I have a friend who does paint and body work part time. He has another full time job. He has a booth in his shop behind his house. He finished my '71 Bronco last fall and he sprayed my Mav today. He told me he figures 20 hours per panel to do the body work, prime, seal and paint. If you figure 2 doors, 2 fenders, 2 quarters, a trunk lid, a top, a hood, plus back panel, and both valances you're at about 200 hours. I've watched him do his work and he spends that much time per panel to do it right, and that's without any rust repair. The rust repair I can do myself and I do it to save some money. Multiply that by $50/hr and you're at $10k. Paint and supplies will run at least $700. My Bronco paint (UNO brand) and materials went $1500. Lucky for me he can't tell a 9/16ths wrench from a socket and we swap off labor. I just put a 5.0 and AOD in his '72 shortbox to pay for his labor on my Bronco. I have another friend who paid a shop here $6K to paint his Mustang. It looked great when done, but six months later it paint was falling off in big pieces. Oh, and it was in Paint Jail for a year! Shopping for a paint job isn't for the faint of heart. I recommend going to car shows and cruises and asking who did the paint on the cars and comparing notes with other owners. You'll at least find out who to steer clear of.
Thanks for the info and that's what I figured to try to compile some info over the summer and do other work then make a decision on paint then.
after wasting thousands of dollars on paint jobs from different painters over the years I learned how to do it myself I never got a paint job back from a painter that i was 100 percent satisfied with no one cares as much about your car as you I made mistakes learning how to do it and wasted some material and time but in the end the learning process was worth it
at a Buddys paint shop yesterday. he showed me a 60s truck a Guy brought him to finish...it was in paint jail for 18 months. the cab and doors were all that were painted. it had dry spray, runs and orange peel. the doors were hung and there was masking tape left on several places of the paint. when the 3" piece that was in the door to fender seam was removed there was a chip. the other Guy had taped the chip back onto the fender as to look like you peeled the paint off when you removed the tape... this way it was your fault...
no learning curve they were all established local painters I have had a slew of vehicles painted and for the most part made my money back on most of them but i would never pay six to ten grand on a paint job especially a Maverick
seems the higher the price for repairs and paint, the less the car to be repaired and painted is worth to start with...
Here's a $2500.00 paint job. Lots of bodywork, door jambs, bottom of hood and trunk. Guy here in Texas doing it out of his garage.
