I need to get my IROC painted, badly. The paint on it is faded to oblivion, clear coat coming off, and about three colors with damage repairs. I don't know of any rust issues, but i'm sure they will show after some sanding/tearing down.

So what are my options? I can swing around $2000 for the project. Am I going to be better off finding the cheapest place to do it and hope it doesn't need redone in a couple years, or should I invest some of the money into the tools needed to do it myself? I am mechanically inclined, but detail and patience are not my friend. If a home done paint job would be the better option, where is a good place to find info to learn about what will be needed and technique.

thanks

 

$2000 wont get you much if you're looking for a quality paint job. If it has prior layers of paint, that all should be stripped off in order to get a clean, straight finish. You can do a bulk of the prep work yourself but you said it yourself, detail and patience is not your friend and that's a bad combination if you want a nice paint job. You should expect to pay upwards of $3000 or more for a "driver quality" finish. Materials alone can run $1500 or more depending on color, brand etc. My advice, take the time to do the prep work yourself then let a reputable shop spray it. You'll save some money that way. Good luck !

 

Ya, $2K aint going to get you much more than a car that looks good from 20 feet away. The car in my sig has a crappy Maaco paint job on it which the previous owner(idiot) thought was a great quality paint job. You can literally see the DA swirl sanding marks through the paint and there is a lot of fish eyes and dust in it. I wont even get into detail on the lack of attention to detail that someone took when masking the car off either. This is what you get for cheap money.

I have 10 years experience in the auto body field and have painted a couple thirdgens in my time and to do the job correctly, you must remove a lot of stuff from the car. Most shops wont do this due to time constraints and labor cost. THey simple mask everything up or just paint over certain things like the plastic gaskets between the mirrors and door or the weatherstripping around the windshield.

If you plan on keeping your car for the next 10 years or so then I highly suggest that you save up a few more pennies and do the job correctly. You're going to regret settling for a crappy paint job.

 

Nothing we hated more than an owner that started their own prep work on their car and then dropped it off to us. We would tell the customer that all their prep work (primer, dent repair, sanding) means nothing to us and we would have to do it all over again to OUR standards. Its our name on that job when its done and if there was something missed in the prep work and it wasnt noticed until after the car was painted then it now on the shop because no matter what, the customer will blame the shop for missing something or not doing a good job on sanding or something.

My advice, talk to the shops and see what they say. Some may tell you that they wont even touch the car if the owner has started prep work. SOme may say not to sand, fill, prime anything but you may go ahead and remove some of the common parts to save the shop some time which MAY save the customer some money. Im referring to the ground effects, tail lights, mirrors, spoiler, grill, antenna, door locks/handles etc.
Yes, removing those things takes time BUT it ensures a quality job is done on the car. I hate masking around things. It creates a paint edge which is the perfect place for clear to start peeling.

Getting a quality paint job comes down to 90% prep work and 10% paint.

 

Agreed. I tell potential customers unless you dont care how it turns out,I will not paint over someone else's prep work. You open yourself up to too many unforseen variableles. If you want a "20/20" take it to maaco. If you want a nice quality job, spend the money.

 

I first took my Firebird to Maaco to get a quote for a base/clear job. The girl doing the quote didn't even know what base clear was? Maybe she was new, but geez, give me a break. I ran away from that place. There was a small mom and pop body shop down the road from my house, and I caught them when they were a little slow. Needless to say, they gave me a good deal on the base/clear and body work ( hood hail damage, door dings, etc.). Out the door for $2500. They also used Spies Hecker paint.

 

When you all are saying supplies, what are you referring to? I am in the middle of doing mine myself and I don't think I'll have more than $1000 in paint, sandpaper, tape, polishes, pads, etc,. I'm using Dupont Nason primer(s) and base coat (its white and will be garaged) and DuPont ChromaPremier Clear coat. The equipment would easily bring the total over $1000 though- compressor, gun, power sanders, sanding blocks, polisher.

 

$2000 is about what it cost me to do my paint job...but I did absolutely everything myself, so that's just supplies and second hand tools (gun, compressor), started from bare metal, no paint booth and no experience. It turned out really well but it could have been terrible. It's been nearly two years now and there's only one small spot on the front right corner of the hatch panel where there is a weird reaction, I guess water got into the gun. It came up rather quickly after the paint was dry an didn't worsen so I guess it's stable now.

