NorCal Painters??

[bugedd]

So here in the wee little town of Chico, I am striking out on finding someone who will paint my tub. Everyone does insurance and nothing else. And the few that do stuff on the side, they start off at $10k, which is obscene.
If any northern California people out there know of a painter that will take on a bare tub, let me know! I'm getting a bit discouraged

 

[Rut]

Ask some of the shops if any of their painters work on the side. Some shops will allow them to use the booth on the weekend as long as the car is gone by Monday. Check with the hot rod guys as well.
Rut

 

[drooartz]

Depending on what you're looking for in a final product, even MAACO or similar can do a decent spray job. Friend had his TR6 done by them -- didn't need any metal work, just a fresh paint job. Finished job looks nice; it's no show winner but looks very clean and tidy. If you've done all the metal prep and filling, I would expect they could do a goo driver-quality job. Don't know if they'd do a bare tub, though.

Having a good shop do paint, prep, and necessary metal work is expensive -- going through that process right now with Penny.

 

[bugedd]

The car is a tub , like Penny, and will need floor pans and random holes filled. The average Maaco person would be overwhelmed by it. I did talk to a fellow who does it as his day job, and even on the side he starts off at $10k.

 

[drooartz]

The car is a tub , like Penny, and will need floor pans and random holes filled. The average Maaco person would be overwhelmed by it. I did talk to a fellow who does it as his day job, and even on the side he starts off at $10k.

Maaco is great if all you need is driver-quality paint. Anything more involved and it's do it your self or pay the pros. That $10k quote is probably right on in today's market for the full-service job. That price level is why I'm doing the bodywork and paint first -- I've got the big chunk of cash saved up now and this is the most expensive single project I'll have to tackle. Everything else can be done in little chunks, but body and paint is a bit single outlay.

I'll pay more for paint/bodywork then I paid for the car. That's why this is a hobby and not a business for me. :grin:

 

[dwalpole]

I looked at Chico craigslist and there is a shop in, I think it was, Orville that was advertising. They had pictures of a couple of hot rod pickups they had fixed up. Might be worth a look.

 

[nomad]

And I remember Earl Shide's $99.99 paint job chain stores in business all over the US. A friend who worked on cars all the time and raced besides had all his cars painted there. As he said, they knew how to shoot paint so he would just buy quality paint and take it to them with the car.
Good luck on your quest but I am planning on doing future painting myself.

Kurt.

 

[apbos]

What is you budget? Do you want to go down to bare metal on the entire car? If you want to go top end or good, have the car blasted and primered locally. Cut out the bad panels and if you can not weld the repair panels in, I know someone down here that can do that. Then paint the bottom and interior of the car youself. Leave the bonnet and the rest of the tub to a local painter or come dow to Dixon in May to ask around who did the cars at the show. How about some pictures so we can have an idea what needs to be done?
regards
Paul

 

[Gerard]

And I remember Earl Shide's $99.99 paint job chain stores in business all over the US. A friend who worked on cars all the time and raced besides had all his cars painted there. As he said, they knew how to shoot paint so he would just buy quality paint and take it to them with the car.
Good luck on your quest but I am planning on doing future painting myself.

Kurt.

Kurt,

I had a car painted at Sheib's before, a Midget in fact. I did all the body work, including shooting primer. I brought it to them already blocked, so all the had to do was shoot it. It looked great at 10 or 20 feet, and the sides of the car were great even close up. I don't think they actually even use a spray boot, but it they did, they pushed the car out before it's dry, because once you got close enough to see any detail, all the horizontal surfaces were full of a LOT of shop dust. To add insult to injury, because they want to clean the floors quickly, they cover them with cat litter. How do I know? Because when the shot the bottom of the car, the air pressure blew up cat little into the rockers and lower fenders. I was really P*ss*d-off since all they had to do was shoot it, but they still screwed it up. I have hear better things about Maaco, but I doubt they will take a bare tub... not at least for their economy pricing anyway. I doubt that you can get a prepped car done for less than $6-10K, let alone one that needs welding and body work... more like $15-25K

 

[nomad]

Well, Gerard, times have changed and I imagine there was a difference in the Shieb shop's as well. My friend was in So Cal at the time.

I had my Midget 50 midget painted for $1600 and am very pleased with it for that price. A little bit of light orange peel on one fender but nice otherwise and the color is perfect. However, when I checked with them recently they were quoting close to $5000 and they have changed to water base paint so I may be looking elsewhere if I decide to not do my own painting.

Kurt.

 

[Gerard]

Well, Gerard, times have changed and I imagine there was a difference in the Shieb shop's as well. My friend was in So Cal at the time.

I had my Midget 50 midget painted for $1600 and am very pleased with it for that price. A little bit of light orange peel on one fender but nice otherwise and the color is perfect. However, when I checked with them recently they were quoting close to $5000 and they have changed to water base paint so I may be looking elsewhere if I decide to not do my own painting.

Kurt.

I'm glad you brought up water base paint. It's another reason painting has gotten more expensive. Water base coat is now mandatory in most, if not all of California (about 2 or 3 years now). One would think that water base paints would be easier to shoot, but it's just the opposite. If you do it wrong, all the paint will slide off the car, and it requires a lot of air circulation (multiple high volume fans) as well as a both that needs to be heated to (if I remember correctly) 140 degrees. This has required shops to add a lot more expensive equipment, not to mention a lot of natural gas to run the heaters. There are some single stage paints that have since been developed that are legal to use, but paint colors are much more limited, though I understand color selection is gradually increasing. I did manage to get the correct Iris Blue formula in this new paint though.

 

[bugedd]

Paul, the car was taken down to the tub, blasted and primered. So is a clean slate for one to see what needs to be done. I'll have to try and make it to one of the shows down there, maybe Woodland if that show is still going on.

 

[smaceng]

The British Car Show this year is on May 18 at the Dixon Fairgrounds.......great show with about 300 british cars.
I will be going without, as my TR6 is still a project.
Scott in CA

 

[bugedd]

I just put it on my calendar, should be able to make it

 

[Jerry]

Don't forget to register prior to May 1st. That sets the classes for the show and lets us get the trophies made up. You can register at UBSCC.org. I am hoping to bring my Triumph TR3A that will be done next week, and possibly my mini if I get it done.

Jerry
Chairman of the Dixon, UBSCC

 

[Glen Byrns]

I used Lopez Auto body in Woodland to shoot my bugeye tub. Decent job, way under 10k.

 

[cdsmith]

I had some body work done on my Mazda at "Mikes Custom Body&Collision" it is in Chico; 343-7829
He did a good job and seemed reasonable.
cd