Shane Ingate wrote:
[snip]
1) A good quality "back to the metal" but not frame-off paint
job will set you back $2-$3K. This assumes that only a minimal
amount of bodywork needs to be done (ie straightening, filling,
etc). Bodywork can escalate these prices considerably, perhaps
even doubling the price.
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Yep. I think Shane is right on the money here.
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2) Preparation is everything! Painting is simple and cheap!
A concourse paint job involves many layers of paint with sanding
between coats. This is expensive! For a driver, stick with
a simple single coat over a very-well prepared surface, it will
probably outlast our old cars with correct care.
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Yep again. The paint job on my Spit is two coats, no clear coat (they
didn't have clear coat paints back in the 60s, and frankly I don't
personally care for the look myself), and looks great. Plus is is
incredibly easy to "fix" if it gets scratched, etc. compared to a clear
coat.
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3) If you strip parts off the car yourself, then have it painted
and bolt the stuff back on, that is a big saving. The price of the
above job will possibly drop to $1500 (again, assuming minimal body
work). How many parts to remove? Keep going until you are sick
of it!
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I removed everything, and took the body off the frame. It dropped the
price of mine to $1,200.
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4) Stripping the paint to bare metal is done with
aircraft-industry-quality chemical paint stripper. The cost of
the stripper is about $100, and a paint shop will spend 10 hours.
If you do this yourself, there is a saving of perhaps another $600.
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Or you can have it bead blasted (or walnut shelled for you sissies with
sensitive bodies - (chuckle)) for a couple of hundred bucks. Best to do
this with the body off the frame. And for you tree-huggers out there, bead
blasting is environmentally friendly, too, compared to chem-strip!
Last point - (already made but worth repeating) - the more you do yourself
in terms of prep work, the less it costs. Period. It is not hard to do
the prep work, just time consuming. If you prefer to watch football (or
cricket as the case may be across the pond) on your Sundays, then be
prepared to pay.
Ross D. Vincenti
Asst. General Counsel/Asst. Sec'ty.
Transamerica Home Loan - Legal Dept.
Los Angeles, CA 90015
(213) 742-4756 phone
(213) 741-7231 or 741-6945 fax
ross.vincenti@transamerica.com
64 Spitfire 4
64 Porsche 356C Coupe
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