Paint Job for 84 vette.

[Edge950]

Where is the best place to get a paint job for an '84 Vette. Mine needs a completely new paint job but I want a place who will get it exactly right. IF anyone has done anything like this and knows a rough price estimate and a good company let me know. Thank You.

 

[JonM]

Prices are different across the country...you need to ask people around your area questions like..."Who works on Corvettes", "How many have they done" Ask for references. You also need to decide is you want to put 3000 to 6000 dollars into a 20 year old car.

Where is the best place to get a paint job for an '84 Vette. Mine needs a completely new paint job but I want a place who will get it exactly right. IF anyone has done anything like this and knows a rough price estimate and a good company let me know. Thank You.

 

[zog]

I have an 86 that also need paint in a bad way...I went to a Chevy dealer and they quoted my $9000...went to several reputable body shops and they all said the only way to go is take the car apart, stip it and redo it...$4800 was the minimum bid.


Then I went to Maaco...$1100 for there best paint job...I talked to a guy who works for a dealership and he said that Maaco paints well...their prep is not the best...

So, I am in the process of sanding off all the old paint down to the primer...not fun. One I get it ready, it should be cheaper to get painted regardless of where I go...hoping to spend less than $3000 for a good job...we'll see....

 

[c4cruiser]

Vist a number of auto body shops in your area. Ask the claims reps of the major insurance companies what they recommend for their customers.

When you get to a shop, you need to tell them exactly what kind of job your are looking for. Show paint, factory-equal or just a quicky paint job. You will find an extreme variation in costs as the amount of labor that goes into prep work determines not only the price but the quality of the job. Ask to see finished examples or see if a shop will let you contact other customers. Important things to look for are runs, lighter color areas, dust particles under the paint or "orange peel" in the paint surface. These things are examples of going too fast, bad prep work or even equipment not set up properly.

Re-painting the car in the same color is cheaper and easier because the shop won't have to paint door jambs and areas around the weatherstrip or hood opening. If you make a big change in color (say black to white) then more work is required along with primer coats.

Anything you can do yourself to prep the car means less labor cost at a shop. Removing trim is one step you can do to save money. Ask a shop about doing some of the sanding yourself. If you haven't done anything like that before, ask the shop for a few lessons. They might give you some ideas and sanding is 99.9% labor so you should save some there. Sanding is a lot of work and generates a mess of dust when dry sanding or a wet mess when wet sanding.

Most all paint today is a two-stage paint (color base and clear coat) and environmental laws pretty much require safeguards for keeping paint out of the air. New paint gun technology and the laws drive up the cost of painting a car.

I would stay away from places like MAACO as they use cheap paints, do little in the way of prep work and masking is what you would expect from a blind 10 year old.

In my area, a good quality paint job on a Vette will run around $4K to $7K depending on the prep work you want done and a show-quality job can go to $12-20K and may take 3-4 months to do.

 

[unleadedbrew]

Most normal P&B shops will quote 1200-1800 for the same color, but most don't know what they're up against. Here in Fort Worth, I checked with Corvettes of North Texas, a Corvette paint and body/restoration shop, and staying with the black I now have, I was quoted around 2,000, as there was no body work to be done. This is without being dis-assembled, of course. If it's a 'good weather', nearly daily driver like mine, I see no reason for that. They said that I could always get it done cheaper, but that I would shortly be bringing it to them for a re-do, and I don't doubt that. They even gave me the grand tour so I could see their work. A lot of C2s and C3s intrusted to them. Like everyone has said, do your homework and you'll run across a good deal. Good luck..........

P.S That's with them doing the prep work.

Gordon

 

[paintdaddy]

If you want a good job go to a place that specializes in older cars or corvettes.The typical body shop is only interested in insurance work and tries to avoid doing overall paint jobs.If possible try to find someone that will work on a actual time basis.Most shops will overestimate to make sure they dont lose money .Some will underestimate and towards the end of the project start cutting corners,Ive seen it a million times.Those people are my best customers,theyve seen the OTHER side.C4s are fairly straight forward and you should pay about 5k for an overall.Be sure to replace your emblems and weatherstrip while your at it.

 

[kmcewan]

I've worked with several people who have worked with Maaco in the past they would agree with earlier posts here. They use the same paints as everyone else, but their prep work is lacking.

I'm in the same boat here. Two owners ago painted my 84 a God awful purple over a medium metalic blue and a bad paint job to boot. No door jams, bubles, fish eyes and cracks. Now I have to get in repainted the same color but will have to do most of the prep work to save money.

Ken

 

[Rogue]

I had my 91 re-painted with original factory color. It had slight damage (crack) on left front fender, and lots of nicsk and scratches on the front bumper. The damage were repaired, scratches removed, and the whole car painted (except the door jams). Total cost was $3,500. I had to get 6 different quotes from 6 different shops. Everywhere else where going to charge me $4k-5k to "do it right". Some shops flat out said no, they don't work on 'Vettes. I think I got a great deal since the paint job has held up very well. No bubbles, orange peel, fisheyes, etc. It looks better than the factory. But like the others have said, you gotta shop around....a lot. And if at all possible, look for letters or recomendations, or better yet, a Corvette that the shop has done to see what they are capable of.

 

[paintdaddy]

They use the same paints as everyone else, but their prep work is lacking.

Thats kinda true.They use the same brand of paint but each company carries different systems or grades of paint.Maaco uses the cheapest which is the lowest grade of paint offered.I beleive most Maacos use Nason which is a subsidiary of Dupont .Nason isnt horrible paint but the biggest difference is it doesnt have a high content of UV protectants.And then yes of course Maaco is horrible at prep work.They sand everything with a da sander and wherever that da sander doest touch ,oh well it doesnt get sanded.

 

[johnny80]

I just had my 1988 re-painted black by a auto shop. It cost me 2000.00 but it was well worth it. I know that I could of gone to a specialty corvette shop and paid alot more but, for the value of the car, the amount I could afford, I got a great looking paint job (plus a warranty on it). The car really looks great. They did a wonderful job! It is my weekend driver. I'd rather spend a bit on my OE rims that I just got getting those looking good plus a nice set of tires and other things for her so she looks good all around. She is not ever gonna be a competitor, just my own Vette. My dream car I always wanted since I was a child.. When I picked it up from the shop, I could see my reflection perfectly. All the dings and swirls were gone. Nothing beats a shiny black vette. Also, since its a 4+3, I need to make sure that I have enough money banked in case the trannie poops the bed or such...hehehehe.

 

[Corvette-Pilot]

Show/cruise night season is coming soon.

Go to a few of them and look for some nice paint jobs and talk to the owner as to where they went. You should get lots of leads this way and see the actual work.

I agree with some statement others have made:
I wanted to get a fiberglass roof panel painted to match my car. I took it into a local shop that I know and the first thing he said was they don't do "paint jobs". Meaning they don't just repaint cars but do repairs. He did do my top but I know he wont be doing the whole car.

My wife's family has used a small shop for years for thier cars. She had an old Chevy truck done over in black and it was great job. I had asked them the cost to repaint a Vette when I was looking to buy one. He told me it would start at 3-4000 if I did the prep work !