Cost of a professional paint job?

[RPTMGB]

First I think quick intro is in order. Have admired MG's since I was a boy growing up in England and now some thirty years later I'm seriously considering taking the plunge and purchasing my first B. Now live in SW Ohio and I'm basically in the early stages of looking, but I'm not in any particular rush. Taking my time and enjoying the experience of getting to know these great little cars a bit better. Have found the forum and other online resources invaluable in arming myself with some basic knowledge in what to look for and what to avoid.

Looked at a 72 B earlier today which on the surface of things looked like it was in decent shape. Needs a new top, heat doesn't work and probably needs a break job plus a few other minor issues. Body had been redone a couple of years ago and repainted in the original color which I believe is called Harvest Gold. Not one of my favorite colors unfortunately!

Probably just going to continue looking, but I'm curious about how much a good professional paint job in a new color such as BRG or Red would cost? Also would it have a positive or negative effect on the value of the car to have it painted in a color different from the orginal?

Sorry if these questions sound basic, but I'm in the early stages of learning the ropes and your patience is appreciated.

Cheers,

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cheers.gif

RPT

 

[Mickey Richaud]

Hello, RPT -

First of all, welcome to the Forum. This is the place for all things concerning British cars (and most everything else, at times!). Lots of good info and conversation here.

Paint work depends on so many factors, and you're liable to get a pretty broad range of prices. I've heard anywhere from $2000 on up for quality work (count on it being "on up"). I've had a '57 TR3 and a '73 MGB done at a friend's shop, both of which needed extensive body and prep work. For the work that was done, the prices were gifts (but then, it is a friend's shop). Do your homework - visit as many shops as you can find, and check their work.

As for originality, unless you're honestly concerned about showing the car, or having it as an investment, my opinion is that you should drive the car you want. Especially since there are so many MGB's around. My '73 (which actually has a '72 body) was originally Mallard Green. I chose a factory '73-only color - Black Tulip - since my wife and I both like it. While it's not original to the car, it is an original color. Likewise our TR3. It was originally beige with beige interior, and we went with pearl white and red interior, also factory offerings.

Again, make it what you want, and you'll enjoy it all the more.

Mickey

 

[Bruce Bowker]

I agree with the above. Assuming the painter is a real pro, cost will go up with how much prep work, how many coats, how much sanding and buffing. Some paint jobs can cost $10,000 although I would not put that much money in an MGB.

If the car is not THE original color it will have and effect on the value.

Bruce

 

[Americanshine]

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gifFirst lets say welcome to the forum and site. As many I have enjoyed the readings about the LBC's as I have had one for the last 18 years. I too am recently aquainted with the website.
Funny you should inquire about the cost of a paint job on a LBC. I just recently had my 74 MGB painted, and my daughter picked out the color. The car was originally harvest gold, but a past owner took it to Earl Sheib and had it painted black. Was a horrible job and so for the last 18 years I let it go. The color that my daughter picked out was "Hooker Red", or "Arrest me red ". The more you look at it, the brighter it gets.

Now how much is invested in the paint job? Cost me $1500. And it has a 1/2 gallon of clear on it. Now I will tell you how I came across that price. IF you are a do-it-yourselfer then you can do it for this much, plus a little extra. I disasembled the car down to just the body. Took all the trim off, gutted the interior, bumpers off, down to just a running shell. Then I did what minor bodywork I was capale of doing. Note this, I even pulled off the windshield frame so that fresh paint was under there too. I took it to Maaco auto paint. Now you can go to a custom shop as I have done in the past and I have paid much more than 10K for a paint job as I use my cars for displaying and showing. You have to remember that the painters at these one day in-n-out shops spray cars all day long, and I find that they are very expierenced in how to lay down paint. In speaking to the owner of the shop and the painter himself they know that if you show a "special interest" in your car that they too will take good care of you. Plus I found that it does not hurt if you take the shop some donuts before they do the work on your car, that they tend to show special interest in your car too. They did all the necessary bodywork for that price and painted the doors, trunk, and under the bonnet & decklid. Plus there was a limited amount of orange peel when completed. You have to remember, it has to be pretty straight to be "RED". I am very pleased with what they did.

I picked up the car, took it home and then color sanded it. Cut and buff, then assembled it. As with my Black Chevelle, we now use the car in display. It is not a drama queen, but a daily driver. Me and my dog "Einstein" took her out for a 250 mile spin this morning, enjoying every stare that we received on the freeway or canyon run we made. Nothing like Bright RED LBC, a BIG BLACK Hairy dog enjoying the comforts of a LBC, and me in my red baseball cap smoking a big fat Maconudo Cigar on a spin in Southern California.

