[ChadInman]

I'm in the process of shopping around for paint job for my 68 XR-7 and I've heard everything from $200 to over $10,000. I don't want the whole interior stripped out and painted everywhere or anything like that, just the outside [but I do want the emblems off, bumpers, lights, etc...] I need slight body work, I just have a little dent in the hood ,real small, and a little dent on the fender. And I want the car to be sanded down first, so there is no jagged paint when it's done. Knowing this much, what do you think is a fare price to pay for the job? I'm just trying to get it to look good with out spending 10 g's. - Chad

 

[Logan]

I paid $3700 total to have my 69 XR7 taken down to bare metal, straightened out, repair of my swiss cheese roof done and paint applied. I reassembled it myself after it was done.

Of course, it also took 'em 9 months to do it in their down time...

 

[vfret]

I bet if you strip the car yourself you will save a bundle. Here is what I would do. Ask yourself "how much am I willing to shell out. be reasonable and take that number with you to the body shop. Remember, there is only so much that your going to pay no matter what. So, how much are you willing to pony up?

 

[ChadInman]

I think I found a pretty good deal. I found a place that will take off everything, sand it all down, do all the body work, and a good job on the paint, then put everything back on - all for $5,000 and in one months time. It seems reasonable. Some places I went to stopped doing complete jobs others started at too high of a price. Two places said that before any body work would be done it would cost $10,000. That was too much. Another place said they would start at $7,500 that was a little better. The place I'm thinking of taking will do everything for $5,000 - and i've seen their work - and it looks good. Some places said they wouldn't let me drop in to take pictures as the car went through the process - This place does. So as you can tell I'm now pretty set on this place to do it for $5,000. I'm still fighting over what color to paint it. It came originally with gold. I don't want gold - it's really ugly. The interior is black, so I'm thinking about black or black with pearl in it - or a dark blue color - So any suggestions and samples of the color would be greatly appreciated!!! - Chad

 

[Modified7]

I guess I'm glad I don't have my 68 anymore that was gold with a black top.......since it is "really ugly"!! I am just kidding you, but there are probably quite a few that read this board that have one so think about that,okay? I've seen alot of sharp gold ones.......

 

[Logan]

$5000 sounds reasonable. Just make sure you get that in writing that they are not allowed to go over that amount without written authorization... I can't stress enough that getting everything in writing is a really good idea.

 

[ChadInman]

My car is getting painted now. I got everything in writing. It's all happening for $5000 for sure. I have the color down as pearl black, but I can change it any time in the next week or so. I hate to settle on just one color - there are so many great choices. Here is a picture of a gold cougar that was at the cougar show in milpitas. The man that owns it is a hell of a guy, I've heard that if you need a part he'd just give you it off his own car! It loooks allright, however I prefer black or blue. - Chad

 

[Cougrrcj]

Wow!!!

Wow! Those prices are really up there. If I can ever get the pics of Alpha Cat posted, *Logan, I still can't seem to get the file size down to under 100,000 bytes, they're almost 500,000 bytes for a 4x5" print. How do I get the file size down?* you'll see a paint job that cost me just $50. This was back in 84, and that's all my buddy wanted. He says "...that's what I make for a day at the (Ford) dealership, so that's what I charge you." Now mind you, I did all the prep work. I took the car apart, I did all the bodywork, I did all the block sanding (three days worth!!!) and I put the thing back together afterwards. The real kicker was I did it all in his driveway!!! The paint was done in his garage. One week before the PFCA Ford Expo in Columbus, OH! Yes, the car made its maiden voyage down there.

My wife wants her 70 Mach repainted to take care of a couple of cosmetic flaws, (21k original miles) but if that's what a professional paint job costs these days, I'll try to con my buddy in to doing this one too!

