Budget estimate for painting '65 Coupe

[Gene T.]

I know that this is a loaded question and the cost of living varies in different parts of the U.S. What should I expect to pay to have my '65 coupe painted if I take it to the body shop after the complete body has been plastic media blasted and he preps the body with me supplying his list of materials, on my tab ? The car has never been wrecked. I live in TN. I need to mention that I removed the bumpers, interior and exterior trim. I need to add that he quoted me a rate of $ 50 / hr

[Jimmy G.]

Re: Budget estimate for painting '65 Coupe

This should be interesting. pricing could be 5,000 to 30,000 depends on how close you want to original

[Gene T.]

Re: Budget estimate for painting '65 Coupe

Thanks Jimmy

[Joseph S.]

Re: Budget estimate for painting '65 Coupe

Gene, A good "No Hit" body, depending on the person or shop you will bring it to, will take a minimum of 250 hours to properly, Strip, Bodywork, Prep, Gelcoat, Block sand, Final Prime, QC, Wet sand, Paint & Buff. That's an empty body in and empty body out.

Now that being said. If you plastic media blast it add 40 to 400 hours to get all the little plastic pieces out of every orifice of the body, frame, engine, wiper motor, headlight motors, rotors, door latches, window regulators, trailing arms,,,,etc. It's a great process for removing paint & primer but it will make a mess out of an assembled car. If you're not removing the body from the chassis I would have a long conversation with the blaster about clean up.

[Mike T.]

Re: Budget estimate for painting '65 Coupe

Gene - A few years back, I hit a pair of Javeina on my way into town. Think Pig-Like 40lb animals...times two. Car was still drivable afterwards but there was cracked fiberglas at both front turn signals and a big flex-crack at the rear of the pass side front wheel opening but no glass sections to replace, just repair. The old Mosport Green paint was in bad shape anyway, having been painted in a previous owners 'driveway' in the mid 80's.
I did what you are talking about doing, stripped the car of trim, glass, interior, headlight pods, gutted the doors, etc and presented it to the painter that way and of course, it was my task to put it all back together afterwards. This was a guy who worked at a regular paint shop business but he and his brother had their sideline shop. Took around 7-8 months since all the quick paint jobs kept on getting attention while mine sat but it looked good when they were done. Total cost to me...for their work was $7800 and that included two hoods. I had them do the original flat hood and a second 66 Bigblock Hood, which I kinda prefer...just for looks ;-). And yes, the color is more 'Silver-Silver-Green' than what a stock Mosport 'Silver-Green' should look like but I like that shade and we used the relatively fresh paint from one of the hoods as our sample.
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[Mark F.]

Re: Budget estimate for painting '65 Coupe

Gene, A good "No Hit" body, depending on the person or shop you will bring it to, will take a minimum of 250 hours to properly, Strip, Bodywork, Prep, Gelcoat, Block sand, Final Prime, QC, Wet sand, Paint & Buff. That's an empty body in and empty body out. Now that being said. If you plastic media blast it add 40 to 400 hours to get all the little plastic pieces out of every orifice of the body, frame, engine, wiper motor, headlight motors, rotors, door latches, window regulators, trailing arms,,,,etc. It's a great process for removing paint & primer but it will make a mess out of an assembled car. If you're not removing the body from the chassis I would have a long conversation with the blaster about clean up.

Using Joe's numbers above, here are the ranges I see (if my math is correct)...

Minimum Prep Body In Body Out	Body On Minimum Plastic Bead Cleanup	Body On Maximum Plastic Bead Cleanup	Minimum Body On SUM @ $50/hr.	Maximum Body On SUM @ $50/hr.	Average
$50	$50	$50	$50	$50	$50
250	40	400	290	540	415
$12,500	$2,000	$20,000	$14,500	$32,500	$23,500

[Gene T.]

Re: Budget estimate for painting '65 Coupe

Thanks everyone for their input

[Joe L.]

Re: Budget estimate for painting '65 Coupe

Gene------

This is something that many people do not realize. If one has a Corvette needing a lot of restoration plus paint, the cost of having it done could well exceed the value of the car when completed.

[Gene T.]

Re: Budget estimate for painting '65 Coupe

Joe, I did not tell the whole story about my car. I bought it in '91 at a very reasonable price and have collected lots of items for the restoration thru the years. I have really gone to far and not complete the car myself.