Good luck on your search for you LBC. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/driving.gif

 

[Webb Sledge]

Our shop usually charges $3k-5k for a complete sanding, priming, and painting. We use PPG paint, which is the best available, and our painters are certified PPG technicians. Of the cars that Joe Hash (my boss and owner of the shop) has done, I can honestly say that the paint was flawless. We sand the cars down to primer or metal, then they get 2 coats of primer, sanded down between each coat. Then paint goes on, and then a clear coat if you want it, or it can be applied.

You should consider calling us if you want your B painted or restored, or just want some work done. We build show winning cars inside and out and nothing is done half-way like a lot of shops, and I can vouch for that. It's a good ways from Ohio, but right now we've got a TD in the shop from Southern NC that we just finished restoring. We're located in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, about 30 minutes from Charlottesville. If you're interested, you might consider talking to Mark Brown (alias vagt6). He's had work done on his former GT6 at our shop several times before, and can give you an honest account of Joe Hash Triumph, Ltd.

 

[Bruce Bowker]

Is this an advertisement? Wouldn't this be better done privately through email?

 

[RPTMGB]

Many thanks for all the replies which I've found extremely helpful. I guessed a professional job would be expensive, but at the same point I had no idea just how expensive! Going to keep looking and hopefully will be able to find a B down the road that is in decent shape and in a color I like. Thanks again for all the help and have a great holiday season.

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cheers.gif

RPT

 

[Webb Sledge]

[ QUOTE ]
Is this an advertisement? Wouldn't this be better done privately through email?

[/ QUOTE ]

Perhaps it should have been. Sorry.

 

[Simon TR4a]

RPT, just a brief note to reinforce a point made earlier.....
Yes, changing the colour hurts the value of the car, maybe less so if the original colour is horrible.
Also, changing the colour, if you want it done properly, is going to mean stripping it to a bare boyshell, suspension and brakes out, engine out, gas tank, every inch of wirinf, doors, bonnet and boot lid off, EVERYTHING!
I am doing this right now with my Triumph, it is time consuming, or if you pay someone to do it, expensive.
Might be better, as suggested by Bruce Bowker, to look for one in a colour you like.
Good luck, Simon.

 

[BOXoROCKS]

A lot of good advise here. My 2cts, a "professional" paint job or restoration can be a real crap shoot. Try to check thier previous work, talk to KNOWLEDGABLE people. If going for a full resto, simontr4 is right. Take your chosen shop a bare tub.Few shops will reassemble your car to your standards. As far as paint choice goes, pick a shop that will not talk you into a base coat clear coat finish, if you dont want it. 2 stage uro's are the way to go if you want a premium finish. Much more work but a superiour finish. I don't mean to offend anybody by that last statement, but I will defend what I say. One of the biggest mistakes in restorations is that many many people are unaware of what thier finished restoration is suppose to look like, what is authentic,what is not. Now I will go duck and cover.

 

[jayhawk]

Welcome!! I' still a bit of a newbie to this group but not to cars.. Regarding the painting thing, sorta depends on what you want... As noted you can get the show car special at whatever it costs or you can get the nice driver look at a lower cost. I've had 2 MGB's painted (and another I painted the rear quarter panel) and I've had 5 old VW products painted and 2 old Fords-- never paid more than $500 total. Some were very well done, some not so hot. Talk to lots of local folks, let 'em know what you want and what you can (or are willing to afford). The suggestion about talking to the guys at the shop, I wish I had used one of the times it went bad.

 

[keith k]

Agreed, a lot of good advice. After having a set of wire wheels media blasted and powder coated last spring I got into a discussion with the shop owner concerning having him powder coat the car. Since it involves literally baking the finish in an oven it would require the kind of total stipping of the car to a bare bodyshell as described above, no small task to be sure. However he said he would do the full bodyshell for $600, give or take 15%. I've seen pictures of hot rods that he has done, though not the actual cars, admittedly not much of an appraisal opportunity. I was very pleased with the wheels and also a bike frame that he did for me, but I'm wondering what, if any experience others here on the forum may have had with powder coating the car vs painting. He told me that the main reason it was so much cheaper than painting (I had several quotes for $3000 - $5000) was that the raw material is much cheaper than liquid paint. Anyone care to toss out an opinion or share an experience?

 

[Bruce74B]

Yep...A DPO had a nice cheap paint job done on my car too...I am still scraping paint off of the suspension parts,brakes, exhaust, engine compartment, door panels, and places that I am amazed that they were able to get paint to. There are now a couple of places on the car that the paint is starting to chip and flake, too.

