Anyone know of any good local body shops around so cal?? Or any person you know that is good with paint? Any insight is appreciated

 

There are a few but you better have the Big $$$$ to afford them
Pete Santini in westminister is one. I can't think of the name of the other. sorry

 

Rock & Roll ae the top guys around all the local car shows right now. They are on Batavia near Don's shop. They are actually right next door to Jon at Accurate Alignment.

You better have big bucks though. They probably won't even look at the car if you are expecting under 10k. They are the guys that painted the outragious two direction MBMW Minicooper limo.

You should see the Helicopter/bus with the jacuzzi ontop they are prepping and painting right now for Vinnie at Ultra Limo's

 

Wow i dont mean that nice I just needsomeone who is not going to cut all these corners just to get it done and who has a good reputation for giving the average joe something to be proud of

 

That is what we are all looking for to be honest.

Overall you have to decide what you want, in my experience there is a great deal of seperation of quality in paint shops so you get exactly what you pay for. If you are willing to do some of the prep work yourself you can save some money but if you are thinking a complete color swap then that is also a bit of money. I would start taking your car to some shops and get some qoutes.

 

I hate to say this, but many of those expensive paint jobs arent worth a damn either. Especially the 'warranty' (usually lifetime), most are out of business around the time the paint goes. There was a place local to me that for about 5 years was 'the' place and they disappeared after about 8 years in business. I've seen some of the cars they painted of late, and they arent looking so good anymore. So much for the high price tag, sand to the metal, use expensive paint, lifetime warranty route.

Don, Russ, and maybe some others went just south of the border to a guy that used to be local, for the cost it wasnt too bad. Just keep in mind that for the most part, you get what you pay for. Find a reputable shop that charges around what you want to spend for the quality of paintjob you want, and go there. I know thats somewhat vague, but I havent been to a single place that I was happy with the outcome, even the pricier places. I'd probably be happier if I spent $1000-1500 for a somewhat decent paintjob and didnt mind the flaws that is going to come with.

 

Here is mine....painted down south.
Color change, base coat-clear coat & body work $1250:

 

[flame suit] Actually, the Maaco down here in Moreno Valley has pretty good results.[/flame suit] I have 3 friends: one with a 95 Accord, one with a 92 Mustang, and one with a 91 Cherokee all got their jobs done at the Maaco over here and every single one of them looks awesome, even after 2-3 years. I can't tell you how it will look past then, but if you need a quick paint job that will last a couple of years, nothing can beat the price of Maaco.

 

As mentioned earlier, it's really about how much work you want done and getting what you pay for. A decent paint job will run around $1500-$2000. A good paint job around $3000-$4000, and a great paint job up to $10,000.

I got my car painted at my buddy's shop Prestige Auto Collision in santa ana. They do quality work at a reasonable price, but they will work with you as far as what kind of quality you're looking for. Naturally if you prep it yourself it will save you some cash.

These guys also installed my alarm, vortexed my interior, painted the interior, and did all my mechanical work. Just ask for Jimmy at 714-542-7217.

 

Yeah im most concerned with the little dings and stuff being removed and i may go with an ss hood so id want it to be aligned properly, mainly just having a straight and clean body rather than the paint itself. The price range i am looking at would be 1500-2500 approximately.

Don, how thourough is the color change, meaning, did it include the engine bay, door sills, etc.

Thanks guys

 

I know of a shop that has been in business for at least 10 years they do the best paint I have everseen. Ive seen their work for about 12 years this is where I will be going to paint my vette Its called Monrovia auto body. They have painted a few dare cars and even the dare drag camaro. I had a quote for my teal camaro a little over a year ago and it was for 1800 and they were going to fix my thrashed shin spoiler and a few dents bigger than a ding ..... (from backing into a friends car) I dont have their number but I will post it tomarrow since they are right next door to my work. The quote I got was for prep prime and paint. 2 stage including color sand and buff. They paint door jams and all.I wasnt doing a color change so under the hood I dont know about.

 

This sounds like a place i would be interested in, where are they located, is it in HB???

 

You wouldn't believe how thorough....all that and more.
Removed the front and rear to paint them, the mirrors, the trim around the back window and the door handles.

 

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Dont forget about taking him the car with no engine if you want under the hood all done also

 

They are located in monrovia its about 35-40 minutes from hb the are off the 210 close to the 210-605 interchange address is 502 e duarte ave monrovia Ca 91016

 

I got my bird painted at an Earl Scheibs place, and I can't complain too much. I still get compliments, after 5 years of abuse. It all depends on the size of your wallet, and your tolerance to daily abuse from negligent soccer moms parking next to you. As far as I'm concerned, a daily driver is not worth more than a handful hundreds of bucks in paint... A show car, on the other hand, might be worth a few/several G's...

Again, I still get comments on my used and abused 5-year-old el-cheapo paint job, from the carb guy, the smog guy, the mechanic, even people on the street.

No matter where you end up going, make sure to ask for photos or to see real-life examples of their work.

I went to La Habra to get a decent price.

 

I have always been interested in getting a qoute from this shop for my IROC, now it looks like I have a guinea pig 3rd gen for them - the Z

FYI - F1LS1 (Paul) had his Beautiful 90 IROC painted at Brea Auto Body, the paint job is amazing to say the least! He has won an award to every show I believe he has taken the car to, anyways his paint job was not cheap but he told me that with some doing some prep work yourself and not going for a show paint the guys at that shop would be willing to work on getting a job that meets your budget. However I would still state that I bet their 'cheapest' job would still run around $2500.

 

Hey Gr89RS, What about a set of flames or something fun. Now i painted my camaro in my garage, didn't take her down to bare metal, only did the door jambs (because of time constraints), but i did fix all the dings i could find (and i did manage to miss a few but hard to find) i blocked the car out and then used Dupont Basecoat, with a PPG ClearCoat. I did it all in my garage after working 9 hours at the body shop i came home and worked another 6 hours. I would say it came out pretty good. I let her sit for 2 days alone in the garage and i went in Wet sanded the body to get rid of dust and to make it to where you can't fell the flames.
And this was my first complete paint. In the past 4 months i've done three other cars not to mention all the collision stuff at my body shop. Now i painted that car in the garage as you can see. I've got a Harley lined up for this next month. I'm sure we could work out a price. PM me and we'll talk. Oh yea, I may be only 19 but hey how many 19 year olds out there can say they flamed a car

 

You have a pm

 

You can take it to Brea Auto Body They did mine.(714) 990-1500 ask for Dave and tell him Paul sent you.

 

Nice roc, any details on it, price, was it a color change, how much body work was done etc.

 

It was a color change White to Sunset Orange. Price depends on what you want and how much body work is involved. Stop by the shop they will give you a free estimate.
Follow the link in my signature and you will see what was done to the car.

 

the high cost of paint jobs in ca is from the cost of the materials used, good paint can run a few hundred dollars a gallon depending on color. ca has made it very difficult to paint a car at a reasonable price these days with all the air quality restricitions.

 

You said a mouthfull, that's why I went south (better materials).

 

Do you have the name of the shop ypu took it to and where? how long did it take to finish? Do they speak english because I don't speak spanish. If I get the body work done in Mexico, I will take a break and stay there until its done-are there safe hotels around there where I can just take a taxi back and forth to the shop?

 

The car is down for a dead trans so I'm doing the engine/trans/rear/brakes/body/paint/interior...oh heck the whole car. In any case, I'm starting to look at all possibilities. If I need to PM someone please let me know.

K

 

What did you pay for your paint job?