From: <RFitzp2782@aol.com>
> i think iam gonna start painting cars
While that may sound like the dream job and an easy way to obtain wealth
from the figuring being talked about here, it is very labour intensive. Not
the actual spraying, but the preparation.
Valerie brought up some excellent points, about seeing a "portfolio" of
their work. The other option is, come car show season, to find the cars
with paint jobs you approve of and ask where they had the work done. This
will provide you with an accurate view of the final product and a realistic
scope of the cost.
$7500 may sound like an inflated figure for a "paint job", but if that
includes body work (possible replacing of a few panels, some welding, and
aligning all the panel work for perfect gaps), in addition to the paint
prep, the actual painting, supplies, and the wet sanding and cutting of the
paint for that perfect deep shine; I would consider it an good value.
I have experience with painting a Triumph, albeit a GT6. At the time I was
working for Power British during one of my summers in college, and a
customer wanted to have their GT6 painted and ready for a wedding in 8
weeks. The final bill was about $4500, and this was not a bare metal job.
However, it did include cutting out the passenger side rocker and welding in
a new one (with each spot weld replicated!), some body work for the usual
dents and dings, filing off of factory welding splatter (common on the rear
wings of GT6s), keying the original paint, applying two coats of build
primer, upwards of 45 hours of blocking, another coat of primer then final
sanding with fine grits, sealer, multiple coats of paint, correcting any
imperfections (shaving off a few pieces of painted coated dust) and then
final wet sanding and cutting of the paint.
Car came in 2nd in one of the larger regional British shows in the area
about two months after it was finished. It finished 2nd to a car also
painted by Power British.
As the person who did all the prep work, aside from the welding, I will tell
you that it is a very labour intensive job! Especially in the 95 degree F
summer days of Philadelphia, in a shop with no air conditioning. I did
enjoy it though, there is great satisfaction in seeing the final product. I
would say a GT6 is more difficult to prep and paint than a TR6, it just has
so many more crevices and lines to it than a TR6 does and half the panel
work isn't removable -- but then again, that means half as many panels to
realign.
I fully support going to a car show and looking at examples of paint quality
you are looking for, and then asking who carried out the work. There is no
substitute for what you see in the real world, a $7500 may sound great (and
it very well may be), but you can't judge it until you see your car all
painted. But you can judge other people's car before you spend that $7500!
Judge based on the colour you're going to have your car painted, yes a black
car is hard to get right and a good one is a sign of quality, but a shop can
just as easily bodge up a red car (and some of the softer TR shades are also
difficult).
Kai
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