bodywork and paint costs

[fact5racer]

Just wondering what others have paid for bodywork and paint. ESPECIALLY cost for having the doors done. Please message me privately. My guy that I have used for all my SEMA builds have gone through the roof!

[Wizbangdoodle]

My paint choice was $4000/gal, so I know that costs are ridiculous. I ended up with a similar color choice from the same brand (HoK) that was half the cost. If you're building for SEMA, I can guess your costs are through the roof!

[Jim Frahm]

I don't mind sharing this information in this thread. It might help other's make a better informed decision. I live in Washington and I didn't want to ship or tow my car to CA or Indiana or to any of the other painters with lots of experience with FFR cars. That turned out to be a costly mistake. I found a local paint shop that had painted one other roadster and the photos looked great so I went with them. It took them 10 weeks and it cost me $30K. Now, fit and finish looks like fantastic and I have no complaints on the finished car. However, I think the experts the specialize in FFR cars can do it quicker, cheaper, and the results will be the same if not better.

Good luck with your choice!

Jim

[Jeff Kleiner]

... it cost me $30K.
Jim

https://tse4.mm.bing.net/th/id/OIP.4Kty6bD_Dv-NXuZ8-yhocgHaFj?pid=Api&P=0&h=220

Jeff

[egchewy79]

I had Kleiner do mine, but he is also only 200 mi away. He charges a flat rate for his labor plus the actual cost of materials. I had another quote from a few local shops, one was in the $20-30k range but also prefaced that by telling me they did mostly show cars. I think $10-15k is a reasonable amount to pay depending on your paint costs

[chmhasy]

I had Ron at metal-morphous in CT do it last year and it was around $12k

[fact5racer]

Thanks guys. My guy is close to what he charged me for each of my 2 SEMA GTMs already and all that's done so far on my truck is working on the fit and operations of the doors. I'm supplying the paint on this one for the first time. Tropical Glitz.

One more question: When you state roughly what you paid for bodywork and paint...........did that include the fitting, trimming and adjusting of the doors? My guy has 80 hours into the doors so far at $75 per hour.

[Jim Frahm]

https://tse4.mm.bing.net/th/id/OIP.4Kty6bD_Dv-NXuZ8-yhocgHaFj?pid=Api&P=0&h=220

Jeff


Thanks guys. My guy is close to what he charged me for each of my 2 SEMA GTMs already and all that's done so far on my truck is working on the fit and operations of the doors. I'm supplying the paint on this one for the first time. Tropical Glitz.

One more question: When you state roughly what you paid for bodywork and paint...........did that include the fitting, trimming and adjusting of the doors? My guy has 80 hours into the doors so far at $75 per hour.

I agree Jeff,,,,,,, that's a big holy crap!

My shop charged $95 and hour plus material. The material costs were around $7K and the rest was labor. The doors, trunk, and hood needed to be fitted. Once finished, I had/have to do final assembly.

I don't think I'll ever build another kit car but if I do I'll get on Jeff's waiting list.

[egchewy79]

Thanks guys. My guy is close to what he charged me for each of my 2 SEMA GTMs already and all that's done so far on my truck is working on the fit and operations of the doors. I'm supplying the paint on this one for the first time. Tropical Glitz.

One more question: When you state roughly what you paid for bodywork and paint...........did that include the fitting, trimming and adjusting of the doors? My guy has 80 hours into the doors so far at $75 per hour.

JKleiner did all the disassemby and reassembly which not all painters will do.

[Waterman]

Last year at this time I was getting quotes of $30 to $40K from custom shops in the Upstate NY area. Collision shops would not touch it. Worse the custom shops wanted most money up front, no firm price and no time commitment. Ended up using a pro painter doing the work nights and weekends in his personal garage.(no booth) Came out decent but not show quality and not without lots of oversight and cash each time I did the cattle prodding. $14Kish.. I did not want to wait to be put on the long lists of "our" pros.

