What should body work and paint cost?

[Slider]

I'm in the process of gathering bids to do the bodywork and paint on my Mark iV. In my area, there don't seem to be people who have done any Factory Fives before, but they have done other Cobra Kits, and the impression is not good. The body guys who have come and looked at the body are impressed and quotes are starting to come back, but I really don't know how to judge if the prices are realistic or not. The numbers are higher than I expected, and I'm concerned they are being influenced by past work on other kits. To get a better feel I'm wondering Is anyone willing to share the number of hours that a professional body shop is taking to do the Mark iV, including ALL body work, gapping body panels, and painting (including painted stripes, no pinstripe). I'd just like to get a feel if the number of estimated hours is realistic as I understand that hourly rates will vary across geographies. (I wouldn't mind hearing what hourly rates are being paid, or what total body and paint packages are coming in at)

Thanks in advance

[efnfast]

I paid around 13k for paint and bodywork for my mk3.....prices are higher in Canada though *shrug*

I wouldn't necessarily go based on price, I'd rather go on quality of work ... this isn't something you want to pay for then have knightmares with down the road.

[mrmustang]

I'm in the process of gathering bids to do the bodywork and paint on my Mark iV. In my area, there don't seem to be people who have done any Factory Fives before, but they have done other Cobra Kits, and the impression is not good. The body guys who have come and looked at the body are impressed and quotes are starting to come back, but I really don't know how to judge if the prices are realistic or not. The numbers are higher than I expected, and I'm concerned they are being influenced by past work on other kits. To get a better feel I'm wondering Is anyone willing to share the number of hours that a professional body shop is taking to do the Mark iV, including ALL body work, gapping body panels, and painting (including painted stripes, no pinstripe). I'd just like to get a feel if the number of estimated hours is realistic as I understand that hourly rates will vary across geographies. (I wouldn't mind hearing what hourly rates are being paid, or what total body and paint packages are coming in at)

Thanks in advance

Depending on your expectations, expect to spend $6,000-$10,000 for all bodywork and paint.


Bill S.

[SCFFR]

Agree with Enfast. Regardless of the quotes you get, ask to see pics of their work and even contact some of their customers and ask about their paint jobs. If they don't have any pics of their work then definitely ask to look at some customers cars. Most shops are proud of their work and will at least keep a book of pics. Going to look at a customer's car will give you an idea of not only how well the paint looked right after it was done but how it will look some time later.

[FFRSpec72]

Here is one example of pricing from Ken Pike http://www.streetrodpainter.com/index.php/pricing

[Rootbeer Roadster]

I paid almost $8,000 including tax and wound up with a nightmare due to poor initial body work fitment and installation. The car looks great now after I jumped through way too many hoops to correct and cover up the issues. Talk to previous customers about their experience. While pictures are nice they don't show the things the owner will know about. I also recommend putting the car completely together and gap everything the way it should be. Others have had good luck with the painter doing these tasks, but most of my issues would have been prevented if I had done this portion of the job myself. You may want to consider shipping your car to one of our vendors in California. They know our cars and do a great job. What color are you planning?

Jeff

[Slider]

Thanks for the great information. This is really helping me from a pricing perspective, and while there is variance in what I've been quoted, it's within a reasonable spread from what I'm seeing in response to my question. However, the people I'm talking to have NOT done a Factory Five. One is a standard body shop in town that I've used for years, and they've always done outstanding work, good people, and stand behind what they do. The other is the local "painter of choice" for hotrods, classic cars, etc, but again, no experience with the FF Roadster. I've got no concern about his ability to paint... he does wonderful work, but the unknown is the ability with #1 Fiberglass, #2, fitting and gaping the panels, #3 am I going to be paying for hours he will spend learning on my car. I'd be thrilled to take the car to someone who has worked on several of these and does quality work, but not anxious about the cost to ship to California (I'm in North Dakota). Can anyone recommend someone in the Minneapolis area? Or Chicago would probably be reasonable as well.. Recommendations would be appreciated. Or is there a listing of bodyshops who work on the FF Roadsters anywhere? It seems that this should be a resource that FF would be willing to provide, but I haven't seen anything from them.

