Cost of a good respray paint job?

[uvachief]

Can anyone give me an honest idea of what a good respray paint job would cost on a 944? I've been quoted $6,000 to $7,500 locally here in Richmond which just seems insane to me. By "good", I mean the shop will remove all the bright work and fixtures from the car including the hood and rear hatch. Possibly the rear seat windows as well. Headlights, bumpers, everything. Then sand her down, apply an isolator, primer and then respray her with multiple layers of top coat and clear coat. They would also take care of any door dings and minor body imperfections during this process. What's reasonable if you are painting it the same color?

[uvachief]

In case you were wondering, it isn't for my current 86 but for a project 87 951 I am considering.

[v2rocket_aka944]

if you remove the glass/lights/brightwork you'll save yourself a good amount of time/labor money. none of the things are even hard to remove, there's just lots of parts that take time.

[redranger]

If you want to come up to southern NJ, I have someone who will paint it for half that cost. They did a great job with my 968. I went with single stage paint to save some $$$...not a concours car.

[vdubr928]

5-10k depending on whether the shop is porsche exclusive ir not. Ie average price is about what you have been quoted for a proper job. 10k if its a porsche exclusive shop and you expect a factory finish with pcar paint.
If you need cheaper but want quality find the guy that works at a shop but does them on the side.otherwise I think the prices. Unfortunately. Are becoming average.

[MDH]

Those prices seem high to me also, but seems to be the norm in Northeast Wisconsin.
I'm thinking "patina" is looking good...........

[gmorken]

Originally Posted by uvachief

Can anyone give me an honest idea of what a good respray paint job would cost on a 944? I've been quoted $6,000 to $7,500 locally here in Richmond which just seems insane to me. By "good", I mean the shop will remove all the bright work and fixtures from the car including the hood and rear hatch. Possibly the rear seat windows as well. Headlights, bumpers, everything. Then sand her down, apply an isolator, primer and then respray her with multiple layers of top coat and clear coat. They would also take care of any door dings and minor body imperfections during this process. What's reasonable if you are painting it the same color?

I just had my car repainted last March by an independent paint and body shop and didn't know the owner prior to getting a quote. I removed the bumpers, door handles, mirrors, rear hatch, you know... the typical stuff that everyone here suggests.

But the paint shop handled all the surface prep, filled in any/all dings, painted, clear coat and a even installed a new (non-antenna) windshield for grand total of $2200 (includes a 10% discount for paying in cash). It was a great final product for a daily driver. Door jams paint/labor were not included in the above price but mine were already in great shape and I stayed with the original vehicle color.

The highest quote of the 4 received was $3400 (still based on me removing those body items).

For the body shop to do 100% of the prep and paint, maybe $5000 is about right for my area (North Florida) ???

[vdubr928]

I think the 2-2500 range is pretty normal if you do alot of the prep. Again. Its all about what you want and how Muchl work there is to be done. The problem im seeing lately with body shops is that insurance work is so profitable and most of the shops in my area are too busy to even look at a repaint. And its summertime. Wait till the snow hits. I've seen cars that the shop did all the work for 2500 as well. Most of the time you can tell. Put an add on cl if you want to really save. Find someone who works at a paint shoo and has an empty garage.

[flmont]

I painted a 76' 911S Targa myself (no door jams)
single stage system for under 500.00 in my driveway,..and it turned out great, I had no experience, had a cheap spray gun...I did practice on some old metal first..Tho I had the same pricing from shops 5-7 K thats why I had to learn

[vdubr928]

Originally Posted by flmont

I painted a 76' 911S Targa myself (no door jams)
single stage system for under 500.00 in my driveway,..and it turned out great, I had no experience, had a cheap spray gun...I did practice on some old metal first..Tho I had the same pricing from shops 5-7 K thats why I had to learn

I like the way you think. How did you keep the dust off? I would normally spray indoors but im no better than an amateur.

[flmont]

I watered all of the ground, around the car the night before,..got up at sunrise and started just as it was daylight, on a very calm morning...

[vdubr928]

Yeah.... we get alot of wind here but im planning on learning in my carport. I have a nice gun but I want to enclose it first.

[dpoul34]

I was quoted 5-6000 up here in Massachusetts and that too was a parts off re-paint. I asked another guy to quote me 8 months ago (still waiting on the quote!).

[flash968]

you'll spend every bit of $6k getting it done right - prep is everything - my blue cab cost $8k, but all body panels came off the car, and everything was sanded down to the factory prep, removing all of the original paint, and subsequent repair paint - this is essential to getting a good job

also, allow 6 weeks between any bondo work and paint - if you fail to do that, the bondo will eventually shrink and show through the paint

[jcommin]

That's a good price. Ask if they will paint the jams. 6K-8K wil get you a very good paint job.

[nota]

10 rattlecans from the dollar store = about $23

[flash968]

lol - that's what these flat and satin black cars i keep seeing these days look like - reminds me of when i was a broke kid and couldn't afford a real paint job

[vdubr928]

Originally Posted by nota

10 rattlecans from the dollar store = about $23

9 will actually cover pretty well. 10 is just overkill. Lol

Ask ne how I know

[uvachief]

Originally Posted by vdubr928

I think the 2-2500 range is pretty normal if you do alot of the prep. Again. Its all about what you want and how Muchl work there is to be done. The problem im seeing lately with body shops is that insurance work is so profitable and most of the shops in my area are too busy to even look at a repaint. And its summertime. Wait till the snow hits. I've seen cars that the shop did all the work for 2500 as well. Most of the time you can tell. Put an add on cl if you want to really save. Find someone who works at a paint shoo and has an empty garage.

Awesome suggestion! I trolled craiglist over the weekend and found 3 posts by different guys offering to paint. One's given me references and claims that if I strip her down and do the bondo first, he can do a factory finish paint job with loads of clear coat for $2,000 that he will guarantee for as long as I own the car.

[flash968]

the paint is the easy part - almost anybody can shoot paint

the stripping, sanding, bondo, blocking and priming is everything - if you don't know what you are doing, you will be wasting your money on paint - the patience and the eye needed to work out the body flaws is a real art - i've done some of my own body work and prep before - i won't be doing that again - it is a painstaking arduous process that takes way too much time to get right

with the value of these cars being what it is, you may be better off with 1 of 2 options:

1. get a cheap paint job from maaco and call it a day - you can get decent prep and good paint for a reasonable price - you won't get show quality, but you will get even color, and all for about $2k

2. lift up the radiator cap and drive a new car with good paint under it - swap out the stuff from the first one that you want, and then off the first car to offset the cost - you may find you actually come out ahead of the game with a better car