Cost of a full body respray

[Guy 600N]

Apologies, I realise that this may be a bit of a pointless thread as I feel the answer I will get is either: 'go and get a quote', or 'it depends on who's doing the job'.

Anyway, I am just curious as to how much it will cost to get a full body respray on my 260z (same colour, minor rust). Have any of you guys done this etc etc?

Thanks in advance. I hope to see you guys about soon at some shows!

Best,

Guy

 

[Guy 600N]

- by minor rust, i mean literally a few bubbles in a couple of spots (nothing bad).

 

[johnymd]

I tried to get my z painted back in 2006 and found it very hard to find anyone remotely interested in doing the job. If you are prepared to go for a bare metal respray and have the shell stripped, dipped and fully restored then in excess of 15k. If you just want an visible rust repaired (which could mean large scale panel fabrication and a "good" paint job then you may get away with 5k if the bubbles didn't turn out to be too major. If you want the visible rust treated without looking too far and a basic paint job you may get away with 2.5k. If you go for the last then don't be surprised to see rust appearing after a year or so and you will have no come back. It's not the paint shops fault if it does as they have no way of knowing what's under the existing paint on a 40 year old car.

I chose to spend a couple of hundred pounds on paint and do it myself. It's not perfect but is presentable and looks pretty good from 20 foot away. It has collected a few dings since 2006 but at least it means I don't mind driving it in any conditions.

 

[Guy 600N]

Thanks for the quick response...

15k is surely a little much?? i was thinking it'd be around 2k, i don't see why it'd be much more? the car has had a 'bare metal respray' before, but they did such a bad job (missed patches in the boot, under the bonnet etc). i was just hoping to get it sanded, filled and resprayed.
-- perhaps i won't bother!!

 

[Mr Ex Jnr]

bodywork

i work doing restoration on classic and my boss was charge around 2700 to 3000

 

[johnymd]

When I painted mine it had a small bubble on one of the dog legs(it had a full respray by four ways a few years earlier and had not been driven since). After digging around I found a rusty dogleg and arch welded over a another very rusty dogleg. The doors had a couple of bubbles which resulted in a replacement door and a new skin. A rust bubble is often like an iceberg with only the tip on show. If its already been painted then there's no telling what's underneath. Dipping is the only way to tell what's under the paint. You will be able to get it painted for 2k but rust may well come through. Old cars are very labour intensive and it's hard to find someone to do the job well. This is all just my opinion. I guess you need to find an enthusiast to take on the job. Someone you can trust to not cover things up or take the easy way out of fixing what he finds.

 

[candy red]

Hi Guy when you say full body respray do you mean underneath as well ,and are you looking for all fabrication work to be done if needed as it has already been said small amounts of rust that you can see are usually the tip of the iceberg

Derrick

 

[Rob Gaskin]

- by minor rust, i mean literally a few bubbles in a couple of spots (nothing bad).

I think I know your car, is it the bright orange one?

This may end up being a bit more than you think but if it's only a couple of spots why can't you get a good paint shop to do just those? My lad has had a couple of areas done on his Red Golf 4 Motion and it's perfectly acceptable and cost a couple of hundred (no bodywork just paint and prep).

To start spending thousands on an already smart car is a bit extravagant.

Like you said, you need to get professional opinions and some quotes.

Dare you post some pics?

 

[MikeB]

The best way to get the cost down is to do as much of the body stripping and panel prep as possible. Do you want a glass out job or are you happy to have to all masked off, seeing as you are doing it in the same colour. Do the rust removal yourself if it is just surface rust. Rub it back to the metal in those areas, treat the metal and doing some preliminary filling, etc. All that will greatly reduce the price

 

[Guy 600N]

Okay, well as long as it doesn't snow tomorrow in Oxford, I'm taking it to some guys called C & N Customs. They have done a few Porsche 911's and a lamborghini, so they can't be bad, surely? I will let you guys know what they say. The plan is for them to give me a quote for a full, windows out, stripped back spray, and one to just sand, fill and spray (don't really know what I'm talking about but I'm sure you get the picture). I will take some photos of my car when it's at the garage and post them up! I'll keep you all posted.

 

[Guy 600N]

-- I feel like I sound grumpy and ungrateful for all your advice. I'm really not, i'm just curious! Thanks

 

[SeanDezart]

£4-5k - bare metal respray, engine compartement, inner doors and hatch - basically where you see the paint.
Are you planning to disassemble-reassemble the car your self ?

 

[status]

Sean is nearly spot on,martin out in france is the man,Sean will vouch for that,got his number if you want it

 

[morbias]

Be aware that if you go for a full strip down to the metal you will most probably find more than you bargained for, the cost would snowball quickly. It depends how far you want to go with it and if you have the funds to back it up; you might find you have a car with no paint and not enough money to get it all sorted.

 

[SeanDezart]

Be aware that if you go for a full strip down to the metal you will most probably find more than you bargained for, the cost would snowball quickly. It depends how far you want to go with it and if you have the funds to back it up; you might find you have a car with no paint and not enough money to get it all sorted.

Price includes reasonable repairs. Cheapest is to supply a rolling chassis as it reduces the labour time for taking it part, putting it together again.

 

[Rob Gaskin]

Is this the car?

 

[Tim Jewitt]

I'd be very wary of a respray that cost less than £2k with no real repairs needed, just rub down and repaint with glass and door handles etc out. Look at it this way: 40-hours of labour at £40/hour = £1600. Then you have materials (paint) and consumables (sanding discs etc), profit. A week isn't a particularly long time. As everyone says, the hours start to pile up when rust gets uncovered, and when you're already into it for a couple of grand you're going to want it done properly and not see it bubbling up again in 12-months.

I would definitely be circumspect in selecting someone to do it. In my experience most bodyshops are just running businesses, trying to make some profit, are in no way enthusiastic about your car, and will just want it in and out and invoiced as soon as possible. Any business-minded bodyshop owner would want an accident repair on a modern car for a random punter over respraying an enthusiast's cherished classic any day. The former is easy and the owner is unlikely to even glance at the work let alone inspect it. The latter is difficult and the owner has the possibility of being a total pain in the ****. If it were me, I'd want someone with plenty of experience in refinishing classics and I'd want to see references / examples of past work.

 

[morbias]

Price includes reasonable repairs. Cheapest is to supply a rolling chassis as it reduces the labour time for taking it part, putting it together again.

I assume he's not sending it out to France, but getting a quote locally

in which case whatever they quote probably isn't going to be the final cost!

 

[Stevie P]

Mines being done at the moment, best guess is £5k.

Steve

 

[SeanDezart]

I assume he's not sending it out to France, but getting a quote locally

in which case whatever they quote probably isn't going to be the final cost!

Martin'll be over with his trailer soon with another one finished and yes, most quotes inflate like balloons....