[Kbl7td]

Less than 2k when I’m done. Hoping to finish by end of month. You can check my build log. If you’ve got the room and time I highly suggest anyone to learn the ropes.

[Wizbangdoodle]

JKleiner did all the disassemby and reassembly which not all painters will do.

This can be a big plus. Ken Pike does the same thing. Windshield gets installed as well as the pipes and body is mounted correctly. I would do it again.

[cv2065]

Mike Bowen from Spotlight Customs did my first one and he'll do this one. He's in Dahlonega GA, so a few hours from my house and I think he's in the same costing ballpark as other FFR painters. He reinstalls the body, etc. Really nice work.

[tundra2050]

I would love to give it a try to learn something new. However, I wonder how much it would cost me if I screwed up and had to take it to a real paint shop. Car painting seems to be quite a bit of an art work.

Also, how do you keep the dust out? I figure vacuuming the garage and hanging plastic sheeting to create a king of clean room? How long does the body have to stay before it's safe to move outside?

[GoDadGo]

I spent a little over $5,800.00 which included tons of elbow grease, plus help from my pal Sammy and our buddy Ernie. (RIP)
One gallon of the Red Glasurit paint was $980.00, that was Ernie's body shop cost. ($1,300.00 Retail)
Also, we never buffed it because Ernie got COVID-19 that morphed into Leukemia.
Bodywork advice was all Jeff Kleiner except the driver's door.
If I build another car, I'll beg Jeff to paint it.


https://youtu.be/_3sLamdkIFg

https://youtu.be/meBYeI96_A8

https://youtu.be/6QXWP5H8mT0

https://youtu.be/6UK6K2jcwTU

https://youtu.be/po1Bb2_XDDk

https://youtu.be/FVMCA4_UZHU

https://youtu.be/ELFJDOVKb4g

https://youtu.be/A0Jb1tjjtPU

https://youtu.be/9WEe6-wdNtA

https://youtu.be/iwslgKJUaKc

Good Luck!

[LSX]

I spent a little over $5,800.00 which included tons of elbow grease, plus help from my pal Sammy and our buddy Ernie. (RIP)
One gallon of the Red Glasurit paint was $980.00, that was Ernie's body shop cost. ($1,300.00 Retail)
Also, we never buffed it because Ernie got COVID-19 that morphed into Leukemia.
Bodywork advice was all Jeff Kleiner except the driver's door.
If I build another car, I'll beg Jeff to paint it.


https://youtu.be/_3sLamdkIFg

https://youtu.be/meBYeI96_A8

https://youtu.be/6QXWP5H8mT0

https://youtu.be/6UK6K2jcwTU

https://youtu.be/po1Bb2_XDDk

https://youtu.be/FVMCA4_UZHU

https://youtu.be/ELFJDOVKb4g

https://youtu.be/A0Jb1tjjtPU

https://youtu.be/9WEe6-wdNtA

https://youtu.be/iwslgKJUaKc

Good Luck!

Thanks for this post! Will come in handy for sure.

[Tooth]

My uncle is a retired body guy. We spent a little over a year doing body work every Friday. We did allot of reworking what ffr sent me. Found allot of areas that were cracking because the gel coat was super thick without enough glass behind it, changed the shape of the door tops to match the front and back of the cockpit, and did chased allot of other stuff that may not have been necessary. Sent it to a custom paint shop in NH that I've delt with in the past for paint. Cost was over 10K for him to spray it. No idea what I spent on fillers, primers, and disposables. Came out great, but if I didn't want to do the bodywork I'd sent it to Jeff K for sure.

[Joel Hauser]

I'm old enough to remember Earl Scheib. He'd paint any car, any color, for just $29.95! RIP. ;)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_V3RowpnHyo

[Guardm16]

OK, I know I am going to catch some fertilizer on this but here goes.

