momokings

Hey guys. I got a 91 firebird with a v6 engine. This car had a paintjob in 97 but it has lots of little scratches that have been covered with touch up paint which looks just horrible.
I was wondering how much would a good paintjob cost. The car is dark green and the interior is tan. I was thinking painting it either black or blue.

thanks.

CamaroRS385hp

good paintjob will be from $1600 or so and upwards. more likely around $2500. the biggest thing is the prep work...most of the cost is from the hours it takes to prep the car. if you prep it yourself you can knock about half the price off. and since you're gettin a color change, it'll cost a little extra cause they have to paint doorjambs, the trunk area (under the edge of the glass), etc. i've gotten 4 quotes from the high end places (companies that specialize in working w/ insurance companies to paint the cars) and was quoted from $2800 to $4000 at diff. places...

as for color, electric blue is killer.

momokings

Thanks for the info!
Do you have a website with prices and talks about preparation? I also need sample colors to choose from, know any website for that?

CamaroRS385hp

here's all the info you need on prep work:

"I disagree; if the paint's in good condition, it wouldn't have to be stripped to bare metal. Sure, a $5000 paint job might take the car down to bare metal, but there's no need.

Here's how I brought my car to Maaco. The shine came out pretty good, and lasted until I stopped washing/waxing my car... which means it lasted for 3 years. Now, the doors shine up nice, but the hood/roof isn't that hot. When I did the car, I had no air compressor or air tools. I used a power drill with a sanding pad and sanding discs, and an 8" orbital buffer/polisher with sand paper. I also had one of the solid rubber sanding blocks.

I. Start with a clean car.

Before you do any sanding or bondo'ing or primering, you must have a car that's clean. I don't mean that you've washed it recently- I mean CLEAN. Find cans of MarHyde's "Total Prep" (or similar) at chain-style (Pep Boys, Autozone, etc) auto stores. This stuff removes the invisibles, like old wax, road grime, bird crap, tar, etc. If you don't remove this stuff, when you sand, you'll embed it into your paint. You spray the stuff on the car, wait, then wipe it with a rag, then rinse it with water. If the rag's dirty, wait till the spot dries, and repeat the application until you see a clean rag.

II. Fix all your bodywork problems.

Learn how to use Bondo. Buy a sheet of steel ($5) from Home Depot, kick it a few times, and then fix it. To apply filler, you'll need to strip the paint down to bare metal; use 60 grit paper. Only apply filler in a THIN layer! Use the bare minimum. Using an inch thick bondo layer will wind up in the stuff cracking and falling off! Bondo tools: Spreader, mixing board (if it's flexible plastic, when the filler dries, you flex the board, and the old stuff falls off!), "cheese grater" file, 60 & 100 grit paper, glazing putty.

[7/9/02 edit] As I'm about to link to this message, I re-read it, and thought I should point some things out. You could use 36 or 40 grit paper to strip paint off, but it will ruin any zinc galvanizing (anti-rust) coating that's on the metal. 60 grit might take a lonnnng time to strip paint off, though, so 36/40 grit might be your better bet. If you have deep dents, use a $15 body hammer and $8 "heel dolly" to fix 'em. Buy a $15 bodywork book to give you some pointers, and use the hammer/dolly on your scrap of steel.

I never used glazing putty; it's supposed to fill any pinholes left in the filler. I used Bondo's "Ultimate Bondo", in a sky-blue can, and it was pretty good with preventing pinholes. Keep in mind that Bondo is NOT waterproof- it soaks up water. Primer isn't waterproof either!! Don't think you can apply filler, prime the spot, and leave the car in the rain. Either spray the primer with a "sealer" (http://www.eastwoodcompany.com) or spray it with some paint.

[8/13/02 edit] The more I link to this, the more I edit it. In July, I finally used glazing putty. You apply it with a spreader over everything, let it dry, then sand it all off flat, with 100 or 150 grit paper. Kinda cool; you can actually see your pinholes filled. Remember to just sand off the glazing putty, and don't sand into your filler job. Wear a dust mask!!! My cheap paper dust mask turned red; this stuff creates a fine dust that gets all over the place. (Your white t-shirt might turn pink!)

Keep a cheap spraycan of black paint handy. (I use black primer.) Mist the repair with black paint- this is called a "guide coat". Then use sandpaper on a block of wood (or a regular sanding tool) to lightly sand the repair. Any low spots will show up as unpainted.

Got front/rear bumper damage? Bondo makes a two-part epoxy for urethane bumper repair, which is just like the shops do. I filled some holes and fixed some tears with the stuff, it's easy to work with. Don't use a powerdrill with a sanding disc, you'll cut grooves in the bumper. Use an orbital sander. I used Plastikote's "flexible bumper adhesion promoter" on the bare urethane, and Plastikote's "flexible bumper primer" on top.

