Inliners International Forums General Discussion Body & Paint Whats the cost of body work?

I am not looking forward to the body work on my 54 chevy 210. Has anyone on this site ever paid to have this car done by a body shop? My car only has one place with rust, and that is the rear under the trunk lid above the splash pan. The body has only minor dings and dent. I know its hard to tell over the internet, but Im looking at a ballpark. You can look at my car at the relics website. Thanks for the help.

Dear Dan;

Walt is right!

You MUST 'go shopping' and price is not a judge of quality.

First thing is; what's on your vehicle now??

If the paint is not cracked or peeling It's probably best left alone. A vehicle does not have to be 'stripped' to get a good paint job.

'High end' shops in California get $6-8,000 for a Hot Rod. More if you want flames, pearl or something fancy. "Whatever the traffic will bear".

Way to much in my view.

We painted cars & pickup trucks for $12-1,500.00 all day long, in the 80s and made good money. The customers loved us and I had a waiting list till the owner got greedy & I had to quit.

Anyway; today that would be around $2,300 because of the higher cost of materials and government extortion.

In fact I did one of mine for under $800 last year. It was about $250.00 in material and $400 for my helper, taking one week. There's about $200 worth of work left before we can us it in the film.

This work is 'labor intensive' in the preparation, so get a lot of estimates.

'Key word' here is "rod shop". They probably sub-contract all the actual work and just 'detail' it for 3K (profit).

Do your homework like he said and don't get cheated.

PS: Don't confuse paint labor and body work as they are totally separate/different.

Dear Dan;

Is there a Next Day, Maco or Car Coa store near Livermore??

Look in your local phone book. Pick Body Shop ads (not the big ones)and call them.

When I was 'in the biz' I would get half of the phone calls to come in for a free estimate and sell the ones I wanted. About 30% which was considered good.

If the white is good on the top. You should be able to paint the blue nice for around a $1,000.00 + body work.

Good luck.

I have some paint experience, but I hate doing body work. I painted the roof with the white and flake and it came out ok. The blue will need to be taken down past the clear cause it is flaking off pretty bad. I should have said, what would the cost be on getting my body work done? Once the body work is done I dont care if a earl shibe paint job is shot, cause I also drive way too much to worry about perfect paint. A buddy of mine had earl throw some paint at his scamp for $900, and it can out great for a driver.

Dear Dan;

No one can estimate the body work without seeing the car.

Do like I said: Call around etc. When you find some that sounds reasonable go & see him. Get a written estimate. Then you'll know.

Yes, Paint costs have gone way high in recent years. Mostly due to EPA regulations. Some shops in the south still get around the rules but not legally.
I'm not promoting the small out of the way body shops, but they do bend the EPA rules for hard cash. Depending where you live, to lightly prep a 2-door car for paint, remove door chips, and add filler for a nice decent (not show quality)look, tape off windows and spray filler primer, it will cost about $1500. To paint, clear, buff and polish, add another $1500-$2500 depending on the paint. Any "extra" detail work like Flames, scallops, or graphics, the costs esculate depending on the quality of the artist. Find customers who have had work done and ask them. I've have had work done by body and paint guys and I would not recommend them. Be up front. If you don't mind doing some grunt work, you can save lots of $$$. For instance, I laid out my flames on my car, taped it off and had it sprayed by the paint shop. Then I wet sanded the front clip, compounded it, then machine buffed it out. The front clip took me 10 hours of gruling hard work. I thought my arms would fall off. It's very repetitive, but I saved about $1500-$2000 by helping out. The paint I used cost $75./pint and it used 2 pints+Clear. It cost me $450. for the paint material and spraying which only took about 2 hours total. If I had to pay someone to layout the flames, tape sand, and polish at $65/hour, it would have cost about an extra $1500-$2000.
Don't be afraid of some hard work. You can say you did it yourself too!


RapRap
1940ChoppedChevyCoupe

If you are handy at all, you could pick up a small mig welder and I believe the panel you are talking about on your 54 Chev is available repro. Cut out the old piece, practice with the welder and weld in the new one. Even with buying the welder, you should be dollars ahead. Then maybe you can just get them to finish off the new panel before painting. Like has been said, it is very labour intensified with this work and the more you can do, the better. Sometimes by asking around at cruise nights and car shows, you will find a bofyman that works for cash at home to prep yours out for you. Good Luck

I can weld, and have already bought the patch panel. I am not worried about that. I have done a chop, and paint and patching, and body work and cars before. I just hate finish body work. So I want to pay for it this time.

As Walt said, the pockets do run deep now a days. You may want to re-think the "Hate" factor of finishing the body work and here's why.

Depending on your age, health, and bank account, doing the work is a definate option. I am over 55 years old, out of shape, and basically a lazy put-it-off-till-next month type of guy. When I want something bad enough, the drive, inspiration, and desire over come most of my bad habits. I will post a few photos of my car in the finishing process versus the above finished look. The chopping, cutting, welding, and panel fitting was the fun part and I agree it's a quick fix and the change is exciting. No one wants to do the grueling grunt work except the guys who want to make lots of money. I had help when chopping my '40 by 2 60+ year old master 1950's customizers, who were past their prime , but still gave me the inspiration to get in there and sweat, swear, & save. I asked them for a ball park price if they did all of the work themselves and I was was floored by their response. They said most commercial body shops charge $75-$100/hour for labor plus the material cost. I spent 4 months of after work 4 hour stints, most every weekend for at least 8-10 hours, plus the 1 hour round trip to get there! My wife was not very happy with all of the away time (maybe she did like it a little) but understood that I was learning, and saving $$ at the same time. It was an investment! By the way, I did a conservative estimate of my hours using a $25.00/hour rate and came up with 200 hours and that comes to $5,000!
The two old guys that helped me and did it as a second job, said that would be very accurate to what they would have charged.

Like I said before, what's the rush? If you cannot do it, I completely understand, but if you do not want to do it, that's where I question your goals as a true hotrodder! Just my opinion not a criticisim.

RapRap
1940 ChoppedChevyCoupe

one very important thing you need to look at when visiting a shop to do your ride is to look around the shop if you see projects coverd in dust or pushed off in the corner. Be sure to ask just how long its ben there. To many times shop owners will take in the job and use it for filler work (beleave me I know). One thing you never ever ever say is I am in no hurry !!! Get a defent time that they think the job will be completed and stay on them now I dont mene be a pain in the butt just stay in close touch and watch how much up front money you give nothing motivates a guy better than a pay check when the job is finished! just some words of wisdom from a guy with to many unfinished cars still in the shop

Nice lookin' job there, chopped 40. Looks like a fairly heavy cut.
I chopped my '40 coupe as well, with a little different approach. Only 1 1/2" at the rear, 2" at the windshield, rear window full height, I split and lengthened the top rather than lay the pillars back. I'm not any where near paint time yet, here's a pic-
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b386/erjack/100_2287.jpg

Eric,

Nice looking '40! 5 passenger, right?
I cut 3.5" from the front and 4" in the back. Then laid everything forward. I did not move the "A" pillars, but the "B" pillars were angled 2.25" forward. It came out pretty nice. My back window is still stock too.

Your Chevy looks really smooth and will look a lot better when you get some paint on it!

Keep us advised!

Bob
RapRap
1940 ChoppedChevyCoupe

Being an old bodyman,(newly retired) this makes my heart glad! Nice to see metalwork is alive and well. Lookin' GOOD!