of paints/paint brands are considered high quality? I know of one shop that did some work on my mom's odyssey where the owner swears by PPG?

Im also thinking it might be more practical to just start with the main body of the car; if it can't be done, then its probably not worth jumping ahead to the other stuff. Also would be able to pay for it in smaller chunks, not all at once, lol.

Should I post some pics of what Im working with?

Ideally I start bawling if a tricycle hits the car, even in the really bad condition it is in right now... Im just going to cry harder after the paint job.. :crying:

[247shuer247]

In my opnion you already did all that work might as well finish it off.
thats the way body shops are they just want to charge ridiculous amounts
because they know eventually half of the people give in any way.

i myself am currently working on my hatch getting her prepped for paint.
some one asked if i was gonna take it to get sprayed and i said hell no lol
im doing it myself haha

[obdriver6]

DAMN $3500 is quite a lot or we got a good deal! We only had to spend around $1500 on my car and that was body work, door jamb, paint, clear coat and a couple other things I don't remember but the guy that did it, did it as a side job and all the materials he got were at the price the shop he worked at gets them at. Before we went to him, we did go to another shop and got quoted $2000 and we wouldn't have gotten all the extra stuff we with the other guy! :D