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MG MGB Technical - How much to paint a roadster

I have virtually finished the body work on my roadster. How much should I expect to pay for a good bare metal respray?
The car will be a rolling chassis, all the surfaces to be resprayed will be bare metal and I only want the "visible" panels sprayed. That is, not the underside, inner arches, engine bay, boot or interior; just the outer panels, doors, boot lid, bonnet, etc..

John
John Tampkins

Well, it's going to be the proverbial piece of string, but any American piece of said string is going to be far longer even taking exchange rate into account, from what I have read over many years. I had a bit more than what you describe for about £800. He did the bare-metal strip as well, but it was 20 years ago. That was considered cheap then, but there have only been a couple of blemishes since (and usage includes some wet miles each year when on organised runs) and they have been caused by the underlying metal.
Paul Hunt

I've had quotes ranging from £2k to over £4k for my roadster, so quite a range. I had much the same requirements except that I wanted the engine bay and boot interior to be sprayed.
The lower quote was assuming all 'extras' were off the car (all chrome and the windscreen) and was from an excellent accident repair bodyshop. The higher one was with only 'all chrome off', and was from a bodyshop with great experience in refurbishing classic and high-end (Rolls, Mercs) cars. The labour/materials split for this was about 3200/800 and was quoted in October '06. As you can see from the date it's been a while since I started the rebuild and I will need a requote!!
Richard Coombs

With regards to resprays, what paint systems are used now, and is there a need to go back to bare metal with them?
c cummins

c cummins, most now are using single stage or base coat/clear coat urathanes. It is not necessary to go back to bare metal as long as a proper coat of sealer is applied first per the paint manufactures instructions.
John H

John,

If you were in the London area I couls point you in the direction of a guy who would do a nice job for about a thousand.

I had my GT painted just over a year ago and the original quote was £1100 with him doing all the strip down and including modifying the front (Rubber bumper Car) to fit a Sebring valance and grill and also fitting the rear valance plus a small rust repair to the offside wheelarch and welding in new fixing plates for the front wing closing panels,

I did not envisage it being taken back to bare metal but when I popped into his sprayshop found he had removed all old paint because he was concerned that he wouldn't get a good finish, there was no mention of any extra cost.

In the end I had him do a few other extrs including de-lipping the rear wheel arches and undersealing the inner wings and we agreed happily on a couple of hundred, so £1300 all in.

Try and find someone who's been in the business for donkeys years not an accident repair specialist, their to used to be paid money for old rope.

The paint was two pack Jagur Alpine Green.

Kevin



Kevin Jackson

do it yourself i did it cost me £230 for the paint and primer,all the work is in the prep it only takes 20 mins to put the paint on,in a shed,it looks ok for the money,

da wright

Ah yes, forgot to mention mine was stripped to a rolling bodyshell as well (driveable, if you didn't mind sitting on the floor and hanging onto the wheel ...).
Paul Hunt

I have been on both sides of this situation over the last 30 years. You are setting yourself up for disapointment. Here is the deal. You brought me a car in bare metal that is "nearly done". You are looking to save a few bucks and only want a five footer paint job.

Unless you are some kind of sheetmetal god, there are a ton of ripples in that "nearly finished" car. I will need to spend 40 hours filling and blocking the thing. What is 40 hours of YOUR time worth if you claim to have a skill? A skilled painter will expect his skills to be recompensed also. If the painter you take pride in your work, you really do not care to do five footers to start with because (especially with classics) people are going to really notice the car and judge you for what they see..

Add $600 for materials and you are getting close.

So, find a person with a good reputation based on looking at other peoples results (see what I mean) and budget $3,000 for the job.

If you really just want a five footer, do yourself a favour and paint it in the garage. Its kinda fun.

Pete
Pete

da wright,

that car look great for a diy job did it take long to do the prep work?

my last few classics have be sprayed by a family freind who spayed them in his garage and costed me around £500-£1000 depending on if he liked to model of car or not. but i fancy doing the b myself but unsure of how long the prep would take as she is my only car and the wife would not take kindly to me stealing her car.

john
jr williamson

hi it was 5 weeks of weekends from start to flat and polish, no laquer on the car, go for it good luck,
da wright

Hot Rod Magazine had an article in July 2007 on painting a 62 Ford Falcon with Rust-Oleum for $98, $16 of which was the paint. They did not prime the bare metal areas of the car, used foam rollers, thinned the paint and gave it 3 coats over 3 days, with west sanding between coats. They ended up with a 4'-5' paint job that they rated higher than the "quickie one day budget" deals.
As others have said, the big cost factor is the preparation. Panel alignment can take hours.
A hot rod guy I work with suggested I check the cost of auto paint when I mentioned I might paint my car myself.
But mine is a long way form the paint stage yet.
Andy Taylor

This thread was discussed between 07/10/2008 and 09/10/2008

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