[Rootbeer Roadster]

I can't help with painters in your area, but it sounds like you've had experience with at least one. Fitment of body panels and roll bar holes, etc. on the FF may be different than other Cobras, but it isn't rocket science. A good body man should be able to do it. I had to correct most of mine after paint so I learned it isn't hard to sand away a fiberglass hole. If you're happy with the quality of work your body shop has done in the past you may want to give them a shot. You stated they stand behind what they do. That is more important than most people realize. Every business makes mistakes the true measure is how they handle them.

Jeff

[QSL]

6500 here with the options you described including body fitment and undercoating.

I would say panel fitment will be your biggest task. Thats where a guy that has done a lot of these will shine. We spent 3 hours with batman and he was not happy with the fitment. He kept everything overnight and worked a full saturday just to get it all to fit right and this is someone that has done 500 of these from what i understand. When we were watching him, he had a lot of tricks, everything down to the body mounts over to the door hinges need some type of work. It also depends on your expectations, but nothing looks worse to me then flared out doors and un even gaps.

[edwardb]

Probably not everyone will agree with me on this, but if you have enough mechanical aptitude and patience to build one of these, you should be able to do the basic body mounting, fitting, cut-outs, etc. There are a number of threads on the other forum about steps required to make sure the body is fitting right on the chassis, the proper cutouts for side pipes and roll bar(s), hanging the doors, hood, trunk lid, etc. I could not agree with Jeff more strongly -- make sure all of this is right before paint. And the best way to do that may be by doing it yourself. Plus saves some cost with sweat equity. Plus maybe reduces the risk of someone painting the car who hasn't painted an FFR before, although my first choice would be to find someone who has. Mine was my painter's ninth Roadster, and I was lucky to find him pretty close. My cost was similar to those quoted here.

I delivered my car to the painter with the body on and everything hung. He did the final alignments and filling (minor at that point), removed the body and painted. I helped put it back on when done. Looked like this when I delivered to the painter.

http://i867.photobucket.com/albums/ab234/edwardb123/Factory%20Five%20Mark%203%20Roadster%20Build/Body%20Installation/th_IMG_1420.jpg (http://s867.photobucket.com/albums/ab234/edwardb123/Factory%20Five%20Mark%203%20Roadster%20Build/Body%20Installation/?action=view&current=IMG_1420.jpg)

http://i867.photobucket.com/albums/ab234/edwardb123/Factory%20Five%20Mark%203%20Roadster%20Build/Body%20Installation/th_IMG_1422.jpg (http://s867.photobucket.com/albums/ab234/edwardb123/Factory%20Five%20Mark%203%20Roadster%20Build/Body%20Installation/?action=view&current=IMG_1422.jpg)

http://i867.photobucket.com/albums/ab234/edwardb123/Factory%20Five%20Mark%203%20Roadster%20Build/Body%20Installation/th_IMG_1423.jpg (http://s867.photobucket.com/albums/ab234/edwardb123/Factory%20Five%20Mark%203%20Roadster%20Build/Body%20Installation/?action=view&current=IMG_1423.jpg)

http://i867.photobucket.com/albums/ab234/edwardb123/Factory%20Five%20Mark%203%20Roadster%20Build/Body%20Installation/th_IMG_1424.jpg (http://s867.photobucket.com/albums/ab234/edwardb123/Factory%20Five%20Mark%203%20Roadster%20Build/Body%20Installation/?action=view&current=IMG_1424.jpg)

[Slider]

It may end up at that... though I've also heard from a few guys that a lot of painters won't take a car unless the painter has done the body work themselves as they don't want to be responsible for paint over bodywork done by a rookie... But thank you for the input. I really appreciate it and will start doing some research on this and the other forum to try and get a better feel for what it would take to do this work as well..

