Paint & Body Work - How much to paint a hood?

How much are you guys generally paying to get your aftermarket hoods painted with or without body work? I got a quote from Maaco for $125 for just the top painted to match bright red, but just paint no body work and no underside.

FYI the hood is a harwood 2.5" wide cowl. I'm debating just buying the paint and doing it myself... I've got a compressor, gun, and everything needed but I don't have a ton of experience spraying with a gun. I DO however have ALOT of experience refinishing/painting but have always used cans which I don't trust to look good on my car.

thats a fair price. to paint it by your self with the bottom would be around that. and what color is there any pearl in the paint? and its a technech to spray unless you dont care alot about the overall outcome do it your self

if i was you i would have them do it.

and are they going to match it 100%, and to do it right you need to blend it on the fenders

I would expect to pay closer to $350+ for a decent job, top and bottom with no blending into the fenders and get around a 90% match

Well the bottom is "finished", it comes black and is all smoothed out. If anything I would definitely be able to spray the bottom myself and get a good outcome. I like the black underside, so if I sprayed it myself I would do a semi-flat black or just leave it as is.

The price they quoted me was base coat - clear coat color match, not sure if they will be blending it with the fenders but I should ask.

I'm leaning towards just having them do it for the price. If I did it myself I would get a very good outcome, I know the in's and outs of painting but haven't done auto exteriors. i.e. I know basic body work, prep, sanding, wet sanding ect. but if the price makes sense and they will do a good job yeah I should have them do it

I was wondering does anyone know of a good DIY or walkthrough on body work or more specifically finishing a fiberglass hood? I feel confident doing the light finishing myself but want to make sure I do it right. I know how to sand and apply bondo, but want to be sure on the little things like getting it completely even/flat.

Here's how I would do it, and please if you have any tips or if I'm wrong please let me know, I appreciate the help! I'm definitely a rookie but have a good grasp on what to do.

Scuff/DA the whole hood
How do you check for high/low spots or uneveness? Spray a guide coat?
Fill waves/dents/pinholes with light coats of bondo
Sand bondo with 80 and move up to 320/400 before prime
clean
Done if they are painting it...
If I'm painting it -
prime entire hood
wet sand primer w/ 800
clean
Spray color, start light, move to medium/wet coats and get full coverage
clean
Clear, same process
Wet sand w/ 1000/1500
clean & buff w/ rubbing/polishing compound depending on finish

800 grit is pretty fine.

do all filler and stuff. then a guide coat.

then i would spray primer surfacer. sand with eather 400 or 600 ( you wont see any sand scratches on ether) (ppg flash times)then lay a primer sealer. then flash 15 min, tach cloth it with a blue tac cloth, then spray light to med base coat until full coverage then wait 15 min tac cloth again then lay the clear and then wet sand with 1500 then 3000 grit tri zac. then buff. its not hard to do.

and i think a red top and a black bottom will look like a cheap job imo. do both sides


and if its a after market hood i would alway make sure the part fits nice befor any PAINTING. you dont wont to wait until the end then relize it dont fit good then you have to make it work.....

Oh definitely, the hood has been on the car for like 7 months now, finally getting it painted since the weather is getting warm here in the Midwest :)

So my main question is still this : When applying the bondo, how do you find the spots that need it? Spray a guide coat over the whole car? Or is there an easier way? Do you just do it by feel, eye it up, or is there a sure shot way?

I know that once you have the bondo on, you spray a guide coat to get it sanded evenly. Just still not sure on how to find the harder spots (wavyness ect) that need it.

All in all im extremely happy with the hood, it fits great and doesn't have any major imperfections. There is some slight wavyness here and there that you can't really see with the naked eye with the gel-coat finish, but I know once I put paint down they will most likely show up.

If someone can clear up the inspection process for me I'd really appreciate it :) Once I know where to find the trouble areas I'm gonna get to work. I'll post up a thread with the progress for anyone who might be interested who's like me and wants to give something like this a shot.

its just eyeing it and feeling it. and use a block to sand it so you know the waves are out. then to make sure guide coat it and if there still there do it again until you like it

and when you feel it dont look at it look away and rub ou hand over it (you eyes will play tricks)

You get what you pay for. For $125 you wont get a nice job. Look to spend at least $350 for the entire hood, underneath and outside. Fenders should be blended for 100% match. Unless its black. So it all depends on the quality you're looking for.

The original quote was $175 for just the top, but I've had a previous car painted there before so they gave me a deal and made it $125 to base/clear the top side. They did a good job on my previous car, so I'm confident they will get it matched and done right. As for the fender blending I'll inquire about that for sure.

I'm getting to work on it today :) I'll post a thread with progress.

What do you mean by "wavyness" on the hood?

All I mean by "wavyness" is the usual fiberglass aftermarket hood finish where there are a few low/high spots that would show up in paint. Not dents or anything, basically just a few spots where it isn't perfectly level.

I started on the bodywork today, I think it went pretty well. I scuffed the whole hood with the DA, and did a guide coat on the whole thing. Got about half the hood sanded and layed the first few spots of bondo down. All in all it's really in great shape and shouldn't need to much work. I'm just hoping I can tackle this and do a good job.

All I mean by "wavyness" is the usual fiberglass aftermarket hood finish where there are a few low/high spots that would show up in paint. Not dents or anything, basically just a few spots where it isn't perfectly level.

I started on the bodywork today, I think it went pretty well. I scuffed the whole hood with the DA, and did a guide coat on the whole thing. Got about half the hood sanded and layed the first few spots of bondo down. All in all it's really in great shape and shouldn't need to much work. I'm just hoping I can tackle this and do a good job.

Interesting, didn't know that was a problem with them. Can it just be sanded down to be level with the rest of the hood or is there more to it?

No it's not something that can really be sanded out, it's just slightly past that point I'd say. It only needs it in a few spots where the fiberglass or the gelcoat isn't totally level.