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Thu Jan 19, 2023 11:30 am

So, I have worked out all the mechanical,issues on my bug( '73 std) , now it's on to cosmetics.

So I started looking around for a shop to get it painted.
It needs some minor body work, has some dings on the fenders, and one in the roof, where a tree branch fell on it during a storm.
No color change, want it re-sprayed in the same color.

Just want to get a feel for what the "going rate" for something like this is, obviously there will be wide variations by location.

One shop here, who does a lot of resto jobs on beetles and Porsches told me "ballpark" 15-20 k......
For me, that's out of the question, the whole car cost me 4.5k, and I have put about 2.5 k into it so far...

Thu Jan 19, 2023 11:46 am

MTT3107 wrote: Just want to get a feel for what the "going rate" for something like this is, obviously there will be wide variations by location.
What's going to give you the widest variation in price is the quality of job you're expecting and/or are willing to put up with. Nowadays, a $1k or $2k paint job is probably going to be fairly rough and sloppy - expect some significant overspray, runs, orange peel texture, etc. in various areas. A good paint job requires a lot of prep work time, plus application experience & expertise, and none of that comes cheap...

Thu Jan 19, 2023 12:13 pm

"One shop here, who does a lot of resto jobs on beetles and Porsches told me "ballpark" 15-20 k......"

Sounds like they consider all ACVWs to be Porsches.

Thu Jan 19, 2023 12:42 pm

Seriously though any kind of body work and good real automotive paint is going to cost some serious bucks. Best is if you can make good friends with an auto body guy.

You can DIY it but that's not for everyone.

Thu Jan 19, 2023 12:49 pm

Oh, you might check to see if there is a local auto-body trade school near you. They are often looking for project cars for the students to work on and everybody LOVES beetles to work on.

The quality isn't going to be the very highest, but it's usually pretty good. It's great for a driver's car that isn't intended to be a show car. Prices are generally very good, but they may want to keep it for a full class session so it can take a while.

Thu Jan 19, 2023 1:23 pm

VW_Buggsy wrote: Oh, you might check to see if there is a local auto-body trade school near you. They are often looking for project cars for the students to work on and everybody LOVES beetles to work on.

The quality isn't going to be the very highest, but it's usually pretty good. It's great for a driver's car that isn't intended to be a show car. Prices are generally very good, but they may want to keep it for a full class session so it can take a while.

Or, take a class at an auto-body trade school & paint your own car.

Thu Jan 19, 2023 4:48 pm

Something else to think about when looking for shops. The bread and butter comes from insurance jobs so your work isn’t a top priority and if they are willing to take yours on they’re going to be high. If they are low then something’s wrong. It also comes down to what you want and expect.

That $15-20 K is I only paint high end, if you can pay that then okay. You should be able to find somebody who can do your driver for $4-5k and you’d be happy.

Thu Jan 19, 2023 5:18 pm

TDCTDI wrote: VW_Buggsy wrote: Oh, you might check to see if there is a local auto-body trade school near you. They are often looking for project cars for the students to work on and everybody LOVES beetles to work on.

The quality isn't going to be the very highest, but it's usually pretty good. It's great for a driver's car that isn't intended to be a show car. Prices are generally very good, but they may want to keep it for a full class session so it can take a while.

Or, take a class at an auto-body trade school & paint your own car.

That’s what I did I bought all the materials and supplied all the labor. I easily have a couple 100 hrs but I’m slow. In the end I came to the realization I absolutely hate paint and body work.I spent between 1k to 1.5k in materials alone. They had a nice spray booth and I received expert training by an instructor with decades of experience. The only way to get a nice result is total disassembly, all the glass out, fenders off, all trim off.

Or you could go to maaco and get the scuff and shoot job. Actually I’ve heard stories about satisfied customers so who knows. Maybe just go hang out and look at some of the cars they’ve done.

I used single stage Omni paint which is lower line PPG but have heard of late that factory paint code VW is NLA but I can’t verify. Whatever you could just mix your own. There is a dedicated paint and body forum here maybe some real paint/body men to offer advice.

