Houston Paint Shop Wanted!

[DonM]

Hi Folks! I have contemplated painting my 95% original 1976 TR6 for about 5 years and now have the bug again. There is a small amount of rust here and there and a dent on the front of the hood. In the past I have received quotes ranging from $10k to $20k for frame-on, bare metal paint job. I am not looking for show quality. Do I need to go down to bare metal every where? Am I being unrealistic to stay under $10k?

Any shop recommendations in Houston? Many Thanks!

 

[TR3driver]

Maaco's web site says they have a location on Airline Dr in Houston. Might be worth taking them the car and asking what they think.

Bare metal may be required in some cases, particularly if the old paint is in poor condition (falling off) or an unknown composition. But even with their best paint job and the labor to sand off all the old paint, you should be looking at well under $5K.

Definitely not show quality, but looks good from 10 feet. We had some issues (had to take it back to have part of it done over at their cost), but overall, I feel like it was good value for the money.

PS, it's a good idea to remove anything you want to have fresh paint under, like mirrors & chrome. Given the chance, they will just mask around it. Last time around, I drove the car there and then stripped it in their parking lot.

 

[DavidApp]

LED bulbs?

David

 

[TR3driver]

Left and center LED, right was an (uprated) incandescent for comparison. But I posted just to show the Maaco paint job.

This (very short) video shows off the LEDs better, IMO; still with an incandescent on the right (I never did get around to building the other conversion).

 

[DavidApp]

Paint job looks great. Hope mine turns out that good.

10K to 20K does seem real high. More like we don't want the job but if you insist. Hate to think what they would charge to do a complete car. Inside and out including the underside.

The LEDs are much brighter than the incandescent. Looks like a worthwhile mod to enhance visibility.

David

 

[Bayless]

Typical production shops really don't want that kind of job. Their forte is fast turn-around and stripping a car to metal just doesn't fit in very well. Therefore, they price it high to discourage you. A "restoration" shop would be happy to take it on but their regular price would likely fall in that same high range.

 

[JPSmit]

I might start sniffing around car clubs - I had Ms Triss done by a retired body man with a two car garage who just did one job at a time - likewise a friend uses a body shop that is happy to do small jobs. they are out there - even craigslist?

 

[TR3driver]

$10k-$15k is pretty common around here for a show quality paint job, regardless of what car it is on. But after seeing how much work and skill goes into making every single surface "just so"; not to mention facilities, tools, drying booths, and of course the talent for actually spraying a perfectly even coat of paint every time; I can see that being a reasonable price for a flawless paint job.

Years ago, I let a buddy use my garage to paint his car, and he had a friend in the body shop business guide him on doing all the preparation work. I don't know how many hours total they spent, but it was close to 6 months of nights and weekends. Call it 1000 hours, and $10K starts looking more reasonable. He had a pro come in to do the finish coat, which went pretty quick; but then there was more grunt work in buffing it out, and then having to reassemble the car, etc.

Not really relevant, but last night after dinner we walked past a 66 Chevelle that someone was obviously restoring. Beautiful paint job in what I assume was the original color; but there was one bubble on the whole car and it jumped out at me like a pimple at high school prom. I hope whoever owns it didn't hear me point the bubble out to my wife

 

[PAUL161]

I took mine in pieces to a custom car body shop and for $7,000.00 this was the result. Naturally I put it all back together in my shop. Came out pretty nice. PJ

View attachment 54098