 

[modifiedmark]

Cougarcj, I'm with you no way could I go that kind of money for a paint job. If I wanted a really good job I guess I would have to do all the grunt work myself, get it as close as I could and if I couldnt get it good enough then I would let the profesinal finish it up. Most dont want to do a allover job any more anyway. The thing that floors me now is the price of materials. I'm in the middle of repainting my truck right now and I bet I have $400 in just primer and paint and its getting just a single stage paint job, no base coat, clear coat.mm

 

[Cougrrcj]

MM,

Yeah, I hear you re: paint prices. I had an 85 Turbo Coupe, and it was Medium Canyon Red Poly Clear Coat Metallic. That paint came by the pint, and was not available in anything but BC/CC, and had to be bought pre-mixed. (I guess there was a patent or something on the color formula.) Each pint cost almost $45. I suppose the good thing was that four pints would do the whole car in BaseCoat/ClearCoat. I used to buy whole gallons of finish paint, (acrylic enamel) for $35. I think I still have a gallon of Pewter Metallic for 'Beta' that I had mixed up over 15 years ago. If I can ever find the body parts I need to fix the damn thing I probably won't be able to get the rest of the paint system (reducer, flex agent, hardener...). I think that paint cost me $40. My first Cat was code 2B Bright Red, and that paint (acrylic enamel) cost in the neighborhood of $50/gal.

Nowadays, I use the two-part epoxy primer, and need to touch up a few scratches on the BC/CC cars. I hate to think of the $$$ involved! At least I don't live in CA-ca land (California) where you are not allowed to respray with solvent-based paints. Damn tree-huggers!

 

[Logan]

I usually use paint shop pro to convert images to "jpeg" format and that usually does it. If they're 500k, you probably scanned them in right? If so, your scanner software should have an option to save the photos as jpegs..

If you have problems, you can email them to me and I'll shrink em...

 

[modifiedmark]

Yeah, lower the resolution when you scan them. mm

 

[gbstang]

Picture files size..

If you want to reduce the file size of your picture, look to see what file type you are saving it as..Some digital cameras like to save the photo as a .Bmp this is ok,,open up the phot in MSPaint then select the file "Save As" then select where you want it to go, at the bottom you will see the pictures name and under it the file type, select the little arrow on the right side of the type, look for the .Jpg this will reduce the photo size considerbly.. If it is already a .Jpg format, then you will need to reduce the image quality in your camera, say from 1400x1050 down to 800x600 this will also reduce the size.. The quality also deminishes the lower you go, but you shouldn't see a real difference unless it is a closeup detail shot of something small...

Hope this Helps..
If anyone has a computer question, or electrical,,just ask,,
20+ years in Electronic from control systems to simulators. (instructor advanced electronics)
Microsoft Certified, MCSE, MCP, A+ Net+ etc. etc....
GNB

 

[love my 70]

paint it yourself, its cheaper and you can do it as good as you want, thats what im doing. i took a class at the local community college$130.00 they have all the equipment i need for the body work and parts removal, i get all the tech info i need, and sand paper paint filters etc are supplied by the school, they have a nice booth plenty of good spray guns all the tools you could ever dream of i give them my id and i get to borrow as many tools as i need. it's great! if your willing to put in some work you can save yourself a ton of money, but you can't blame a paint shop for the mistakes because it's all you. just a suggestion.

 

[19COBRA93]

There are a couple places around here who have done excellent work for me and my buddies. I haven't had a complete car painted but three of my best friends have. They were in each entire job for $2000. One was a '95 Saleen, another a '90 saleen, and the other is a '65 AC Cobra (Factory Five Racing) done up with Performance red base with orange metal flake then black racing stripes.

The saleen needed a lot of small dent repair and the jams were sprayed as well. The quality is excellent IMO. Give me a few minutes and I'll find examples...Both these cars took home awards from this show...

Here is the yellow Saleen. $2000 total paid for paint work. Took less than a week. By the way, these were taken at the Rocky Mountain Mustang Roundup in Steamboat Springs, Colorado in June. Awesome show in an awesome historic ski town. Visit www.rmmr.org for more pictures

Okay, here is the cobra... It was raining so you can't see quality really, but it's an example of what $2,000 will get you around here.