I used the better part of a year doing all the fitting, cutting, sanding, filling myself. My neighbor even said he thought I worked on the hood alone every day for two months. And I very well may have. My brother was a body guy 40 years ago so there were many phone calls to him as well, but as far as new products, he was no help. A lot was done by trial and error and a lot of youtube videos later, I had it fairly straight and smooth. Or so I thought. I sanded down to 800 grit on all panels. then I used a 4 foot straight edge to look at the flat panels, surprise! not flat at all. More fiberglass and lightweight filler... rinse, wash. repeat.

Now for the fertilizer: Nobody in town would touch a "project" they are too busy with insurance claims to take up the shop space. I even went to the local college to see if any students wanted to do a project. Nobody would, except for one. You guessed it. Maaco. I was reluctant to even walk in.. I watched 100 or more reviews on youtube and was really apprehensive about the process. After talking with Dan the local Maaco shop owner, he started to make me feel a little better. Most of the complaints and reviews I read were about overspray and poor taping, poor adhesion to the old paint etc. There were even some complaints about paint on the seats of some cars. None of these complaints were lodged on my local shop. So I looked at the three levels of paint, decided to go with their top level with sealer, base and clear.
223718

I brought all the panels and the cab without any chassis or glass, so overspray was not an issue. Dan looked at everything and noted a few spots where i had not sanded enough and he said he would use sand and prime those areas (mainly door edges) we price was $3500, out the door. with a full guarantee. The results were very very good. Not SEMA ready, but no fisheyes, dust or bubbles anywhere.

I did ask Dan to re-spray the outside doors because there was a slight zebra stripe look in the metallic on the doors. They did that at no cost. I am very happy with the result and nobody believes that Maaco did the paint.
223716
223717

[Jim Frahm]

OK, I know I am going to catch some fertilizer on this but here goes.

I used the better part of a year doing all the fitting, cutting, sanding, filling myself. My neighbor even said he thought I worked on the hood alone every day for two months. And I very well may have. My brother was a body guy 40 years ago so there were many phone calls to him as well, but as far as new products, he was no help. A lot was done by trial and error and a lot of youtube videos later, I had it fairly straight and smooth. Or so I thought. I sanded down to 800 grit on all panels. then I used a 4 foot straight edge to look at the flat panels, surprise! not flat at all. More fiberglass and lightweight filler... rinse, wash. repeat.

Now for the fertilizer: Nobody in town would touch a "project" they are too busy with insurance claims to take up the shop space. I even went to the local college to see if any students wanted to do a project. Nobody would, except for one. You guessed it. Maaco. I was reluctant to even walk in.. I watched 100 or more reviews on youtube and was really apprehensive about the process. After talking with Dan the local Maaco shop owner, he started to make me feel a little better. Most of the complaints and reviews I read were about overspray and poor taping, poor adhesion to the old paint etc. There were even some complaints about paint on the seats of some cars. None of these complaints were lodged on my local shop. So I looked at the three levels of paint, decided to go with their top level with sealer, base and clear.
223718

I brought all the panels and the cab without any chassis or glass, so overspray was not an issue. Dan looked at everything and noted a few spots where i had not sanded enough and he said he would use sand and prime those areas (mainly door edges) we price was $3500, out the door. with a full guarantee. The results were very very good. Not SEMA ready, but no fisheyes, dust or bubbles anywhere.

I did ask Dan to re-spray the outside doors because there was a slight zebra stripe look in the metallic on the doors. They did that at no cost. I am very happy with the result and nobody believes that Maaco did the paint.
223716
223717

That is definitely not FUBAR! It looks awesome and you saved a ton of money doing the hard part yourself. Congratulations! You have every right to be proud of the results.

Jim

[mrmustang]

Just wondering what others have paid for bodywork and paint. ESPECIALLY cost for having the doors done. Please message me privately. My guy that I have used for all my SEMA builds have gone through the roof!

