Body Shop Estimate

your getting a good deal. I'm having the same type of work done for 5500 and its probably the same kind of shop. friend of a friend small shop thats just happy to have the buisness. I sugest checking in on the progress like you have been. If they know you could stop by at any time and if they think you know what you are talking about they should do a good job.
 
Well, I guess if you're confident in the quality then just keep a close eye on things. For the extent of work you listed, and for that price, you usually get shoddy metalwork, like floorpans repaired with plain sheetmetal instead of proper pan patches, pop rivets everywhere, and gobs of bondo.

I typically pay $1800-$2000 in materials alone for a full-on paint job, and that's with me bringing them a car already disassembled and stripped to bare metal. Comparing apples to apples, that would leave you $1400 for labor, which at an average body shop rate of $35/hr is 40 hours. Think they can do a basic restoration in 40 hours???? Wait, it's already in its 4th week... Hot Hues paint is quite expensive as well, so that leaves even less of that price to go to labor vs. materials. I haven't even mentioned the cost of the interior pieces. This all sounds VERY fishy. You're either going to get many more bills in the future before it's done or really low-grade workmanship.

An inexpensive paint job can look just like a $10,000 paint job when it rolls out of the shop, but 1-2 years later it will be horrible looking while the $$$ job will look new after 10 years. It's not the brand of paint that makes a car look great, it's the preparation, and proper prep simply takes time.
 
I have been building and painting Mustangs/street rods for approx. 25 years. todays paints alone, metal etching primer,including GOOD catalyzed primer surfacers (dupont 2k high build primer @ ~ $50/qt etc.), base coats, activators, clears and the activators for the clears should run approximately $2K by itself. we currently have my son's mustang in a shop. Media blasting was seperate. The current quote is $8,800 which inlcudes all paint (2-stage) with Shelby strips, repair of rust, replace Rt rr Qtr panel - see Adamin Chains posts
 
badazz68stang said:
Well, i live in West Virginia, and this may come as a shocker, but the price is 3200 for everything i listed. i already have him 500 the other day and got a receipt on it and the car was down to a bare shell and metal.
Where in WVA?