 

[The Fab Ford]

Well, were im from $3500.00 was an average price to remove some dents, sand to bare metal and paint into the jams (color change) ten years ago. It's hard to find anyone under 4500 to 5000 now around here. One thing to consider when comparing prices of shooting a 10 year old car to shooting a 35 year old car is the 10 year old one just needs a scuff job and a new coat of color whereas the 35 year old one is a complete wild card as to how many problem areas your going to find. At $4200.00 and $60.00 an hour ($5000. minus $800. for materials) youd have to have it done in 70 hours. Thats a weeks work if you can focus soley on that car. The biggest thing to remember though is he's from San Jose CA (silicon valley) where the median price on a two bedroom 1200 square foot house on a 1/4 acre lot in town is $600,000.00. Not the $80,000.00 you pay for 5 acres and a 4 bedroom house in other states. You can thank the dot com boom that brought us things like the internet were chatiin on for that. I live in Santa Cruz, about an hour drive from him and in 1999 my landlord decided to sell the house i was renting and i thought, hmmmm maybe I'll see if I could qualify since my land lord was giving me first right of refusal to purchase it. I was used to a house such as this going for $190,000.00, so I went to the real estate agent and after talking me along through what a wonderful neighbor hood it is, how close it is to schools, how nicely fenced in the back yard is (ya ya i know i live there, get to the point sir) he let me know that it is going for the great price of $380,000.00. That was my introduction to the CA dot com era housing bubble. Next thing I knew the house was worth $500,000.00. I give up, I could never make enough money painting cars to ever buy a house in the town where i was born and raised because dot com millionaires are coming over the hill and bidding the prices of the houses up not down because its crucial for them to live in Utopia. It was Utopia when my grandparents were planting it with fruit orchards and steam engines huffed and hissed through at 70 mph pulling beautiful streamined passenger trains. That is one reason why it costs $5000.00 dollars to paint a car in CA.
Tom

 

[trap72xr7]

Thanks guys, You answered a bunch of questions I had. personally i'm a good mechanic and a lousy bodyman,(don't have the patience). More than anything i'm thinking geographic location has more to do with the price than most realize. For instance since I live in NY and the laws are strict on buying,painting, and getting rid of the leftovers,(yup here ya gotta pay for that)! If your lucky enough to be in a spot that has a bunch of shops competing for business the price will go down some, So. Cal.? Just had 3 shops in the area price my 72 vert. one was 6000.00 W/ 2yr. wait, the next 5700.00 but I'd heard good and bad about the shop, #3 6300.00 and all he does is old cars, I should mention all prices were for a complete strip I drop off the car you take care of it, all the mouldings, bumpers, etc. down to bare metal and paint & replace everything as it was. The labor rates here are high as are insurance costs as well as some of the highest taxes in the nation. Bottom line is I guess 6300.00 from a shop that I know does good work is'nt too bad from what i've read, (upstate Ny just E. of Rochester). The car is clean no rust and no major dents in case you were wondering.
Thanks for starting the post,& I'll deliver before and after pics. when it's done. Trapper.:smoke:

 

[Modified7]

Now that I live here in Michigan, I've checked into getting the one cougar I brought with me taken down to bare metal.....very little repair needed as it's a 62,000 mile car.......

Painted any color with 4 coats basecoat/clearcoat the estimate was 3,600.00 which sounds pretty fair for this area. The business is owned by a guy who has shelby mustangs and a boss 429 and his work looks real good........... Keith

 

[love my 70]

if you dont wanna fork over the big bucks, and your too lazy, or too buzy too paint it yourself. you gotta ask around, everybody knows a "guy", who will at a great deal, paint it on his own time, you might want to consider asking someone at a shop if he wants to make some money on the side, he will make considerably more if he paints it on his time instead of you paying the shop and them keeping most of the money, he will get it all. you just have to approach them at the right time. don't let the boss overhear, etc. i would try that before you shell out the big bucks. it worked for me last time. just a thought..

 

[Nnickty]

I'll probably get a lot of flack here...

...but it's not always a good thing to go to bare metal. How many repaints has your Cougar been subjected to? If it's original or maybe 1 repaint, IMHO, you shouldn't go down to bare metal. 32 year old primer is about as good as it gets. If it's just caked on like my '70 was, (I counted 6 different colors,) than it's a better candidate. If that's the way you're gonna go and have any idea to do it yourself let me throw out a couple of ideas...

