Was wondering about how much a decent, well good paint job will cost...

if anyone has gotten any new paint jobs lately...howd urs come out and how much for it

 

I was wanting to know the same thing...[sm=exactly.gif]

So if I'm able to get the information (a few months), I'll let you know.

How much are you looking at spending, how complete of a job, any special paints/effects?

StevePhy

 

I've been looking at this for my '96 EX Coupe as well. The car has some door dings/dents on each side, but the paint on the sides is actually still pretty decent. The hood. the tops of the front fenders, and the front bumper are horrendous and the top in front of the sunroof is starting to look bad too. I called around in my area to find out how much it would cost just to have the hood, the tops of the front fenders (from pinstripe up), and the front bumper refinished and was given estimates of anywhere from $900 to $1500. SO, I bought a gravity-fed spray gun and had a local shop mix up the paint by the stock color code, and this weekend I'm planning on refinishing the front bumper, hood, tops of the fenders from the pin-stripe up, and top. I'm going to test the waters so to speak of my automotive painting ability and if I do pretty well with it a year or two down the road from now I'll strip it down, repair the dings and dents, and re-paint the whole car. I'm the type person that hates to pay other people to do things when I feel like I should be able to do it myself. And, I don't like getting ripped off either...

I'll take a few pics of before and after and try to post them on the board if I get to work on it this weekend...

 

i have painted my own side skirts and it turned out real well but i didnt have a paint gun so ... i really concentrated on it and took my time..

i didnt want to repaint my car withouth a paint gun so ive been waiting so im curious as well how ur car will turn out ..... thx

 

the estimates on a paint job seem pretty accurate... I've seen them anywhere from 900 for a few pieces to 2000 or more for the whole car depending on color etc...

As for doing the paint job yourself that's a pretty good idea just make sure you prep the surface first and be EXTREMELY CERTAIN that you don't get dust and dirt underneath it... I wouldn't even attempt this outside in the sun or an uncovered area...

 

Well,
I sanded down (smoothed out) the hood last weekend and was planning on finishing it all up in a day... but it didn't turn out that way. I ran out of daylight on Sunday afternoon and was only able to get it re-primed. I forgot to take pictures of it before I started, but the hood was hideous. The clear coat had deteriorated in splotches and the base coat was even flaking off in little spots all over. The front of the hood that meets the grill and along the leading edge all the way across had rock chips all over it that had been there for a while and had begun to rust. I sanded those spots down all the way to the metal (or as many as I could find) and I used a few cans of Duplicolor flat black sandable automotive primer to re-prime the surface. I was told I didn't have to re-prime the whole surface by the guy at the paint shop but I went ahead and did it anyway just to be consistent. Since I ran out of daylight last weekend I pulled the car into my parents garage and covered it with a tarp until I can get over there Saturday and finish it up. I plan to sand the primer with some 600 grit to get it REAL smooth before I apply the base coat, and hopefully I'll have enough clear coat to put 3 or 4 coats on it.

I have heard a lot of opinions about painting outside... some say it's okay, and some say it's not. When I was growing up there was a guy that moved in next door to my parents that rebuilt older cars as a hobby. He showed me pictures of some of the cars he had restored, one of which was a 1956 Corvette. The car he was working on at that time was a 1973 Mercedes 450 SEL covnertible, and he re-painted that car in his driveway in front of his house... and it looked spectacular. Ideally, it's best to have somewhere inside (preferably a booth) to paint, but painting outside CAN be done. I re-primed my car in my parent's driveway last weekend and so far as I can tell, didn't get anything in the paint. The trick (from what I've been told) is to make sure you have a very open area and do the painting on a day when there is very little IF ANY wind.

I guess you could also look at it in terms of your expectations as to what you want it to look like when you're done. I would love to repaint the whole car and smooth out the door dings and such and have it look brand new again, however, I drive it to work every day and park in a parking garage so I know, realistically, that would probably not be the best thing... so my main goal was to have it look better than what it did with the hood in the shape it was in... I think I can accomplish that... or at least I hope. I'll post some pictures when I'm done and detail the work I did as a guideline for any of you guys that want to try it for yourselves... [8D]

 

Nixalot, what exactly was the sanding process that you followed and what were the differernt types of grit that you used? I'm looking into painting over my bumper.

 

As far as cost....good quality paint alone can cost about $600 for certain colors. That is with hardener, clearcoat, potentially a metallic color etc. Many "high-end" shops will charge up to $3000 and will smooth out dents, etc.

Personally, I just had mine done in December by a friend of a co-worker. He did it at work on the side for $850. Looks great, almost new. There are a few tiny spots--one little drip on the drivers door way at the bottom (you have to REALLY be looking to see it)...couple little things on the mirrors (but again you have to pay attention).