how much did your paint job cost

p5150

ASE and FAA A&P Certified
Mar 31, 2005
1,176
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Central Idaho
I did all of my paint myself and it ran about 2k in paint/supplies. I went with quality PPG DPLF/K38/DBC and clear though.

You can "save" about 1k in paint costs by going with low budget shit but I hear it is harder to work with and doesnt turn out as good of look.

The hotrodders forum is a good place to read about this stuff.
 

a_sesshoumaru

Suprita
Jan 7, 2007
455
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0
El Salvador

Jo3f1sh

Noob
Jul 30, 2007
71
0
0
Dallas, TX
Full color change from Teal Metallic to Super Black = $2300. I'm getting a hell of a discount though. We pulled all the body panels off and painted them individually, sprayed the engine bay, trunk, door jams, etc. It's actually still in the process. There'll be a nice huge thread on it once it's done...

On my Integra, for a full JDM front conversion (new radiator support, fenders, hood, bumper) and a respray of Frost White by the same individual, it ran $2500 for everything including the labor for the conversion. The conversion hardware itself cost $1400. Around $4000 all said and done.

p816121_1.jpg
 

Jeff Lange

Administrator
Staff member
Mar 29, 2005
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Ckanderson said:
:rofl:

doesnt sound too low cost.

Not at all, lol. Well, they're giving me a good deal ($6100 was with a decent discount), but normally they charge pretty much the same as any other bodyshop in town. ($65.00 an hour).
 

EvoLuTioN

no-JZ Your Mom!
Mar 10, 2006
508
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Bed
my paintjob is going to be around the 6-8k ball game =/ only thing is i'm doing all the work myself at the paint shop so it's all gravy :)

sand... primer... sand... primer again... sand primer again.. sand primer AGAIN... sand primer AGAIN... oooh looking perfect... wet sand... lol
 

MRSUPRA

New Member
Apr 11, 2005
838
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Maryland
Mine cost just under $800. That included removing 3 dents and an extra clear coat. It was the 1/2 price "presidential" at Macco.

It's not perfect, but it's 95% better than it was before. And it's holding up almost 3 years later.
 

Jeff Lange

Administrator
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Mar 29, 2005
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suprabad said:
A high quality paint job with 3 stage PPG (or the equivalent), no bodywork other than block sanding and basic metal prep for paint from a good quality bodyshop = $10K

MRSUPRA said:
Mine cost just under $800. That included removing 3 dents and an extra clear coat. It was the 1/2 price "presidential" at Macco.

It's not perfect, but it's 95% better than it was before. And it's holding up almost 3 years later.

Huge contrast there. While I don't necessarily think a $10,000 paint job is worth it on a daily driver that will be getting paint chips and dings, etc, I think I'd be willing (or rather I AM willing) to spend more than $800, and think that 3 years of the paint holding up is nothing to be impressed about, lol.

On my AE86, I'll be happy if the paint job looks like the factory paint job, and lasts as long. I don't need anything super-duper-fantastic, but I don't want something that's "not perfect, but 95% better than before". I want 100% better than before.

But, everyone has a different goal, and that ultimately is going to determine how much you're going to spend on paint, like most things on your car.
 

NgoFcukinWay

Formerly Got Boost?
Apr 3, 2005
493
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Houston, Tx
how do you prep surface rust? I might end up doing the prep work myself before sending the car to a shop, but I have some surface rust here and there that I need to take care of.
 

adampecush

Regular Supramaniac
May 11, 2006
2,118
3
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Edmonton
Got Boost? said:
how do you prep surface rust? I might end up doing the prep work myself before sending the car to a shop, but I have some surface rust here and there that I need to take care of.

There are many things you can do. The most important thing is getting rid of all the scale covering the area. A wire wheel works well. Then, the easy way is to use a rust dissolving gel, followed by an inhibitor, followed by a good, non-porous paint layer. If you get rid of all the salts from the area and keep it sealed, you won't have rust again. The hard way is to sandblast, taking care not to overheat the metal. Basically, if you can remove the the oxide scale, inhibit, and seal the area, the rust won't come back. If you end up using a rust dissolving/converting-type product and don't remove enough of the corrosion, you will see bubbling under the paint soon after painting.
 

MRSUPRA

New Member
Apr 11, 2005
838
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Maryland
The reason I did not want to spend too much on a paint job is because you never know when you will be wanting to get rid of the OLD supra. You can part out a car with performance parts, but you cannot part out a 6000 dollar paint job.
Not to sound too negative, but I see so many people put tons of money and effort in there car only to run into financial problems and sell everything at a loss. I know it's part of the game, but sometimes you have to think wisely before spending too much money.
 

KMinAF

Old Man
Sep 15, 2006
291
0
0
American Fork, UT
Check out Hot Rod Magazine from a couple of months ago. They did an article where they painted an old Falcon with Rustoleum and a paint roller!
Not that I would, but you could

The lady that I bought my 87 Supra from had just painted the car with 1 day paint job. They did a very thorough job, every seal, molding and mud flap was included at I am sure no extra cost! I replaced all of them, thanks be to my local Pic A Part. The paint is peeling like crazy. This winter I will be stripping it probably using nothing more than a pressure washer lol
 

Ckanderson

Supramania Contributor
Apr 1, 1983
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The beach
suprabad said:
A high quality paint job with 3 stage PPG (or the equivalent), no bodywork other than block sanding and basic metal prep for paint from a good quality bodyshop = $10K


sounds like your paying way to much........

a friend of mine owns a high end paint shop (ferrari, porsche, lambo, bmw dealerships in the area bring their cars to him exclusivly) and a full repaint with ppg is 5-6k this is using normal paints, no chrome, or anything funky.

that being said, when the lincoln is ready for paint, i plan on a 3k paint job. the paint is shit now, and i need something that looks good, but im not looking for "perfection" if it lasts 5 years im fine with that. If i even keep the lincoln that long, by that time I will be ready to change the style....
 

suprabad

Coitus Non Circum
Jul 12, 2005
1,796
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Down Like A Clown Charley Brown
Ckanderson said:
sounds like your paying way to much........

Agreed, it sounds outrageous.

Not many shops can come close to duplicating a job that equals factory paint. It requires a ton of work, even if the body is in excellent shape.

The materials required to achieve a "factory painted" look are also very costly.

I'm not saying you have to spend $10k to get an acceptable result... but if you want a truly first tier paint job and are not going to do any of the work yourself, that's about what you're looking at spending. :icon_bigg

Edit: to fix quote
 
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