Although I haven't used it myself, I've noticed a water-soluable, non-toxic stripper being advertised. I believe you can get it from Eastwood. If you use it or regular stripper, I would only use it on large flat areas. Even though it neutralizes with water, if it gets into any cracks or seems it will come back to haunt you. When I stripped my convert, stem to stern, I used a combination of stripper for flat surfaces and a Scotch stripping wheel, (Leaves about a 100 grit finish...) on both the tight spots and to go back and finish the areas I used stripper on.

I'm sure that it's been suggested that you might want to do the work yourself. Not everyone has a level of confidence or the time to do so. Personally I did go the route of taking a class and completed much of the bodywork myself before time did become an issue. THEN, after all that work, I wasn't about to just "give-it-a-shot" and try laying the paint myself. I might later with another car but I spent a LOT of hours on this one and wanted a decent paint job that I didn't have time to go back and correct if it didn't end up as good as the substrate that I worked so hard to get done. With that I'll bring up another idea...

If money is an issue and you're looking for a nice driver, try outsourcing a local "just bodywork" guy. We had one here in our area and I've heard of craftsmen like him in other areas as well. They generally work out of their home or a small garage so they have lower overhead costs. THEN go to CARCOA or Maaco...I know, I know...Many shudder at the thought. But remember, it's the prep thats the key. Take that part of the equation out of their hands. It's been said that anyone can paint. That's not always true, but if you find a painter at the quicky places that's been doing it for awhile, (AND before being recruited by a more reputable shop!) you're probably going to get a decent job. You have to remember...These places survive on volume. These painters do as many cars in a week as a painter in a better shop does in a month. Next, insist on a more quality paint. The cheaper in-house paint or Nason brand that these guys use at Maaco etc. doesn't hold up well...especially reds. Ask for OR buy Sherman-Williams in the least...or go with PPG better yet. (If cost is an issue I doubt that Sikkens or House Of color is a consideration...) Also, insist...and pay for...2-3 coats of basecoat and at least 3 if not 4 coats of clear. THEN shop around for a shop that will colorsand and buff. I've found very good shops that will do a car for 3-400 dollars. It makes a $1000 paint job look like a $2500 one IF the bodywork was done well. One last thing...

Even an $800 white paint job will usually look better than a $1600 black one. So much more prep must be taken to make a dark color look good. Even if you can find it in the budget to do so, remember you have to live with it. Keeping a dark color clean, especially black, isn't as hard to do as some will have you believe. But keeping it up is another story. Every scratch, ding and dent is greatly magnified over your white, yellows, light blues & greens, etc. Not so bad if you never drive it or just on weekends. But if it's driven with any regularity......
AND speaking of living with it...Dark is hot. Not in a "cool" way...But in a "can't breathe" and "takes the skin off the back of your thighs" kinda' hot. And you would be surprised at how many people don't think of that. Not quite so bad if you have a light colored interior and/or AC. But black-on-black-on-black here in Southern California and in many parts of the country would be downright sadistic in July through September as a daily or frequent driver.

I realize that some of what I have said doesn't aply to your queery. But I thought it might be useful to others. When I was working at a Ford resto shop we ran the gammet of budgets. From hard working kids that wanted to be proud of their cars on a beer budget to customers that thought nothing of a 50 to 100k dollar (or better) coat of paint. (The F100 that won "Best of Show" at the Oakland Roadster show a couple years ago was done right around the corner from us...Cost? $150,000 just for the paint and prep.)
Most people can't afford a $5000 paint job. A lot can't budget over a grand. Many of the suggestions I have made are for those somewhere in between. I got tired of seeing the faces of kids working 2 jobs after school to afford one of these cars only to see their hard earned money go to waste on an ill-thoughtout paint job. It IS possible to get decent results on a budget as long as you know you can't expect Memphis BBQ quality ribs at the "Golden Arches". Jus' my 2 centavos......