Cost will depend on what you want, solid color, no metallic, as little as $8,000, add stripes, another $2,000, metallic colors add another $3,500-$5,000. Those who say HOK and 15K in material costs are being severely taken advantage of. I did a higher end vehicle for a SEMA group back in 2009/2010, my cost for the color fading HOK they wanted was less than $4,000, my ticket for the complete strip and color change (drivetrain and interior were already out, as was glass) was less than $14,000 at that time, probably closer to 20/22K today given the change formulas (mostly waterborne these days).....Yet, and especially with the later MK IV and now MK V FFR offerings, the labor costs for prep should be cut by 1/3rd. Again if you are being charged for more hours, or equal hours (body prep wise) of say a MK II or MK III FFR body, you are being taken advantage of. Just my personal observation as another in a long line of now retired bodyshop owners......

Bill S.

PS: When it comes to finding a shop, usually a shop that works on Corvettes is your best bet, as they are used to the type of bodywork involved. Most collision or insurance related shops will not touch a car for an overall paint job, it's just not there business model. They can make more by doing the spot work, as it is less time in the booth, and the booth is not only their profit center, but the biggest bottleneck in the shop with the highest overhead.

PSS: Material costs, or one brand name vs another, you should not get caught up in such nonsense, as there are now somewhere around 14 +/- actual manufacturing plants in the world that make 87% of the base products used in automotive related paints out on the market today. So when you factor in the 60+/- paint suppliers, each with a few 100 SQU's worth of base materials, think about how much base materials they have, and which of those 14 or so plants they came out of and just slapped a label on their can to sell to you.....Of course each supplier has a low, medium, and high end product line, so I do recommend at least a medium paint line, and the highest compatible clear you can afford. That ultimate choice is up to you.....But if a shop starts talking about wet sanding between each coat of color or clear with 3,000-4,000 grit paper, it's time to walk away, as you are being played, or your expectations of winning at Pebble Beach is your end goal.........

[mrmustang]

https://tse4.mm.bing.net/th/id/OIP.4Kty6bD_Dv-NXuZ8-yhocgHaFj?pid=Api&P=0&h=220

Jeff

Indeed............

[edwardb]

Two comments regarding this thread. The OP specifically asked about the 35 truck. Seems that many of the responses haven't been for the truck. Having built both, there's a pretty big difference between the two. Especially for the door fitting if you're having the shop do that. The truck will also vary widely depending on how many options you use, e.g. fenders, running boards, hood, engine covers, etc. My truck build, with all of the above, had 18 (that's right) separate pieces to paint. Pretty big difference compared to a Roadster or even a Coupe. Another variable with the truck, which I found out first hand helping a buddy paint mine, is it has a bunch of old school design features like beads around the fenders, along the hood opening, down the body side, etc. There's a whole bunch of hand work to cut and buff if that's part of your job, which most do.

On a different and related note, I'm very happy that in recent Facebook posts, Dave Smith has made a point of the added effort they're putting into fiberglass quality. From CAD/CAM for tooling (what, no more asymmetry? :rolleyes:), to new technologies and bringing more and more in house where they can better control the quality. The Mk5 is a start with a commitment to better mold maintenance and fewer layups per mold. My Mk5 body is a big improvement over the past bodies I've received. I've long said that even if a higher quality body costs a bit more, it would be more than made up with lower finishing costs. The Mk5 is proving this. With materials and labor continuing to go up, this is truer now more than ever.

My home DIY truck paint job:

223729

[Jeff Kleiner]

...and now MK V FFR offerings, the labor costs for prep should be cut by 1/3rd...

Just for clarification that statement is inaccurate and misleading Bill. I am a Mk5 Beta builder and was deeply involved in the development of the Mk5 body. The body is significantly better than the Mk4, especially recent Mk4s, but you aren't going to reduce labor by 1/3. Although I charge a flat rate for labor and do not bill by the hour I did log hours for 2 average Mk4s before I did my Mk5 so that I could report a baseline. I was able to reduce the number of hours to make the Mk5 body primer ready by about 60%. Not insignificant but that absolutely will not result in a 1/3 reduction in labor for the entire job. Once the body is primer ready everything remains the same; same number of hours to shoot and block the polyester, same number of hours to spray and block the 2k urethane, same number of hours for base, clear, cut & buff. If an owner is being billed by the hour...and the shop is being honest about the hours billed...body and paint for the mk5 will cost less---but it isn't going to be 1/3 less.

