I have a 69 Chevelle. I am about to have in painted and I would like to know what to do. Should I pull off all chrome and bumpers. Also should I remove the engine, interior and windows. Also I would like to know how much do you think a really good paint job would be. And is it expensive to put put flames on the car. Thank you for any help you can give me.

For a good paint job yes it is expensive.
I have a 68 chevelle that I checked on getting painted, and for a flawless job inside and out it was going to $10000 roughly. That includes taking out the interior, engine, chrome and windows. So if you do all that yourself it should be cheeper. The paint job I was looking for though was show room finish also, with stripes. I dont know about flames.

The materials on a good paint job can run from $500.00 on up. What you pay for is the labor. The less the shop does the lessyou pay. Pull all the chrome and moldings ect. Be carefull not to damage them. If you are doing a color change pulling the interior makes it easier. See if you can help at the shop and cut down on your bill. Even if all they make you do is grunt work on other cars it will save you money. Remember it doesn't matter who paints if the prep work is bad it shows. The last thing you should do is rush it. Talk to some shops and see who will work with you to save money by you helping.

i would like to know where dave gets his material bill from (lol). i have more than $500 in primers on my car and i do this stuff for a living. i mix my own paint so it would be hard to guess on a price for that by adding up quarts of tints. anyway, if you take everything off the car and i mean everything: from bumpers and interior to door handles and mouldings, a body shop should charge you less. the job goes nicer when you dont have to worry about where the parts are and who lost the parts and where do they go when you are done. it all depends on what kind of finish you are looking for.

always remember too, what costs the most is the body work. you can have the best paint job in the world but if the body work sucks the whole job sucks.

i would plan on spending about $10,000 for a show finish if the body is in "decent" shape and not all rotted out. for a driver finish i would go between $4,000 and $6,000. i always tell people watch out---you get what you pay for.


http://budruski.myplace.com/

[This message has been edited by budruski (edited 03-15-2002).]

Just my .02 Know the people you are dealing with. Go to their shop. Talk to them and if they don't mind, hang around (out of their way) and watch the work that gets done.
If you don't like what you see go somewhere else.
You will be spending time with these people and the bottom line is it's your car and your money.
It certainly helps if your relationship is a good one and you don't go home and worry that something will be done and covered up.

One more thing at,least for me, get an estimate IN WRITING and some kind of time frame. We all get excited to get our cars done when they go to the shop. Remember this takes time and even though you are a paying customer your not the only paying customer.

Hope this gives you some food for thought. Most of what I have learned from the team members on this site has kept me out of some financial mistakes, hope it does you too.

Good luck http://www.chevelles.com/forum/smile.gif

Dwight

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1969 El Camino SS 396

A dream coming true
She says it's a nightmare

[This message has been edited by Dwight_69SS (edited 03-15-2002).]

I have gotten estimates from $4k to $10K. Like everyone else said it depends what you want to do.

I will be painting my car over next winter, and I just put $8K in my "car fund" to sit there for the next few months. I have done the Maco jobs before, and they just did not turn out right for me.

great advice dwight. that is one aspect that can be easily overlooked.

This has really helped me in a big way. I have been talking to some people and they are saying the same thing that it will run you almost $10,000. I'll tell you getting into a car like this isn't cheap. I just feel like why do things 2 or 3 times and not be happy. I would like to just save and do it right the first time. Well thanks for the advice. I will keep you guys posted.