Body prep and repaint

[David H.]

Can anyone give me a good ballpark estimate on the number of hours that might be involved in the body prep work and paint of my brother's '62.
Those of you who know my story, the major repairs to the fiberglass have been done and it is on it's way to the body shop guy.
His work will include what I call the finish work. (The rough work is done). Smoothing out the lines and prep work before the paint goes on. Then the painting itself. He is a good body guy, very meticulas and actually has a concience about his work. Maybe a bit too much so. I don't expect or want a concourse level car. I want to drive it without being worried about putting a ding in it. But, I want it to look nice and be straight with no speed bumps in it.
Thanks for any input.

[Rich G.]

Re: Body prep and repaint

I'm no expert, but from what I have observed at a local aircraft paint shop, the bulk of the labor goes into the prep (no speed bumps ) and not the actual paint. There maybe no easy answer to your question. This kind of work has to be carefully quoted while looking at the object to be painted.

Rich

[Anthony P.]

Re: Body prep and repaint

I just finished my 62 and I am afraid to count the actual hours I have put into this car, but it was around 4 weeks, averaging between 30-50 man hours/week.

Actual painting was 2 days work with a day break in between: Day 1, did the inside of the panels (lid, trunk), jams, door edges, globe box area. Day 2: put doors back on car, painted body, and outside of lid/trunk, and hardtop.

Car was already dissembled, so this included complete stripping to bare fiberglass, stress crack repairs, and quite a bit of time boarding the car, and finally paint. Add another 18 hrs to color sanding and buffing.

Hope this helps

Tony

[Richard M.]

Re: Body prep and repaint

I'll have to add up the hours on the '59, almost ready for Duratec surfacing primer, but it's going to be a lot! I would guess I have 150-200 hours into the prep, but much was to fix old improper repairs.

Setbacks like this below can be a chore and very time consuming. After I put on the new nose, I then spent an enormous amount of time fixing inferior repairs from decades ago. Sheet metal and screws in many places.

I would guess for me, maybe 2 man weeks to finish up and block sand. Then there's those little "gotchas" that always come up.

Rich

[Jack P.]

Re: Body prep and repaint

Hi Dave,

You know my car , 200 hrs of prep. That is just what it takes. x the $ per hour rate. I think you are using Scott.

Jack

[David H.]

Re: Body prep and repaint

Thanks for the replies on this.
Jack, I am using Scott.
His estimate is 200 hours for a good job, 250-275 for a fantastic job.
It's up to me what I want he says.
If you know Scott tho, we get a fantastic job no matter what. He just can't stand to not have it perfect. I'll end up with more than I paid for I expect.
Just wasn't sure about how many hours it takes to get these glass bodies correct. It seemed like a lot of hours but now I don't guess it is. I have about 80 hours into fixing the major damage on the car and it is about ready to be flipped back right side up and then it goes to Scott this weekend.

[Bruce B.]

Re: Body prep and repaint

A good body and paint man will probably question the quality of the repairs already done to the car by the previous person who worked on it whether it was the owner or another body man.
Sometimes they will want to get into the repair(s) see how it was done.
Remember the reputation of the painter is in the finished product.

[Jack P.]

Re: Body prep and repaint

Thanks for the replies on this.
Jack, I am using Scott.
His estimate is 200 hours for a good job, 250-275 for a fantastic job.
It's up to me what I want he says.
If you know Scott tho, we get a fantastic job no matter what. He just can't stand to not have it perfect. I'll end up with more than I paid for I expect.
Just wasn't sure about how many hours it takes to get these glass bodies correct. It seemed like a lot of hours but now I don't guess it is. I have about 80 hours into fixing the major damage on the car and it is about ready to be flipped back right side up and then it goes to Scott this weekend.

Here are some pictures of my car at Scott's. His new paint booth.

I am sure you will be happy

Jack

[David H.]

Re: Body prep and repaint

Scott has a very nice set up with his new booth. I have known him for some time but only recently discovered his hidden talents. He is very fussy about quality, as we can see with your car. It looks great.

Our plan is to put the body back on the chassis temporarily this week to align the panels, then mark the alignment and remove the body for body work and paint.

Thanks for sharing Jack.