| Author |
Message |
nacradriver
Samba Member
Joined: January 15, 2009
Posts: 760
Location: Ventura, CA
|
 Posted: Fri Nov 13, 2009 5:58 pm Post subject: Painting - any idea on cost |
 |
|
| Anyone have an idea on what a GOOD paint job would cost for a Westy? |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
jetta jimmy
Samba Member
Joined: April 18, 2009
Posts: 217
Location: West Chester PA
|
| Posted: Fri Nov 13, 2009 7:03 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Do you have a community college nearby? The reason I ask is that I am taking an autobody class at the community college near me. I paid a few hundred for the class and am working on rust issues. There are guys that repeatedly take the class to work on their cars. YOu could paint a car in a semester. Just a thought...
_________________
Old City Oil Drippers
64 Split
73 Super
74 Baja
82 Westy
00 Jetta
95 F150
05 Element |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
dobryan
Samba Member
Joined: March 24, 2006
Posts: 16503
Location: Brookeville, MD
|
| Posted: Fri Nov 13, 2009 7:11 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Most of the cost is prep work. If you are willing to do most/all of the prep you can save a lot of money.
The cost of materials for a good quality paint job runs $300 - $500 or so (up to $1000). The rest is many hours of prep and a few (2-4) hours of actual painting.
I've heard of $5000 paint jobs as not unusual. But you could get it done for a few hundred at MAACO. You usually get what you pay for. One of the benefits of doing the prep yourself is that you know it was done right.
I do my own prep and painting and typically spend $800.
YMMV (a lot).
_________________
Dave O
'87 Westy w/ 2002 Subaru EJ25 and Peloquin TBD
"To travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive." Robert Louis Stevenson
MD>Canada>AK>WA>OR>CA>AZ>UT>WY>SD
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=620646
Building a bus for travel in Europe (euroBus)
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=695371
The Western Syncro build
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=746794 |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
nacradriver
Samba Member
Joined: January 15, 2009
Posts: 760
Location: Ventura, CA
|
| Posted: Fri Nov 13, 2009 7:40 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| jetta jimmy wrote: |
| Do you have a community college nearby? The reason I ask is that I am taking an autobody class at the community college near me. I paid a few hundred for the class and am working on rust issues. There are guys that repeatedly take the class to work on their cars. YOu could paint a car in a semester. Just a thought... |
Yes I do AAMOF and they teach Automotive Repair, but not painting. I was thinking of doing the course for the certificate.
BTW - grew up in Devon, use to work at West Chester Honda when is sold Motorcycles. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
markz2004
Samba Member
Joined: November 13, 2007
Posts: 944
Location: Portland, OR
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
WhiteH2O
Samba Member
Joined: October 06, 2009
Posts: 129
Location: Gig Harbor, WA
|
| Posted: Fri Nov 13, 2009 8:48 pm Post subject: |
|
|
I looked into this in a fair amount of detail for a Subaru Legacy. I found out that if you want to just drop the car off and then pick it up when it is done (having them do ALL the work) you are going to pay upwards of $7000 for a good job.
Like others have said, 90% is prep work, so if you do all the prep work, you could probably have it sprayed for around $1500 (materials and labor), but it is a lot of work to do it right (taking out all the windows, interior, door handles, grill, wipers, and then putting them all back on, assuming you don't need any body work, then there is also the masking and such).
Or you could do the $50 paintjob...
http://www.audizine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=271586
_________________
1985 Wolfsburg Weekender- 2.5L Subie Power
2002 Subaru WRX Wagon
1998 Subaru Legacy EJ257 Swap, 410 AWHP (sold)  |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
ftp2leta
Samba Member
Joined: October 11, 2004
Posts: 3271
Location: Montreal
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
ZimZam
Samba Member
Joined: July 21, 2005
Posts: 562
Location: Talkeetna, AK
|
| Posted: Fri Nov 13, 2009 9:27 pm Post subject: Re: Painting - any idea on cost |
|
|
| ftp2leta wrote: |
| nacradriver wrote: |
| Anyone have an idea on what a GOOD paint job would cost for a Westy? |
Minimum 6000$, max 11,000$
Did I answer your question?
