Hey guys out there in sl6 land i have a question, has anyone had their car painted at a shop??If you have and wouldnt mind telling ,how much was it?? i am looking into a good paint job and i need some ball park figures. thanks

I've had several painted and the price has ranged from $700, where I did all the prep, to $2400 where they did most of it. These prices were a few years ago and are higher today.

I'm currently restoring a '73 Dodge truck and doing the painting myself. It's going to be somewhere around $1000 for materials, as the price of paint and solvents has gone up tremendously in the last few years.

The lowest estimate I got to have my truck done was $4500, so I decided to do it myself.

The guys who are doing mine charge about $50/hour for body shop time and $75/hour for booth time. That's Canadian so it might lose a little in translation. The owner is a friend of mine so I'm getting a better deal then most. That's the only way it would be worthwhile. I'm not interested in doing this one myself since I've never done bodywork before and I want it to be perfect. Some shops will do whatever quality job you want based on how much green your putting out, if you want a $500 job you'll get it.

Whoever you decide to go with check out some of their work. Most guys like to keep albums of their accomplishments. If possible talk to some people who've had work done there and make sure they were happy with the job.

Good luck

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Grip it and rip it

On my wifes 66 got a one day paint and body special for $500.00,I of course removed all the glass and trim prior to giving it to them. was satisfied for what I paid as wife was on my case to paint it or replace it. Paint was still passable when it was totaled 3 years later. For he GT no such half attempts will be taken. Have a friend with a custom shop who will strip down to metal and perform basic bodywork for around $5500 and thats with me helping with the job, but i'm responsible with finding a source for the original color..Dave

I work in a shop where we charge 34$ an hour but I just did a 91 Dodge shortbed 4x4 where I stripped the truck to the metal removed all the trim and bed and fixed minor dings and charged 1700$.It was painted with base/clear and turned out super slick and owner was tickled to death with it.Im currentley doing a 74 corvette in between my insurance work that Im also stripping and changing colors on that will probably be in the range of 4000$ but I have also done jobs as cheap as 700$ .Alot depend on what you want( dont go in and ask for a nice paint job and expect a "show car" or expect a "in at nine out at five" job to look like Boyd Coddintons latest creation).If its a driver and you do your own prep I would check into a one day paint job especially if on a budget.
Slanted Attitude

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Ive got a slanted attitude and a heavy right foot.

The movie company that rented my Valiant wanted it yellow (original color is white).

I did the prep work which consisted of wet sanding the original paint with 600 then 1000. I could have done more prep (fixing dents and a few minor rust spots) but time did not permit. Instead of filling them with cheap bondo, i opted to just paint over them and let them show. I also removed the bumpers, trim, mirror, grill, headlights, tailights, anything that would come off easy.

Took it to my friends that own a Maaco shop and they sprayed it for $200. I was amazed at how good the finish was. Very little orange peel. Normal price (regular customer) for this is $250.

the only thing i wish i did was ask them to mask off the radiator, because the overspray got into the engine compartment and left a $#!+ yellow mist over it all. Also the tires/rims got some overspray, but that's normal.

If you go to a cheap shop, try to do all the work yourself and even bring it masked up (do it in the parking lot, bring some snacks)... $2-300 for an enamel spray job is a great deal. Usually it's about $100 bucks just for a gallon of paint, then you have to buy laquer thinner, and other stuff like hardener. then you have to deal with getting that stuff in your lungs (unless you wear an oxygen fed hood)...