Hi all... I am sure that quite a few of you have had your 1800's painted... wondering what you experienced $ wise, what work was done for the $, any problems encountered etc. In the case of my car.. body is in very good shape.. VERY little rust... no dents to speak of.. Do want to change color from original white to a new pearl metallic... Not concerned about door interiors.. under hood etc... just outside visible.. Even so body shops have told me that the price goes up.. should it?
Thanks for any help
George

Got the 66 1800S painted two years ago inside and out. Car was from California, so NO RUST, but there were a few door dings here and there. I took out all interior (except dash) myself, as well as most external chrome, bumpers, and lights. The paint was top quality with two coats of primer, two coats of paint, and three coats of clear coat. I allowed the shop time to work on mine when things were slow (didn't rush the guy). Took eight months to get it back but, the cost was only $1,300 including installation of new window seals after the paint dryed.

Time is money, and if you are willing to allow the shop to work on yours when things are slow, the price normally comes down.

Good Luck

Oliver

66 1800S

I don't know about prices but I would at least consider doing the door jams and under hood, A freind fixes wrecks and sells them and I've seen quit a few painted with out the door jams done, unless it's a good contrasting color it always looks unfinished and sometimes shows around the edges of the door.
just my opinon
Bret
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rust free in west Texas

Metallics cost more for both material and preparation. Adding pearl adds to that, both in materials and prep.

A plain ol' solid color one stage paint job will require at least a sanding, priming, and paint.

The next step up is a 2 stage urethane paint job, that requires all of the above as well as several coats of clear. The paint is dull, then the clearcoat adds the gloss.

Metallic paint is more picky; and you can add the pearl either to the paint, or to the clearcoat, or both. The surface to be painted must be prepared to a notably higher standard than with a solid color. Lots more work. Read Phil's article on vclassics about the Amazon restoration - the part about 'the car is show ready if you want a solid color but nowhere near good enough if you want metallic pearl magic paint' stands out in my mind.

Price should certainly be accordingly higher. Last paintjob I got was a 2 stage urethane; glass out, but no paint in the engine room, trunk or cabin. I got an excellent deal at just a tad over $4K.

Best,

Cameron
Rose City

Well, first...yes, to mask things right, changing the color should cost a bit mroe, but if you stick with a white based pearl, it should come out fine...

The only car I had painted is my Jag, and it had zero trim, zero rubber, and I had done most of the body work and primer. I paid ~$1200 and got what I thought was an excellent value. The shop did about 4 hours body work. They did do the door jams, but...as I said, no rubber moulding or even interior, so that didn't add much.

That price also included sandblasting and painting 4 wheels. There are a couple runs in the paint, but overall it was an excellent job, and high quality paint was used.

If you just drop a good clean rust free car off, and have the shop fix any blemishes... I would count on about $2k. Pulling all the trim and light fixtures etc... will save a good amount of $, and that is fun stuff, because you get the rewarding project of putting all that stuff back on and watching the car transform from a freshly painted shiny body shell to a beautiful new car as you get as you put each trim piece back on...

-Matt

God I wish I lived where you guys do.

My 242 was a 1800 dollar paintjob, not bad had loads of body work. Also had the jambs done, and its an expensive color to shoot.
My 68 firebird was upwards of 3k, and this car was I'd say... 70% straight.
My 69 was an 5k paintjob, changed colors (so did jambs and such) and was about as wavy as the pacific ocean.

All used PPG paints, 3 different shops though (lol.. body shops are all wierd people). The more prep you can do the better (ie removing trim and such). Obviously mettallics are going to cost more, but not terribly so.

Give you some ideas of the quality of these jobs take a look at www.pbase.com/dkauer744

Doug
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Sacramento VCOA President, (sacvolvo@hotmail.com) Admin @ clubvolvo.com 2001 S60 2.4t w/17' Amalthea & Premium package 82 242t 5spd (Offical Project Car!) w/ With more parts than I can list, 85 244ti~ Parts car