So funny, remember, you get what you pay for!
Ben |
Ben: Is that just for the painting or does that include you prepping it also?
_________________
'85 Cabriolet (Margo)
'87 Westy (Heidi)
'75 Porsche 911S Targa
"Nobody trusts anyone, or why did they put tilt on a pinball machine.”
- Steve McQueen
"It's just metal, when rusted and dented , anything you will do will be better. Stop being afraid. What they (VW) did many year ago is not better then what you will do now." -Ben |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
iltis74
Samba Member
Joined: November 20, 2003
Posts: 826
Location: Anchorage, AK
|
| Posted: Sat Nov 14, 2009 2:15 am Post subject: |
|
|
| No one charging that kind of money is going to trust your prep work. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
ftp2leta
Samba Member
Joined: October 11, 2004
Posts: 3271
Location: Montreal
|
| Posted: Sat Nov 14, 2009 8:16 am Post subject: Re: Painting - any idea on cost |
|
|
| zimzam wrote: |
Ben: Is that just for the painting or does that include you prepping it also? |
What do you mean by prepping? Preparation! Of course, it's all about prepping, painting a van/car is nothing, it's 5% of the job, sadly, it's all people see after it's done.
I'm just finishing a Syncro, colour swap, almost 3 weeks, 2 guys. 8 roll of tape. Removing door seal itself is time consuming, installing them back is simply painful. It's all about prepping.
Imagine yourself with a sharp screwdriver installing those 3 camper outlet + fridge exhaust, 23 screws! Yes, i have scratch new paint. On this van, when we put the pop-top back on the van one of the rear hinge fell and did a big frigging scratch with a small dent on top of the rear window. So far, we had to repaint the rear hatch and the front part bellow the windows, all because of scratches we made wile reassembling the van.
Just removing the sliding by itself is one hell of a risk... when you alone 
Most body shop guy don't even remove accessories for that particular reason, to much risk when installing stuff back. It as a price.
So, what is a fair price for such a job, tell me? 2 guys, 3 weeks.
Look carefully, see the reflection of my cousin in the sliding door....
This as a price, water sanded with a 1/8 orbital 3M sanding machine, 1500 grain first and 3000, polish with 2 different product.
http://www.benplace.com/red_syncro.htm
Of course this is pushing it, but understand that the process is the same for all van that i do, so a little more rust/dent won't change much.
Here are the steps that should be done when doing such a project:
-DEEP cleaning, any dirt can become dust, any grease is a danger (reaction), cleaning the inside deeply before (paint reaction with any product use inside by owner) and after. The van will be cleaned 4 time overall.
-Sanding and body work, clean deeply after or in between.
-Priming each "worked" section, the primer is a "built" type primer, it's basically a liquid putty, each coat is "bloc" sanded to even surfaces.
-Each bare metal section is treated with a special rust inhibitor primer (transparent green in the picture)
-Deep rust and bare metal treated with Zinc
-Van is sanded with 320 grid then with 600.
-Van clean again deeply.
-Clean with "Final Wipe"
-Prep for painting, masking check/added/clean carefully, windows (if present) are masked with a special 3M window tape.
-Deep cleaning of paint shop, liquid mask is shot on the wall to take care of remaining dust, it act like a dust magnet.
-Van enter room, tire are covered.
-Van is than painted wit Valspar Z777 paint adhesive
-15 minute later, a value shade is applied, it blend all colour (old sanded paint, primer) on the van.
-Van is clean with a soft special rag
-Time for 2 coat of base coat, 15 min in between each coat.
-30 min later, time for 2-3 clear coat.
-Optional is sand & polish. This will give you the mirror like look and remove any trace of orange peal. It's impossible to have no orange peal at all without sand & polish.
The quantity/amount of orange peal, reason:
-Van sanding is the first big step.
-Careful sanding of the primer (section or all van) with 600 grid.
-thickness of base coat.
-mixing of clear coat
-Temperature of room
-moisture in room
-speed of painter, distance in between gun and surface.
-Gun quality and adjustment
-Clear quality
-3 coat will give you orange peal, no way out.
This is my explanation of why i charge those prices.
Ben
_________________
Working with rust, grease, dirt and dust is a sad truth.
