Suggestions about paint and prep

[98Fauxbra]

Hey Guys,

I need some painting direction for my soon-to-be-wife's(34 days) 66 coupe. First off, I apologize for being an awful stangnet member because there are no pic's of her ride or mine on here. I will rectify that this week. Anyway, her car has an older paint job on it now. The paint is a single stage enamel(?) and the body work is mediocre at best. The body is pretty straight though and the car turns every head that it passes. There is a dime sized rust spot ion the bottom of the passenger door and a pencil eraser sized spot on the drivers door. Other than that, there are not too many issues. Should I have this car media blasted? It is just going to be a driver with an occasional show here and there. What am I looking at for expenses? I am mechanically inclined and will do most of the prep work myself. I will probby have someone fix the rust for me but the rest I will probby tackle. I will have the windows out anyway to fix the headliner, and I will be doing a color change. I approached a well respected local shop, who has done work for me before, and just about fainted. I was quoted $7,500 if I brought the car ready to go. Now I know that when this shop got done it would be a work of art, but it is going to be driven on a regular basis. Does anyone have a more realistic figure? I am beginning to think that I should just grab a compressor and a nice gun and go to town. I have done some painting in the past but it has been a while. What are your guys horror stories? I mean for $7500, I could have a full coilover suspension front and rear, disk brakes front and rear, and a set of 17" TTII's. Then, who would care about a dime sized rust spot???

Thanks,
Bryan

 

[1966conv]

I'd be a little worried on the doors. The early doors have a tendancy to rust from the inside out at the bottom because of the lack of being primed inside the door. Chances are that if your seeing a bunch of rust at the bottom you may have to patch the whole bottom or reskin the doors.

What do they mean ready to go? Completely stripped and blasted or just stripped? Is any metal work included in this at all?

You say this will be a work of art when done. Then the price is cheap. I've had two "great" paint jobs done on "Red" cars that have cost over $6K each, one included the blasting, one did not. Quality painting labor in the midwest is between $60 to $100/hour. Doesn't take long to add up when considering blocking/sanding and finally color sanding. To an extent you get what you pay for. Get a detailed quote and see what it includes and repost.

 

[98Fauxbra]

Okay, that answers my question. I guess I have been out of the loop for a little while. That figure was for a stripped and somewhat worked car. Their shop would do the finish sanding, priming, painting, color sanding, and buffing. I guess the price is not that bad. It will have to wait to fit into the budget though. That might be it's second restoration. Thanks for the help.

Bryan

 

[FORCED2DV8]

If they are doing all that then 7500 is right in the ball park, Even minor body work with a quality paint job will run 5000, I know its alot but the paint and outside are the first thing everyone see's. Some poeple, Have a body shop do all the blasting and body work but do the paint themselves to save a few $$$,

 

[John Z]

For red paint, the materials, including primers etc, could well be over $2000. I just saw a post were a guy was quoted about $800 for a gallon of paint! My car took just over 200 hrs, which included all that you mentioned, except for rust, but the painter also replaced a quarter panel. Nice paint jobs are expensive.

 

[mustangdave]

If you have it stripped, glass out, and body work done, I would think 3 grand would get a real nice paint job unless you choose some exotic paint.

 

[Platonic Solid]

I know you said you wanted to change the color, but if you kept the car's current color, you wouldn't have to paint the door jambs, hood underside and trunk area. You could have the minor rust issues repaired and repaint it without stripping the car, assuming the current paint job isn't filled with cracks or flaking. That should cost about $3,000.

 

[98Fauxbra]

Thanks for all of your comments guys. That really helps. The car is definitely not going back red. She actually wants to paint it 66 t-bird sapphire blue. I will probably jamb it out myself to save some money and it is going to get a new hood anyway so I can do the underside of the hood before I put it on. I was thinking more along the lines of 3-4 thousand. If she didn't want to change the color I would just leave it alone for a while. The red that is on there now shines up nicely and it is a great 5 foot car. At the only show that my fiance has been in, the car took a third place out of six 1966 stangs so it is not a bad looker now. I do have a little time to prep though because we are not going to tear it down until the winter. That oughta be fun!

 

[zookeeper]

I agree that $5,000-$7,500 is about right for a nice paint job, but I also agree that doing it yourself is very possible. But if saving money is your only motivation for painting the car yourself, the final product will show it. I painted my fastback, and yes I saved money, but I did it because I wanted to. As you already know painting a car is tedious, frustrating, miserable work. But when I look at my car now, I get a feeling of accomplishment that doesn't come from writing a check to a bodyshop. I spent a ton on tools as well, but since this won't be my last paint job, the next one won't be nearly as expensive, nor take as long.

 

[98Fauxbra]

That is also motivation for me. I like to do things with my own hands and then see MY results. When we first got this car I had never wet sanded and buffed anything. I grabbed a bucket and some 1500 grit and went to town because I knew that it couldn't look any worse. EVERYONE including myself was amazed at the results. It is not perfect yet, but I know that it is going to be repainted so I am not concerned with that. I think that I may paint it myself for the gratification. Her interior was ratty and not fit to ride around in so I did a nice resto on it. Looks great! 100X better than when we got it. Is it concourse, NO, but it made the ride around town so much more enjoyable. Thanks everyone!

Bryan

 

[Platonic Solid]

I'd recommend getting Kevin Tetz's 5 DVD Paintucation series.