I’m going to start off by saying I know there are many variables to this questions (location/material/quality of paint being among them), this is my first go at restoring a classic so I thought I’d gather some info.
My cat doesn’t have copious amounts of body damage, a few dings here and there no larger than a quarter (maybe because it was re-painted once before, over the original paint). I’ve recently been getting quotes (in Los Angeles) for a strip to metal and paint (driver quality). Even with the projected minimal body work, the quotes I’ve been receiving are making me lean towards potentially doing my own prep work. Surprisingly, two of the shops mentioned they aren’t keen on painting over someone else’s prep work.
What are/were you recently quoted on a driver quality strip and paint? And if you have done the prep work yourself (strip, seal, body work, prime, remove trim), what have you been quoted for just paint?
If you plan to do the prep yourself you may be better off seeking a hobbyist that that paints out of his house. There are also body guys around that have shops out of their house and shoot cars as a sideline gig, ask around. I was debating this route as I did all the prep/body work myself but ended up shooting the car myself because as mentioned most shops don’t want to lay paint over someone else’s work.
If your expectation is a “driver quality” job and all you have is some small dings and dents and not any questionable areas/rust repair, it sounds like a full strip to metal is a bit much IMO, depending of course on how many layers of paint are on the car.
I was going to say the same thing and this has been my experience with my car. It had been repainted or at least mostly once before in the same color. My body guy took it down to the factory primer then worked from there. I did not help with prep work but I did deliver the car stripped and ready for body work. After the initial prep work I assembled and aligned the doors, hood, fenders etc to all be painted on the car together. This saved alot as well since it cut back on the shops labor time plus I could make sure I was directly happy with the result. I do have some imperfections but most wont notice unless being picky or I pointed them out. I was more then happy with the results and cost.
DeiselD, if you don’t mind my asking, what did that cost you after you stripped the car yourself?
My car was painted cardinal red over the factory fawn beige. Looks like the red is a single stage, and has chipped off in some areas, taking the factory color with it down to bare metal. I’m thinking I can at least take the car down to bare metal and epoxy primer it to prevent flash rust, strip the panels, and have the body shop do the rest of the body work and spray. I’m no stranger to painting, so I could lay down the paint myself, I just don’t have access to a booth.
It was about $3500 if I remember correctly. I changed the factory sea foam green color to a modern metallic that I coded to a 2017 F250. The car was bare in the sense it was more or less a running rolling chassis. No glass, no trim, no interior etc. They did a really good job of changing the color internally so its extremely hard to tell what it was originally. There was only minor body work to be done as there was absolutely zero rust anywhere, mainly dings and small dents in the hood. All sheet metal was original as well with the only exception being one of the valances was a factory replacement.
I’d be jumping for joy if I got that kind of quote! That’s great.
Your paint choice looks phenomenal. I was considering keeping my interior blood red and doing a metallic charcoal on the exterior, so seeing your cat has me intrigued. I’m assuming the shop didn’t take yours down to bare metal?
granted that was about 4 years ago and a cash deal. Its a small one man sometimes two man shop and has painted and repaired our fleets trucks on occasion alone with one of my other vehicles years prior. I wouldnt say it was too much of a hookup but being a small one man gig he charges less then some other guys and has alot of pride in the work he does. Even 4 years later he always askes how the cougar is coming along and wants me to bring it by so he can see it put together. Now granted its not a high end paint job but I feel for the money its great and happy with the results. I did not want to spend 10k+ on paint work for a driver.
He did not take it down to metal but did get down to the factory level primer. He said it appears to only have been repainted once in the course of its life.