Paint Job Costs DIY and PRO (moved from plasti-dipping thread)
02-05-13, 01:15 PM
#16
you never painted a car properly then so you have no clue what you talking about. Hundreds of hours to prep and paint a car correctly. body shop needs to pay, helpers, painters, body men, managers, front counter people, rent, lights, insurance and paint supplies. Quality overall job should be around 5-7k depending on materials used. It takes 2-3 weeks to do the job right working 5-6 days a week 8 hours a day. I have over 1000 hours in body,paint labor in my car and 2k in materials.
And your car and paint is really nice but really over 1000 hours???? Unless you had a complete frame off restoration I think you have been scammed bro, im afraid to ask how much you paid, sorry.
02-05-13, 01:20 PM
#17
Im not arguing man but one gallon of clear is just way too much, unless you are specifically going for a very thick finish its overkill. like i said earlier go look at the thickness of a factory finish on a new car, they are paper thin.
And if you are a body shop owner/employee then I can see why you dont like the things I am saying.
Okay this time im out for real lol
Last edited by 1WILLY1; 02-05-13 at 01:28 PM.
02-05-13, 01:23 PM
#18
yes I did my honda with only one quart of clear, and it was plenty, with the SC I might buy a little more because the car is bigger and i might want to have some extra for future use.
Im not arguing man but one gallon of clear is just way too much, unless you are specifically going for a very thick finish its overkill. like i said earlier go look at the thickness of a factory finish on a new car, they are paper thin.
And if you are a body shop owner/employee then I can see why you dont like the things I am saying.
Okay this time im out for real lol
Im not arguing man but one gallon of clear is just way too much, unless you are specifically going for a very thick finish its overkill. like i said earlier go look at the thickness of a factory finish on a new car, they are paper thin.
And if you are a body shop owner/employee then I can see why you dont like the things I am saying.
Okay this time im out for real lol
also im not an owner/employee of a body shop, i just stand behind the motto just because you can doesnt mean you should but to each their own.
02-05-13, 01:29 PM
#19
lol man where are all these hundreds of hours going??? to sand , prep, mask and paint? Any competant shop is very efficient and can do that in a relatively short period of time. especially with more then one man working on the car.
And your car and paint is really nice but really over 1000 hours???? Unless you had a complete frame off restoration I think you have been scammed bro, im afraid to ask how much you paid, sorry.
And your car and paint is really nice but really over 1000 hours???? Unless you had a complete frame off restoration I think you have been scammed bro, im afraid to ask how much you paid, sorry.
02-05-13, 01:34 PM
#20
i paid about 2k in materials, the labor was done by me and painter friend from doing the prep work myself with his help.After watching him spray then wet sanding the whole thing,then looking at my paint supply bill i know why shops charge the prices they charge its a business means they are out there to make money not to rip you off. Body shops like doing all over paint jobs just as much as us "mechanics" like replacing engines....very little. Its something they take because they have to. They much rather do fenders and bumpers all day thats where they make their money.
I have and i know exactly what im talking about. Stop trying to justify your thousand dollar paint jobs to DIYers that can do the same paint jobs for 1/3 of what your willing to pay just so you can say a professional did it. 
02-05-13, 01:35 PM
#21
And yea kohinoors paint job looked great, he also had to fit the wide body kit on which is a ton of work to do right, especially the rear quarter panels.
02-05-13, 01:38 PM
#22
Decent job = decent materials and good prep. i wold hate to watch you waste $700 dollars worth of materials when you dont know what youre doing. Or dont prep it right and your paint will start to peel and flake and lift after a year or two. Now you just spent 1 week of your life and 700-900 bucks and you ruined your car. THen you would have to spend even more time and money removing the ****ty paint job you call decent.
02-05-13, 01:41 PM
#23
you might be able to walk the SC with 1qrt of clear maybe, just maybe. You will def wont have enough clear to do the all the small trim, front/rear bumper and mirror. Remember when you spraying small parts you wasting more material especially with stuff thats 3d like mirrors and bumpers they arent flat panels
02-05-13, 02:42 PM
#25
lol man, what im going to do is make a thread when i paint my car next month or so, and im going to show everyone the reality of how cheap it can be done for , to put an end to this ridiculous thinking that you need $5000 to get a good paint job, and after that if people want to be suckers and go get ripped off anyways its their business not mine.