[QSL]

Personally, if it were me and i found a guy that i thought really could do a nice job painting, but never fit a body to the chassis before. I would just fit it myself. That way you dont have any dissapointments.

However, i think in batmans case, if you do it yourself, he charges more :)

[FFRSpec72]

It may end up at that... though I've also heard from a few guys that a lot of painters won't take a car unless the painter has done the body work themselves as they don't want to be responsible for paint over bodywork done by a rookie... But thank you for the input. I really appreciate it and will start doing some research on this and the other forum to try and get a better feel for what it would take to do this work as well..

Not the case with Ken Pike, as he will look at the car and tell you what addtional body work that he needs to do. As with his base price he includes 12 hours of bodywork, prime, block and paint

[edwardb]

It may end up at that... though I've also heard from a few guys that a lot of painters won't take a car unless the painter has done the body work themselves as they don't want to be responsible for paint over bodywork done by a rookie...

Not exactly... I was only referring to cutting and fitting, not application of any product, e.g. fillers, primers, etc. It's true many painters will not want to paint over already applied product, or at least won't do so with any warranty. But they shouldn't have any issue with you just prepping and mounting the body, etc. What QSL said is a little true though. When I told my painter I wanted to do the basic body work myself, he said fine but he wouldn't give me the final price quote until I was done. He said he's had multiple DIY examples that cost more to fix than they saved. But he said I did "OK" and saved him a couple days. I'll take it...

[emac]

My body shop did an outstanding job on my car. It was his 16th roadster and his first mkiv. He said it would be his last one. He said the fiberglass was very thin and it had a lot of waves, especially in the doors , that required a ton of work to get right. He showed me all the areas during the process and I saw what he meant. If you want it right, then you will have to pay a premium (8-12k) or do it yourself. Everyone notices the paint......no one sees the thousand perfectly aligned rivets under the body and carpet!

[Lynnhowlyn]

Everyone notices the paint......no one sees the thousand perfectly aligned rivets under the body and carpet!

I'm not to that point yet - but this is undoubtedly true!

Lynn

[flynntuna]

Has anyone done vinyl wrap?

[Magoo]

EdwardB,

I am up in Goodrich. Probably looking at paint in late winter or spring. Mind if I ask who did your paint?

Todd

[edwardb]

EdwardB,

I am up in Goodrich. Probably looking at paint in late winter or spring. Mind if I ask who did your paint?

Todd

Phil Charette at New Reflections, Inc in Howell, MI.

http://www.newreflectionsinc.com/

Give Phil a call. He's great to work with and has a lot of experience with these. Don't judge his work by his shop though. It's a small place and doesn't look like much, but he knows what he's doing. I never show my Mk3 without getting multiple comments about the great paint job. You're welcome to look at it any time.

[rich grsc]

I agree with EdwardB's approach. Mount the body and do all the initial alignments yourself. You built the car, you can do the door, hood, and trunk alignments and gaps. I would also recommend driving in gelcoat for awhile, much easier to work out the bugs if you dont have a new shiny paint job to worry about.

[willy]

I did a lot of reading and asked around my paint cost about $750 and a $100 gun set did my self in the garage if you take your time you can do a very nice job yourself, and must look got got second place out of about 150 car at my first car show

[dallas_]

Depending on your expectations, expect to spend $6,000-$10,000 for all bodywork and paint.
Bill S.

The quotes I got were on the high side of that range and it was more than I was expecting.

Thought about it for quite a while, did a little more research and then ended up doing the bodywork and paint ourselves.

Like others have said, there are some good threads on bodywork and paint on the other forum. It may be something to think about.
I know that our paint is not as good as what you would get from the well known FFR painters, but it still looks pretty darn good and it feels good being able to say we did it ourselves.
(plus we ended up making some modifications that would have driven up the cost even more).

[68GT500MAN]

There was a guy here in Fresno about Seven years ago that hung the body, doors, hod, and trunk; then took the car to MACO for their special priced paint job. Believe it or not, the car looked great and he did not ever wory about any road damage while driving it.
Doug