Paint: pricing,referal

[Ghost Lightning]

I have a 63 r2 lark currently white. Paint is about 15 years old and has a few spots that are blistering , few chips and cracking. Want to get it repainted and taken care of so it keeps looking nice. I am wanting to know what a reasonable price would be. also if anyone knows where I could get a good job done at good price near North west Indiana. Can trailer it if a few hours away. Will travel for good Job.

[wdills]

Good quality re-paints are not cheap. If you can find a normal collision shop that will do it, you can expect a price of $5K to $8K. I say "if" because most of the collision shops in my area don't want to do anything except insurance repair work. They make their money on quick part replacements and panel painting. It takes a lot of time to properly prep a car for paint, and they don't want to spend that much time on a single vehicle. Your next option is a paint job from a restoration shop. Price there can be anywhere from collision shop price and up, just depending on how perfect you want it to be.

[T.J lavallee]

There's also the possibility of doing all the labor intensive body work yourself and just paying to have it masked off and shot at a paint shop. Much less expensive way to go if you're capable. If not, it's an expensive proposition any way you look at it.

[tim333]

$10,700 for my 57 Commander 4dr. 2 tone paint. No rust repair, body man is a perfectionist and is spending a lot of time. Working on it around insurance jobs in the shop. Includes inside the trunk and a repair to the right quarter which had a crease about 30" long with a small dent at the taillight housing.

[swvalcon]

If you can find someone that does good work and is honest and fair that works after hours and weekends I would say $4500 -6000 is a fair price.

[studegary]

From your description (blistering and cracking of a repaint), I would say that your car should be stripped down. If you just try to repair the bad spots, the problems will appear elsewhere.
I have a good friend that owns the best body shop around here. He will not do paint jobs. He certainly has the staff, equipment and paint booth to do them, but he does not want to get involved with paint jobs.
It is hard to find someone that does this as a sideline because of the current restrictions. For example, who is going to install a modern paint booth for occasional use?
A restoration shop may be your best chance, but do not expect it to be cut-rate or quick.
I have passed on buying many cars that need paint. I have the ability and experience to paint a car, but no longer have a place to do it.

[tsenecal]

I found the same to be true about body shops. The money is all in fender benders and insurance repairs. I had a friend with a body shop, but couldn't convince him to do a complete paintjob. He claimed that his painters were not interested. I have built a paint booth in one corner of my shop, and plan to paint my car in the next couple of months. It will be used for future projects also, but will be a safe place to park the Hawk when not being used for paint.

[JoeHall]

I have done about 4-5 Studes myself, all panels removed, taken down to the metal, etc.. But just too old now, and life is too short for another project that takes that long. OTOH, about four years ago, I paid around $7500 for minor body work and paint job on a 63GT. It is OK, driver quality, but worse than any I did myself, though I am certainly not a pro. If I ever bought another Stude, its paint condition would be a major consideration. I would not even think of trying to paint another one myself, and cannot afford to pay someone else to.