Cost of Paint Materials
Thread Starter
Staging Lane
Joined: Mar 2017
Posts: 78
Likes: 9
Cost of Paint Materials Checked with a local shop to see about the cost to repaint my 02 WS6,, The price he quoted caused severe anxiety. After my blood pressure dropped he told me that the materials alone would run between $3,000 and $3,500. It is a dark metallic blue. Is this correct or was there a certain amount of smoke being blown in the direction of my posterior?
TECH Fanatic
Joined: Dec 2017
Posts: 1,469
Likes: 267
From: Bossier City, Louisiana
The price you list above is about what I paid here in northwest Louisiana - a little over $3300, last December. This price was for materials and labor including some minor filler and body work. My color was also a deep metallic blue - 2017 Chevy / GMC truck "Deep Ocean Blue Metallic" using Sherwin Williams automotive paint. I did not pay for or expect a show winning, flawless paint job because this was for a car to be driven, not stored or trailered. For this price, I had to remove all trim prior and put it back on afterwards. But I was very happy with how the work turned out and this price. Museum quality paint jobs around here exceed $10,000.
It was painted at a shop that does insurance accident repairs as their primary profit area and they agreed to do my El Camino for a lower price if I was not in a hurry. So this paint job got done over a span of three weeks as "fill work" for the painter and paint booth rather than 3-5 days.
Rick
It was painted at a shop that does insurance accident repairs as their primary profit area and they agreed to do my El Camino for a lower price if I was not in a hurry. So this paint job got done over a span of three weeks as "fill work" for the painter and paint booth rather than 3-5 days.
Rick
'Car Craft' magazine did an article about painting one of their "project cars", several months back. It was a 70s era Plymouth Valiant that they had stuffed a 440 engine in, in order to terrorize the streets. The car was in good shape, with no rust or damaged panels, just a tired, faded, OE paint job. Naturally, since they had "car magazine privilege", they got the use of a spray booth, and technical advice, for free. The focus of the article was the cost of materials required, to do a good quality, but not show quality, paint job. As I recall, the bill was in the $3000 range, including all the necessary paint, reducers, sand paper, masking materials, etc.
I suppose this is the "new reality", as chemical costs have gone through the stratosphere, but it's VERY hard to swallow, nonetheless. I painted a few cars back in the mid-80s, when acrylic lacquer was still the "usual" finish for a GM car, and the cost, back then, was a tiny fraction of what it is today. A gallon of paint ran about $40, a gallon of primer ran about $30, and a 5 gallon pail of lacquer thinner, which was enough to thin both the primer and the paint, was about $40. At MOST, another $100-125 covered the sandpaper, masking materials, and rubbing compounds. $250, plus your labor, could get you a nice re-paint, done in your home garage.
The "good old days".....
I suppose this is the "new reality", as chemical costs have gone through the stratosphere, but it's VERY hard to swallow, nonetheless. I painted a few cars back in the mid-80s, when acrylic lacquer was still the "usual" finish for a GM car, and the cost, back then, was a tiny fraction of what it is today. A gallon of paint ran about $40, a gallon of primer ran about $30, and a 5 gallon pail of lacquer thinner, which was enough to thin both the primer and the paint, was about $40. At MOST, another $100-125 covered the sandpaper, masking materials, and rubbing compounds. $250, plus your labor, could get you a nice re-paint, done in your home garage.
The "good old days".....
just the clear on my car in parts were close to $800 so $3K on parts only is about right. Here is a video. the job was about two years to complete. It was a filler job project for my buddy and I was patient.
Trending Topics
LS1 Tech Stories
The Best V8 Stories One Small Block at Time
Gas Monkey Built a 6-Wheel Ferrari Testarossa With a Corvette LT4 Engine
Verdad Gallardo
7 Most Reliable High-Performance Engines GM Has Ever Built
Verdad Gallardo
Amazing '71 Camaro Restomod Is Modern Muscle Car Under the Skin
Verdad Gallardo
6 Common C5 Corvette Failures and What's Involved In Repairing Them
Pouria Savadkouei
Retro Modern Bandit Pontiac Trans AM Comes With Burt Reynolds' Autograph
Verdad Gallardo
Top 10 Greatest Cadillac V Series Performance Models Ever, Ranked
Pouria Savadkouei
Top 10 Most Powerful Chevy Trucks Ever Made!
Hennessey's New Supercharged Silverado ZR2 Has 700 HP
Verdad Gallardo
Coachbuilt N2A Anteros Is an LS2-Powered C6 Corvette In Italian Clothes
Verdad Gallardo
Launching!
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 199
Likes: 20
Shop around. Check out southern polyurethanes, would need to find a painter that wants to use that instead of their normal. Check out the lowrider community. Guy in my area lays out beautiful paint, fades, candies, pearls, panels for the donk and lowrider crowd - he moves locations about once a year, never has a sign. He'll shoot any brand you want, keeps glasurit and matrix on hand.... cash only. 