The school I attended stipulated all projects had to be on wheels and removed after class so there was no leaving a car to let students paint. They did however have cars donated by manufacturers to practice on.
General Motors donated fenders which had some imperfections and we learned to shrink and stretch metal using heat.

I think liability of leaving car on the property of state run school had something to do with that too.

Thu Jan 19, 2023 5:46 pm

My 1971 convertible still sports its Maaco paint job from 1978; cost me $140 because was $10 extra to change color from orange to white.

Thu Jan 19, 2023 7:05 pm

Depends on the shape of the paint now and how much time they will have to put in it to get the results you expect.i can tell you right now paint materials have skyrocketed. I was paying 500 a gallon for a gallon of white mixing color and now its up to 780, compound that was 60 a gallon is up to 153 a gallon. paint jobs, especially on older car eat up a lot of materials. it not hard to spend an easy 1000 just for materials and to do the job right taking all the trim off,lights bumpers, etc,etc eats up time. labor rate went up recently about 6 bucks an hour also. for a decent paint job you're looking at about 5-8 Gs. and that's just a basic paint job.Thank our government for all the increases.

Thu Jan 19, 2023 8:26 pm

You can probably save a few bucks if you do at least most of the prep work yourself. Time is money and prepping takes a lot of time.

Thu Jan 19, 2023 10:16 pm

MTT3107 wrote: One shop here, who does a lot of resto jobs on beetles and Porsches told me "ballpark" 15-20 k......
For me, that's out of the question, the whole car cost me 4.5k, and I have put about 2.5 k into it so far...

I got the same sticker shock as you for a repaint. The shop I took mine to (which specializes in ACVWs) said most paint and body shops only do collision repairs now rather than whole car repaints like they did years ago. Since repaints of older cars (like 50+ year old VWs) is typically part of a restoration, the problem is deciding where to stop. If you remove all the chrome/trim, have the body work done and get a quality paint job, the body and paint will look great ... then you start putting on the old lights, trim, etc. and the great paint job makes the old stuff look really old. So ... to make the rest look as good as the new paint you need to start replacing trim, light bezels, lens, etc. etc. etc. ... so where do you stop? It can get pretty costly to get the car to a look that you are happy with. As an alternative to a repaint, would doing a cut and buff on the old paint be an option? I know you said there were some dents. Can they be fixed without damaging the paint? This is the route I took with mine and it turned out great. It isn't perfect (still has a few very small dings) but it looks great for its age (probably how my '69 looked in '71). Repairing a few dents and restoring the paint would be a lot less expensive than a full repaint and would blend well with all the old trim, etc when it is reinstalled. What you end up with is what looks like a very well preserved survivor.

You could also consider going the "patina" route if that appeals to you. Buff it out and clear coat to preserve.

Fri Jan 20, 2023 5:22 am

Go to a car show ask around, I found a guy , he painted my Laser 917 for $500 included the Viper Red too, I don't think he made squat , he said my ride was his rolling advertisement :lol:
I had my Turbo bug painted last spring ,we traded,, I built a 1600cc for the bump shop owners son :wink:

Fri Jan 20, 2023 9:41 am

My 71 sb looked a lot like yours when I got it last year, it had a cheap 30 year old paint job that was faded out and had been parked under a pine tree for a year. I used a buffer and rubbing compound, and wax on it, put on some new running boards and a rear bumper, rear window seal, and a whole lot off cleaning.
It's never going to be a show car, but I do get a lot of comments on it.

Fri Jan 20, 2023 11:07 am

lboos wrote: My 72 sb looked a lot like yours when I got it last year, it had a cheap 30 year old paint job that was faded out and had been parked under a pine tree for a year. I used a buffer and rubbing compound, and wax on it, put on some new running boards and a rear bumper, rear window seal, and a whole lot off cleaning.
It's never going to be a show car, but I do get a lot of comments on it.

Yes! That's what I'm talking about. lboos' turned out great! I did basically the same with mine and this is how it turned out.