III. How to prime

I used rattle-can primers... I think mine was by Plastikote. Stick to the same brand of primer for all your jobs. Some primers are lacquers, some are enamels, and you don't want to mix 'em around. Find "tack rags". They're super-sticky cheesecloths that pick up dust. Before you prime an area of bare metal, rub the tack rag over it to pick up dust. Mask the area off. Shoot the primer. Make sure the wind doesn't carry the paint onto your dad's car, or the house. When it dries, sand it down with 100 grit using a sanding block. NEVER use your fingers with sandpaper, you'll leave fingermarks that will be lower than the rest of the paint. Now mist some black paint, and sand some more, to make sure your bodywork is fine. After sanding, use the tag rag again, and shoot another coat. Now, sand with 150, and work your way up to 320 for the final sand. If you hit bare metal (possible "high" spot that needs bodywork?) , re-prime the area.

IV. Remove bad paint

If you see an area of paint that is checked (that means cracked) crazed, peeling, rubbing away, bubbling, etc- you MUST sand that area down to bare metal. Sure, you could paint over it- if you want to see those cracks thru your new paint. Prime the area as usual.

V. Remove old emblems.

Remove your old emblems. Take measurements or make drawings if you want to put them back in the same old spots. To remove an emblem without damage, get some fishing line. Put gloves on. Use the fishing line as "dental floss" to separate the backing tape from the body of the car. Hold the line tight (gloves!), and hold it so it presses against the car body. Then with a back-and-forth motion, dig into the adhesive, and slice it apart. Then use Total Prep to remove the adhesive.

VI. Scuff-sand the car.

When the entire car is body-damage-free, scuff sand all your old paint. There's no need to go down to bare metal to paint a car. If the original paint shows good adherability (no cracks/peeling/etc), it's a perfect base for new paint. Scuff the whole car with 320 grit paper. When done, the paint should look as if it's a faded paint job. You don't want to hold the sander at an angle, or you'll cut into the metal, and if you do that, you need to prime that area and put some paint or sealer on it (to keep it waterproof).

I didn't have an air sander, but I had my dad's 8" orbital buffer/polisher. I bought large sanding sheets (the kind that comes 3 to a pack), and cut each sheet into a circle. Then I used some rubber cement (you know the stuff, sold in any shoprite or kmart or arts/crafts store... same stuff from school) to glue the sandpaper to the backing pad of the buffer. Then, I buffed the car.

Remove things "in the way" to get a good sanding job done. Remove the taillights. Remove the blinkers from the side panels. Remove your antenna! Remove foglights. Tape up door handles (so the sander doesn't chew them up) and door locks. You get the idea.

VII. Dropping the car off.

If you have any black rub strips on your bumper (like Camaros do by the headlights, or Firebirds do on the front/rear bumpers), tape them up 100% completely with tape. If you see an 85-89 Firebird with those rub strips painted over, they went to Maaco. Remove the headlight shrouds from the flip-up lights. Cover your exhaust pipe and muffler with tinfoil. If you have inserts on your door handles, tape them up too. Tape up the weatherstripping along your side windows. Use the "total prep" on the car, one last time. Bring the can with you, and check for road tar/bugs when you pull up outside the shop.

When you bring the car there, get there early in the morning, and also, bring a bag and some masking tape & newspaper & tinfoil. Remove your headlights, blinkers, taillights. Cover the bare bulbs with tinfoil or tape, or remove the bulbs completely. Tie the taillight bulbs out of the way of any painting. Cover the holes left from the rear taillights with tape so they don't paint the inside of the car. Tape over your antenna (if it's still on), and unscrew the shaft if yours isn't a power antenna. Remove your license plates, blinker bulb housings. Throw everything in the bag. Tape the metal edging that goes around the hatch window, or that'll get painted too. (Doesn't look that bad, though.) Talk to the guy beforehand, and see if he'll paint your spoiler separately. Tape the weatherstrip between the outside of the side window glass and the door metal. Tape the weatherstrips at the top/sides of each window. Tape the strip (if possible) around the windshield.

Good luck; let us know how the job turns out. Just keep in mind that they're a high-quantity shop, "get 'em in and get 'em out", so the more prep time YOU spend, the better the job comes out. Most of a paint job is prep!"

(props to TomP for above info)

as for prices, no websites as prices differ everywhere you go, but just check around town for quotes

for color....no site that i know of, although there probably is somehwhere, but i'd just look at pics of cars till you found a color you liked, then find out what color that is. for the electric blue, i know the new Z06's and Nissan Z's have it as an option. Can't go wrong with sunset orange metallic either. if you want to see what either of those look like, just type it in the search and you'll find some stuff

CamaroRS385hp

sunset orange metallic

CamaroRS385hp

nissan daytona blue

momokings

Youre the man!! Thanks a lot!
That daytona blue is awesome.

devianb

Its really hard to give an accurate assessement of paint job prices with all the variations. You have different stages and different paint finishes, like metalic, pearl, kandy, color changing, and the newest one I have seen is the temperature color one.

Id expect to pay at least a couple thousand for any decent paintjob. Preping the car takes the most time and usually comprises a lot of the cost of painting a car.

85maroz28

There not cheap if you want them done right! I paided 3500 for mine.