The paint is great...it is the prep work that is lacking on most cheap paint jobs. If you spend the time preparing, the paint job will only be as good (or bad) as the preparation work.

Bruce

 

[jayhawk]

Great point about the prep work-- I failed to mention above-- take everything off you can, don't assume that they will "finish" sanding anything, discuss primer coats, between-coat sanding, painting (or not) painting wheels, engine, interior, tires, etc

 

[PC]

[ QUOTE ]
... He told me that the main reason it was so much cheaper than painting (I had several quotes for $3000 - $5000) was that the raw material is much cheaper than liquid paint. Anyone care to toss out an opinion or share an experience?

[/ QUOTE ]
I don't know about yours but many powder coaters come from a plating background, some from industrial spray coatings. I doubt anybody with fine finish experience would make such a statement.

Yes you do pay more for primers, paints and reducers but liquid spray finishes are expensive because of all the labor involved. Prepping, spraying, sanding, buffing all take time, work and skill. Did that estimate include any prep of any kind or was it just for the shoot/bake? A regular painter will also charge less if he doesn't have to do any prep, sanding or buffing.

Does his powder coating estimate include buffing? Can his coatings be buffed? Powder coatings look quite good for a one step finish but don't come close to a wet sanded and buffed coating. Not so noticeable on piece parts but very obvious on large panels.

Speaking of prep, powder coats don't give any more rust protection than liquid coatings. Mainly they're just tougher and resist scratches better. This helps prevent new rust but if you don't remove all old rust before coating it will just spread under the coating. Many Coaters will media blast as part of their process. I would also use a rust converter before coating.


PC.

 

[BOXoROCKS]

Very good PC, excellent grip of whats going on. Just a little nit pik tho. The final finish is polished.A buffed finish is when some big fat slob sits on your high polished fender and wiggles his A$$ grinding in the days dust at the car show while asking you what kind of wax you use to get such a nice shine.Thats my definition of a buffed finish /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazyeyes.gif

 

[John S Farrington]

As far as a restoration quality paint job that lasts at least several years with proper care, most of your resources will be spent on preparation, not on paint application. A skilled paint shop can make it look acceptably good with a minimum of preparation but six months later it will begin to have major flaws or warts. The body must be stripped entirely to the bare metal and a minimum (if any) of bondo should be used prior to the undercoat application. If welding replacement panels is required due to prior bondo accident repairs or rust, this will have direct addition to preparationm costs. You will not know the dimensions of this problem until you strip the body of old paint and bondo. Any fixed price prior to this phase has no basis or honesty. Material costs can vary widely but it is best to use highest quality paint products available. Having covered this, I hope that you have a feel for the difficulty of "budgeting" for a cosmetic restoration. If you deal with a shop, then select one with a history of restoration work because it is a world apart from accident repair or Earl Shieb afternoon paint jobs.

 

[Ericfig]

Our shop usually charges $3k-5k for a complete sanding, priming, and painting. We use PPG paint, which is the best available, and our painters are certified PPG technicians. Of the cars that Joe Hash (my boss and owner of the shop) has done, I can honestly say that the paint was flawless. We sand the cars down to primer or metal, then they get 2 coats of primer, sanded down between each coat. Then paint goes on, and then a clear coat if you want it, or it can be applied.

You should consider calling us if you want your B painted or restored, or just want some work done. We build show winning cars inside and out and nothing is done half-way like a lot of shops, and I can vouch for that. It's a good ways from Ohio, but right now we've got a TD in the shop from Southern NC that we just finished restoring. We're located in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, about 30 minutes from Charlottesville. If you're interested, you might consider talking to Mark Brown (alias vagt6). He's had work done on his former GT6 at our shop several times before, and can give you an honest account of Joe Hash Triumph, Ltd.

What is the address of your shop. I have a red 72 MGB, and am thinking of getting it redone in British Racing Green. Thanks Eric Fig

 

[Joe Reed]

That post is 19 years old

 

[DocDup1]

That shop is located in the Twilight Zone. These days you have to deal with 23 years of inflation plus a lot of new environmental laws, all of which will significantly increase the cost. Most shops will not do a complete paint job because it ties up their shop for too long. They are into collision type jobs where they can fix a car and blow it out in a few days. The other factor is location. Here in the Peoples Republic of California, good quality PPG primer can cost $500 per gallon. The actual paint is more than that and it depends on the color. The short version of all of this is that you you don't want to pay a good shop to paint an MGB these days.