Fri Jan 20, 2023 1:03 pm

Tom,
You really did a beautiful job on your bug, I think you get more satisfaction out of hard work [esp. when it comes out looking like yours] then you get from a new paint job $$$$.
I know some cars have a better finish, - bumps, scratch's etc. then others, but hard work will always pay off.

I know my 71 sb will never be worth what getting a prof. paint job will cost,
But, I'm happy with the way it look's with just a whole lot of cleaning. :wink:

Fri Jan 20, 2023 2:23 pm

Here is my 1968 sedan. It was blasted to bare metal, rust repaired and repainted with single stage paint. It cost me in the ballpark of 20K.

Fri Jan 20, 2023 8:00 pm

A long time painter friend, VW restorer and bodywork instructor at a college often said this about painting a car:

You can have it good, you can have it fast, you can have it cheap- pick any two.

Fri Jan 20, 2023 9:46 pm

lboos wrote: Tom,
You really did a beautiful job on your bug, I think you get more satisfaction out of hard work [esp. when it comes out looking like yours] then you get from a new paint job $$$$.
I know some cars have a better finish, - bumps, scratch's etc. then others, but hard work will always pay off.

I know my 71 sb will never be worth what getting a prof. paint job will cost,
But, I'm happy with the way it look's with just a whole lot of cleaning. :wink:

I wish I could take credit for it. I took my bug to the shop that specializes in ACVWs to have them replace the rubber on all the windows (something best done as a 2 person job if you want minimize the chance of damaging the glass and, unfortunately, I don't have a car buddy to help me out). The shop owner and I had discussed the cut and buff option but I thought I'd just have them do the window rubber at the time and figured I'd see what I could do with the paint myself. Something got mixed up in the discussion with the office staff and they ended up doing the cut and buff while the windows were out. I wasn't expecting them to do it but was mighty glad they did when I saw the results. I will take credit for the two color restoration on the wheels and bringing the hubcaps back from the dead! Both were bigger projects than I thought they would be, but I was pretty pleased with the outcome. :)

I completely agree with you about the self satisfaction that comes with doing projects yourself. Except for the headliner (a job best left to the pros when you have a sunroof) I did the interior and door window rubber myself. :D

Sat Jan 21, 2023 8:43 am

These conversations always bewilder me. It's a Beetle,geez, not a 911. Why anyone would be inspired to pay more for paint than a car is worth totally escapes me. Paying $5,000 for paint alone also mystifies me. I 'm aware it's not in everyone's scope of skills or tolerable comfort zones, but it's crazy to see such money thrown about just because it's possible. Here's my story...... the first vehicle I ever painted was my '65 Chevy van in 1997. I had done some bodywork before, but never paint.Being a die-hard diy-er I went to Walmart and bought a CampbellHausfield compressor and paint gun. Then I shot the van which had about six different paints and primers exposed, with bond-seal primer. Then a couple coats of cheap 1 stage White poly based paint(Omni?). Did I know what I was doing?--- hell no! But I watched a few videos and read a few tech articles. Nothing to be afraid of except having to buy sandpaper and more paint again!!!! The results were satisfactory, and shiny.
Since then I have painted a 78 Bus, 71 Bug, and 66 Bus.
Are they perfect?NO Are they satisfactory ,to me? Yes! Most of all I learned a lot and did Not spend $60K on paint for old VW's.
So here's what I would do today as alternative: if not doing it myself would even be willing to buy a compressor and gun to leave with the person who will be painter, if the job price is right. Contact all the car clubs and offer up. Contact the High School shop, contact your brother in law, call the neighbor's hot rod buddy. Somehow you are going to get that car nicely done for a lot less than you thought.
If I wasn't enjoying my unhindered retirement, it would be my great entertainment to charge people $3,000 for a single stage job with $600 in materials. Being the local " one-man Earl Schieb" would be very profitable. One more thing---- do you really WANT a paint job that makes you sweat when you park your car downtown, or drive in a woodsy area? That might be 4 cents worth, but that's my jive.