New to this! How much for a good paint job?

[acarlotto]

I am new to this whole Bronco thing. I have wanted one since I was a little boy. Now I am going to pick up a 1973 white bronco the is an automatic 302- v8. There rust on the rocker panels (which will need to be replaced) and on the top where the top meets the windhield. Other than that there is just a little surface rust. Does any know a rough price of how much it would cost to paint the car a raven black? Does 2k sound resonable? Thanks for your help in advance and I look forward to hearing back from you!! I am sure I will have alot more questions once i buy it. I will post pics once I get it.

 

[Wyflyer]

There are too many variables involved to give an accurate answer. If you hire someone to fix the rust, they may find more than you were aware of with no clear beginning and end.
Paint materials are expensive, if you buy good brand name products, (epoxy primer, brand name base coat and clear coat) you can easily spend 1500 on materials alone.
If you just want good but cheap look at a single stage poly. If you want real cheap look at enamel.
I'd say no matter what, 1500 is a lowball figure, plan on more like 3000.

 

[Mark]

Most of the work is in preperation. If you prep it yourself you can save some $.

 

[johnnybgood74]

I agree with Wyflyer. Once your body guy starts getting going on changing your rockers, he is more than likely going to be chasing rust on your tub for awhile. Thats just the name of the game witha 40 yr. old rig. prep is everything! Just make sure he cuts out and replaces with fresh metal. thats the best route. your wanting a color that shows every imperfection that there might be in the bodywork. that being said, your body guy is going to spend alot more time on prep. good materials are way pricey. i just spent 90 bucks on 1 qt. of epoxy primer with hardener. thats will get my spot work done. probably will need 2 more to get the body prepped for paint. i would expect you to pay 2500 to 5000 on a good black paint job by a reputable shop. thats just dropping her off and picking her up when she is done. dont get discouraged though! try and do as much as possible yourself. a shop might let you do the sanding and masking to save some coin.

 

[broncnaz]

I agree there are many varibles that will drive up the price as was said there's always unseen rust or dents that seem to pop up once you get into it. Or you can just fix the outward apperance and get a $400 paint job. Although in a couple of years you'll probably have rust bubble popping up.

There are also many opinions on what paints to use. Personnally I'd go with the single stage urethane for a vehicle that will see the trails. Its easier to fix usually just rub it out, It holds up to the weather better again just rub it out. VS the base coat/clear coat setups. To me it depends on how you plan to use the bronco and possibly color you want that will determine what paint you use. Basically anything will work but I'm by no means a paint expert I'm still researching the issue for my 73.

 

[charvey9]

I had an estimate on mine, which is in good shape with only a few spots of surface rust, and they came back with $3500 - $5000.

 

[allenfahey]

As others have said it is hard to say without seeing it. It also depends on the area you live in. Parts of Colorado the labor rate is $60 or more. In my area it's $44 per flat rate hour. Figure without bodywork the paint is going to be 40-50 hours X the flate rate in your area. Then take the hours times the materal rate ($20 in my area) that is what you wil be charged for materials. The insurance compaines try to cap that price but for COD they will stick it to ya
It is hard to tell you a firm quote, I would have to see it if I were to do it on the side so would a shop. I would find a local painter looking for side work. Right now is an excellent time for that since my industry is VERY slow. Might want to try Craigs list. Bodyshops are slow so you can negotiate things better now than later when thing get busy.

 

[needabronco]

Where I live there are probably 25+ body shops and there are only 4 that I know of that will do a complete, they just plain loose too much money, because insurance jobs are quick and pay better. 2 of those are specialty hot rod shops, one of which charges $15-30K for paint jobs, one will do it but will charge accordingly, and do it at their leisure (when they aren't doing insurance jobs), and the other is Maaco(with them you get what you pay for)... They all charge over $100 per hour here too...

I found a guy here in town that builds cars for a hobby that happens to have a professional paint booth in the back of his shop. After hanging around for a couple of weeks, he said he will 'rent' his spray booth and equipment by the day(about $100 per day). Hopefully if I can ever get my stuff together I'm going to spray mine myself for a fraction of a professional job. Of coarse I more than likely won't get professional results, but I'm going for a 20 footer myself... I suggest you hook up with some local hot rod guys and start asking around for this type of deal...

 

[deltarat]

I replaced all the sheet metal and most of the bodywork.
The bodyshop stripped it to bare metal,primed,smoothed it and painted it un-assembled and I put it back together. They primed the bumpers and I have $6500 in it.

 

[Mongonius]

newbie question

I replaced all the sheet metal and most of the bodywork.

When you say you replaced "all the sheet metal" what do you mean? Sorry if this is a dumb question.

 

[NoJoe]

Well like others have said if you want a paint job that will last for years you will be in the 3-5 thousand price range, if you want a 500.00 paint job it will be garbage in one year. primer 150,00- base coat 200.00- clear coat 200.00 LABOR PRICELESS, by the way if you put a cheap paint job on it it will have to be completly stripped off before you can put a good paint job on it, NOT CHEAP. Regards Joe.

 

[deltarat]

When you say you replaced "all the sheet metal" what do you mean? Sorry if this is a dumb question.

There are no dumb questions, just dumb answers.

What I should have said was I replaced the sheet metal that needed to be replaced. It was mostly patch panels. I bought the entire part and used what I needed from it. There was only small parts of the panel that were bad. That way I did not have a lot of alignment issues.

I also replaced the floors. I used 1/8 steel diamond plate that I bought 2 drops from a machine shop for $10 a piece. I liked the looks of the diamond plate on the floor and it won't rust out in my lifetime, especially after I get it LineXed.

I did pretty good, according to my body man, for my first shot a body work.