I just lack that skill-set.
02-05-13, 02:49 PM
#26
lol no arguing here, im just trying to see your point and how you use the materials. i can understand what your saying but once your cutting and sanding, you can go through a good bit of clear in order to get a mirror like finish. hell i know you can get a decent paint job by just using rustoleum.
also im not an owner/employee of a body shop, i just stand behind the motto just because you can doesnt mean you should but to each their own.
also im not an owner/employee of a body shop, i just stand behind the motto just because you can doesnt mean you should but to each their own.
I actually use a technique i came up with myself and it has been working for me so far, I thin the clear by like 50%, which is way more then recomended, and I spray multiple coats , VERY thin, it makes for much less orange peeling and less flaws and a much quicker dry/flash time and usually you dont need to do the sanding/buffing technique, only drawbacks are its easier to create runs and you have to apply more coats then usual to get a proper thickness to your finish.
To be honest i like doing body work and painting , its pretty much the only thing im good at in the automotive department , and its always nice to save cash here and there whenever you can
02-05-13, 06:31 PM
#29
I'm itchy about this thread so I'm joining. Not sure how much you spend & use to paint the whole car, because I didn't paint the whole SC. However, I bought 1 gallon of primer, 1 qt of clear, and 3 pints of base coat to paint the hood, fenders, JIC side skirts, front JIC bumper (bigger than OEM bumper), side view mirrors, trunk, bumper with rear JIC lip. I still have more than 0.5 gallon of primer. Base coat and clear coat are all used up. That's because I had to repaint some parts. I can say my paint is as good as OEM. It is even smoother than OEM. Orange peel is nearly non-existing. That means I got a good clear coat to sand/buff it smooth.
The final thought is how much materials you use really depends on you. It certainly takes more materials if you want a good layer more than just-good-enough layer. A good layer will last for years, while a thin layer may last only a few years. And the cost varies from brand to brand as well. Some brands cost $25 for a pint of base coat, while other brands may cost $40 for a pint. Kind of hard to debate on this.
But honestly speaking, $1000 on materials sounds expensive. A shop can't survive to spend $1000 on materials while charging the whole car for only $2500 for a good paint job. And if it's a $5000 paint job, then that got to be for real high quality show car. I don't talk about dealer job.
The final thought is how much materials you use really depends on you. It certainly takes more materials if you want a good layer more than just-good-enough layer. A good layer will last for years, while a thin layer may last only a few years. And the cost varies from brand to brand as well. Some brands cost $25 for a pint of base coat, while other brands may cost $40 for a pint. Kind of hard to debate on this.
But honestly speaking, $1000 on materials sounds expensive. A shop can't survive to spend $1000 on materials while charging the whole car for only $2500 for a good paint job. And if it's a $5000 paint job, then that got to be for real high quality show car. I don't talk about dealer job.
02-05-13, 07:53 PM
#30
All I know is that if you want to pay someone to wetsand, cut, and polish a car afterwards....you better be using a **** load of clearcoat to do it right because if you are doing a tiny layer of clear to save on materials.... they'll sand right through it or burn through it during the cutting and final polishing stage. Don't cheap out, do it right. And no way in hell is someone doing a full wetsand and a 2-3 step polish (which is NEEDED) for $200.... you must be out of your mind because that could easily take 30-50+ hours to do properly and that time frame is VERY conservative.
And BTW, most shops (especially ones quoting you $300) don't know diddly squat about proper paint finishing after a wetsand. I can use the simplest light form and show them how bad of a job they've done...but too bad most customers are clueless and wouldn't know the difference.
And BTW, most shops (especially ones quoting you $300) don't know diddly squat about proper paint finishing after a wetsand. I can use the simplest light form and show them how bad of a job they've done...but too bad most customers are clueless and wouldn't know the difference.