Ronald A. Dowty asked:
> I'm taking a poll here to get some ideas on the costs involved in painting
> my car after a frame off restoration. All the fenders are new, the doors
> look great and I'm probably going to pop for a new hood and such so don't
> worry about bodywork in your calculations.
As other listers have suggested, it all depends on what you want. It can
cost anywhere from a $300 1-day MACO job to a $15K show winning job.
I am not a painter, so what I present in the following is entirely
simplistic. However, having paid hard cash and a lot of blood equity for
this work, this will give some authority to my words.
It appears to me that there are four main phases in painting a car to a
relatively moderate or high level.
- stripping
- plastic work
- painting
- reassembly
Stripping the car entails removing trim, old paint, panels, undercoat,
engine, body-off, etc. The more you strip, the better the job, the higher
the cost. I did all the stripping on my car to the atomic level (well, OK,
nuts and bolts), so cost was $0. Sand-blasting the flat panels on a TR6
(and there are lots of them) is a BAD idea. The heat generated will warp
the metal, adding to the amount of work that has to be done in the next step
(see next paragraph). Sanding is far better. I used a machine on the curvy
bits, and took it really slow, and hand-rubbed the bonnet/hood and
trunk/boot.
Plastic work was by far the most expensive task. Even though the panels
looked flat, and I used new door skins, this came close to $2600. If it had
been done in lead, it would have been even more expensive, but heavy (not
good on a light-weight street-racer). Note that this car will not be show
quality, though I am sure it will look mighty nice.
Paint is relatively cheap, involving spraying, blocking, spraying, blocking,
spraying, blah, blah with 2-pack. Body was completely stripped, so no
masking required. Painting it black over the black powder-coating also made
it easy, because the powder-coating covered every inch inch of metal, so the
hard-to-see areas could be ignored. Less than $1000.
I had a lot of other work done, such as powder-coating the frame and tub,
had a lot of body-work modifications (I love to see purists twitch!). New
sills, one new fender, new door skins. And every weekend last Summer.
Total cost about $6,000.
Now I have to put it all back together.
I am sure it could have been cheaper, or more expensive. But I'm really
happy with the way it is turning out.
Shane Ingate in Maryland
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