------------------------------------------------------
FI part for sale: http://www.benplace.com/parts_sale1.htm
My site: http://www.benplace.com/vw2.htm
Subi conversion: http://www.benplace.com/vanaru_eng.htm
Youtube http://www.youtube.com/user/ftp2leta |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
j_dirge
Samba Member
Joined: August 08, 2007
Posts: 4641
Location: Twain Harte, CA
|
| Posted: Sat Nov 14, 2009 8:32 am Post subject: Re: Painting - any idea on cost |
|
|
| nacradriver wrote: |
| Anyone have an idea on what a GOOD paint job would cost for a Westy? |
$2000, min for the best Maaco can do... up to $8000+ for a GOOD paint job.
I did a "test run" thru one of the better Maaco's in our area.. $1800 on a small Honda. It is a marginal paint job. Materials of GOOD quality but rust is coming back after 2 yrs (some showed after only 9 months.)
There was considerable dust sprayed into paint. And for this cost they did not to door jams! ($100 for each door jam.. $500 inluding tailgat and no engine hood, under
As Ben points out, and illustrates VERY well.. its all in the prep.. and if you consider what has to be done to get a really GOOD paint job, then $8000+ isn't that ourageous.
Honestly.. the cost of a good paint job is one thing that kind of depresses me. My long range plan was to save the duckets for a GOOD paint job on the Westy (after mechanical =$7-8+).. But I have also watched as our newly painted Honda has taken door ding after ding, after watching stuff fall onto it in the garage.. And I wonder if the GOOD paint job is worth the heartache in watching it get destroyed living in CA, driving it on a trail, or hauling lumber from the yard...
_________________
-89 GL Westy, SVX.. finally.
-57 pan f/g buggy with a 67 pancake Type 3 "S"
"Jimi Hendrix owned one. Richard Nixon did not"
-Grand Tour, Season 1, episodes 4 and 5
| danfromsyr wrote: |
those are straight line runs with light weight race cars for only 1/4mile at a time..
not pushing a loaded brick up a mountain pass with a family of 4+ inside expecting to have an event free vacation..
|
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Franklinstower
Samba Member
Joined: September 21, 2006
Posts: 1895
Location: PNW
|
| Posted: Sat Nov 14, 2009 8:57 am Post subject: |
|
|
3K for my paint job - All I did was remove and paint bumpres and grills, the painter did the rest - did not remove windows - just corded them; removed westy kitchen to treat seems for rust. stripped front end to metal, fixed dents on both doors, big scrap on slider, and many little dents everywhere else - base and clear coat. It took three months too, guy was busy with other jobs at the same time but I thought his costs were very reasonable. the cost went up almost a 1K after block sanding revealed way more work than first noticed. Originally it was supposed to be between $2k and $2400.
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=375329&highlight=paint
paul
_________________
'89 Westy - EJ25/22 Frank 4.44 5mt
'75 Miami Blue Sunroof FI Standard Bug |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Dogpilot
Samba Member
Joined: October 03, 2005
Posts: 4205
Location: Flagstaff, AZ
|
| Posted: Sat Nov 14, 2009 9:56 am Post subject: |
|
|
Painting is relative to where you are, the price of labor, how much work you can contribute. So if you drove your van to Tampico, Mexico, it would be way cheaper than to do it in the Hamptons. Materials are very expensive now. A pint, a frigging pint (!) of single stage urethane to paint my bike frame is $45! That does not include the catalyst, which costs more.
So if you want a decent job expect someplace in the range of $5K to $7K.
Or for a very low price, a couple of cans of Home depots finest and a few M-80's like Mr. Bean.
_________________
Geology with a Syncro rocks!
86 Syncro Westy AKA "The Bughunter"
98 Disco I
08 Range Rover SC
08 VW Rabbit S
1951 O-1G |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
insyncro
Banned
Joined: March 07, 2002
Posts: 15086
Location: New York
|
| Posted: Sun Nov 15, 2009 10:12 am Post subject: |
|
|
I have painted three Vanagon Syncros.
Windows out.
All seals removed.
Interior removed.
Expect an $8000+ bill when done properly.
dylan |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
, 16" wheels