But anyway, Cheney's question was about a '35 pickup not a roadster ;)

Jeff

[Guardm16]

Originally posted this from my office yesterday. I incorrectly noted the gap measurement from memory and remeasured this morning. The gap is 3/16

As for the doors on the truck. I did not find them too terrible, just time consuming. I started by centering the complete door in the cab. This obviously showed gaps from 1/16 to about 3/16 even after I centered everything. Then I put painters tape around the perimeter and used an old school compass with a pencil. I used the cab opening and a 3/16 gap on the compass to draw the perimeter of the door onto the tape. This gave me a cut line and an equal gap around the cab opening. 3/16 sounds like a large gap, by todays luxury car standards it is. You can certainly work your doors to get a smaller gap if the materiel is there. For me, I didn't have much to cut off the back side of the door, 3/16 was about all I could get without adding materiel. To me, the more important factor in my opinion is creating an even gap.

Note. I found it was a good idea to keep the door as far forward as you can and maintain the gap. Once you place the door striker; if the door it too far rearward, the striker will cut into the interior bead-line. Not that big a deal, but would look better if the latch opening did not cut into the bead line. Just my 2 cents.

After I set the perimeter, I was able to set the hinges to keep the gap without much fight.

On to the twist. Each door requires a twist to align with the cab properly. There have been several articles here about how to accomplish this. Some are very very time a labor consuming but look amazing (Pie cuts in the inner panel) The one that I found to be the most productive and best bang for the buck. Is to have help.

1) adjust the small slotted hole on the rear inner door metal frame. This is the piece that the door latch mechanism mounts to. on the lower portion of the frame there is a slot, I adjusted this all the way inboard giving the door the maximum amount of twist with this adjustment. This leaves the bottom rear of the door about 1 inch to 1.5 inch out.

2) Loosen the two large carriage bolts that attach the cross channel to the rear inner frame. Then have your helper induce a twist in the door. One hand high on the door and one hand low at the bottom rear corner. There is no real way to measure so a little trial and error may be necessary. Tighten the two carriage bolts.

the result is a much better fit of the lower door. Mine is still not perfect, but, once painted and the "half moon" weather strip is installed. the top of the door touches the weather strip slight ly before the bottom of the door. Once the door is closed and latched the alignment is near perfect.

[mrmustang]

Just for clarification that statement is inaccurate and misleading Bill. I am a Mk5 Beta builder and was deeply involved in the development of the Mk5 body. The body is significantly better than the Mk4, especially recent Mk4s, but you aren't going to reduce labor by 1/3. Although I charge a flat rate for labor and do not bill by the hour I did log hours for 2 average Mk4s before I did my Mk5 so that I could report a baseline. I was able to reduce the number of hours to make the Mk5 body primer ready by about 60%. Not insignificant but that absolutely will not result in a 1/3 reduction in labor for the entire job. Once the body is primer ready everything remains the same; same number of hours to shoot and block the polyester, same number of hours to spray and block the 2k urethane, same number of hours for base, clear, cut & buff. If an owner is being billed by the hour...and the shop is being honest about the hours billed...body and paint for the mk5 will cost less---but it isn't going to be 1/3 less.

But anyway, Cheney's question was about a '35 pickup not a roadster ;)

Jeff

Jeff,

60% is huge, but yes, I readily admit, still not quite 1/3rd for the overall start to finish. As for the subforum, I did not realize it was a truck, which I do not have any personal hands on experience with . Gary is well versed, I'm certain he would have reached out to other east coast paint shops with FFR experience, CT is not far (metamorphosis), NC (Whitby) is a bit further, but I know Jeff has made trips up into the New England area to both pick up and deliver cars in the not so distant past.

Just saying

Bill S.

PS: Wishing you a happy and healthy new year.