So if you want to get it done by someone else, expect to pay at least twice that if you want it to look great and be durable.

 

If you paint one panel at a time you can get by with a 110 volt air compressor to save money. You'll want at least a 20 gallon. You can also buy an entry level DevilBiss gun or Eastwood brand and sell it when you're done and make at least 1/2 your money back. The Harbor freight HVLP guns are iffy, some of them with a little clean up and set up will spray well enough that as long as you plan on wet sanding the primer and the clear coat you'll still get orange peel but because you'll sand it out youre fine.

 

In the mean time there is always this

https://www.dipyourcar.com/pages/dyc...ar-kit-builder

once you have the funds for a real paint job you can just peel it off

 

i just got a quote to paint my 83z the factory red for $3000. That includes fixing any rust and dents but my car is pretty clean. So the point is if you save a little more you could have a pro do it.

 

I'm not trying to flaunt it but this is what I managed to save for.


It has photos showing some of the process and will give you an idea of what to expect at this price or most likely more. (My friend cut me a break on the price).


Link = https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/body...nt-photos.html

 

Make friends with a bodyman. Offer to do all the grunt work under his direction. Ask him to to do all the skilled work. end up with this....

 

Or, if it's that bad, and you want to protect the metal, shoot for a cheap macco deal. It will look 15/20 ft good, and last a couple years, use the time to save for a real paint job. Yes, I know you'll spend more in the long run, and I don't advise that option unless your car will rust, or you think you'll have more work by waiting.

This is not the best paint or cheapest way to getting just what you want in the long run, BUT if it needs it that bad that will give you the time to save for a better paint job.

It won't look great. It won't last. It will likely be under 2k.
That's the route I'm going because my hood and roof has rust. I can't wait another year or two in the condition it is in. I'm going to go with their 1200$ option and in 3 years, pay a legit body man to do it right. (They want 4-5k for my car to be re sprayed to a pearl white)

If it can wait, it IS best ti wait till you can get quality work done though. Likely, you'll be happier in the end.

 

Best thing you can do is go to your local auto body supply shop and ask them who paints cars on the side. There are always guys who work at dealerships and body shops that do side work at home in their garage. The body supply store will know them by name, have their number, AND be able to tell you what quality of work they do. One of them is ready to grab some extra cash and make your car look as good as new.

 

Ron U.S.M.C. That's one really awesome paint job.

I spent $3000.00 on mine in 2008 and the paint job looked good but was not great. There were still some areas they could have done better. It's in for LSx surgery now but I will address the 8 year old paint after that. It has barely 1200 miles in the last 8 years and been garage kept so the paint is not bad but could really use some major detailing.

 

Currently in the process of a $3000 paint job. Friend of a friend who does one car at a time. Unless you have lots of cash to spend at a great shop, a guy that does it on the side (that has a good reputation) seems like the way to go.

I'm one week into the three-four week process...

Before


Current

 

Dropped my camaro of to the paint guy today. $3500 total, that's doing the jams also

 

Save another $2000, that will at least get a ten foot paint job.

 

I've been helping my son with his driver this week. Hoping to have about a $500 ten footer. But we're not stripping or changing colors and I already have the equipment. Pic from Tuesday here https://www.facebook.com/TwinLakesJetSkiRepair

 

Formula wheels to follow...

 

My son just bought an '89 bird that was "dipped". If it isn't done right, it looks terrible. Be careful with the dipping.

 

What looks bad about it? Was there not enough product used? Did they just do a horrible job of application or prep? Usually that stuff is hard to visually screw up.

 

Just got my car back from a $3000 paint and body job. Lots of body work and prep went into it. Make friends with a paint guy! Shops would not have done even a small percentage of the work my guy did.

Picked it up after 7pm so at dusk...

 

It can be done, just gotta find the right shop. This was my 87 I had done it cost me $2200 and included rot repair in the driver side wheel well and door jams.


( cant upload photos atm, will attempt when I get home.)

 

That looks really good! Are you going to put new decals on it too?

 

Sure am! Just waiting til this weekend so the paint is 100% cured.

Going to put the Formula 350 decals back on.. and the bulge graphic from the 83 pace car