E30 Zone

i assume yous gets what you pays for but what does it cost to have a pro respray a cabby, (metalic) assuming little or no dent / rust removal? Hows about with a colour change? I'm thinking good quality but not show - its an everyday car, parked on the street.

Ta

its like everything mate, you pay for what you get... im gonna have a shot in the dark and say.... 2-3k.

blimey! thats that plan out of the window!

e30bmlover wrote:its like everything mate, you pay for what you get... im gonna have a shot in the dark and say.... 2-3k.

spot on.

can cost more when you add a new seals etc well thats what my dad did.

his cost about 3.5k after new window seals light seals etc that was door shuts engine bay etc

and a ppukka finish too

My sport needed a lot of work prior to respray & cost £2000 folding [mates rates ]?

No need to pay anything over 2K if the car dos not need major prepping.

Maybe 2.5K max if you get all new seals and bolts, which you want to do because you don't want to put rusty old screws and stuff back onto fresh paint.

Mate, if it were me and you wanted to get out as light as you can, if you have a knowledge of paint work and body work, TRY IT YOURSELF !!!! no just joking, why not get the car prepared your self, get all the easier work done that you can, then take it to your painter, and ask him what materials he needs, paint, thinners, lacquer, hardner....
then get the materials yourself, from a good paint supplier like morrellis, so he cant over charge you for the materials, then pretty much let him give his opinion on the prep work if it needs abit more work let him finish or you do it, but you have broke the back of it,
then let him pull the trigger!!
so all your paying for is his time to paint it, then bake it!
you could ring a paint supplier and ask them how much all these things cost,
if i was to guess the materials would be suminc around £350 would be ample,
to give you example i bought some paint to do a m tec 2 kit and to have some case of an accident,
i bought 2 litres of colour £ 60
thinners 5 litres £ 25
lacquer single pack 5 litres £ 50
primer, £ 20
paper £10
and there was loads left,could of painted the car with 2 litres of colour.
up to you tho mate just a suggestion! good luck

i wouldnt be paying more than 2G for a decent quality job although if you were changing the colour i would expect it to be more. i payed £1500 for a good job a couple of years ago but that was a completely stripped rolling shell with a complete new body and panels already fitted.

them are some steep prices for a full shoot considering there is little repair work to do i charge around £800 to £1000 for something like that and thats full strip down, ie- all bumpers, lights and trims removed including window rubbers. and i use HS paints and primers.

toughyv8 wrote:them are some steep prices for a full shoot considering there is little repair work to do i charge around £800 to £1000 for something like that and thats full strip down, ie- all bumpers, lights and trims removed including window rubbers. and i use HS paints and primers.

This is more in line with my thinking...about a grand for a spray job. Not bare metal but a quality job.

I would say, drawing on my galactic knowledge of paint, that the following is a good guide.

1K for quality, same colour, little or no prep.

2K for top notch, same colour with fair bit of prep and main seals/rubbers.

2.5-3K bare metal, all new seals, panels off and baked - but who other than obsessive-compulsive disordered geek (and half the zone) would be this anal?
Anything over 2.5K is just plain inflated and not justifiable in my opinion, which is the only opinion to follow, in my opinion.

right. Grand opens the possibilities. I know i'd be better off looking for a really nice one than improving mine which is getting slightly scruffy but i like a project. And I can't seem to find a nice silver 325 cab. I could smarten mine plus engine swap (its a 320) or buy scruffy silver 325 and repaint or start with a unpopular colour 325 and have colour change.

I know the best value would be just to wait for the right car but i want it now..!

ive been quoted around that price, so its going in for a repaint next month,

Quite a while ago I had my car resprayed and it was approx 500 quid, maybe a little less. I rubbed it all down myself and had it all primed, smooth and ready for spraying up. I also supplied all the materials. It wasn't a professional job obviously, but it looked the business and was metallic too!

The second time I was more ambitious: me and a mate hired a compressor, had already prepared the body, built a spray booth in a garage with one open end, and one afternoon went for it. It turned out a treat and most people didn't believe we'd done it ourselves. It cost so little. This is going back some years, maybe 1996, so showing my age a bit.......


Good luck and hope you find a good price.

at the end of the day u get what u pay for

If you try and supply all the paint and materials, don't expect the sprayer to offer you a warranty.... plus, every paint performs in a slightly different way, so it might take the sprayer longer to do the job! what if you supply something wrong? then he's also going to have to charge you extra for sorting out your mistakes etc

I'm a tradesman, and personally hate it when people insist on supplying there own materials (I got this cheap blah blah blah - yes it's sh!t and not even fit for the bin...) i charge them extra to fit if it takes longer to fit, then it's only fair the customer pays, Most of us are running a business not a charity.

But there's no doubt that of all the car repair industry areas, bodyshops are the rip-off plumbers of the land.

And that's SCIENTIFIC FACT!

They take a sneering look at a dink in a wing and then say: '£1000 at least mate. Gotta find a new wing, then get some bolts, then kind of bolt it on, then you gotta paint it and THEN you have to leave it to dry, yeh, I'd say nearer 3 grand now I think about it mate...'

E30Mark wrote:I'm a tradesman, and personally hate it when people insist on supplying there own materials (I got this cheap blah blah blah - yes it's sh!t and not even fit for the bin...

So am I, and totally agree with this! You get used to handling certain materials and customer supplied stuff just slows you down, even if it isn't the usual rubbish they buy (Ring lighting, anyone?!!!!!!). It also eats into my profits!
By all means find out how much the materials are really worth, and don't deny the sprayer a small profit on them, as long as he's not totally ripping you off.

toughyv8 wrote:them are some steep prices for a full shoot considering there is little repair work to do i charge around £800 to £1000 for something like that and thats full strip down, ie- all bumpers, lights and trims removed including window rubbers. and i use HS paints and primers.

Silly question time: What are HS paints and primers?

by me its about 500-800 for a quick respray not top notch and 1000 for a proper full respray

I had a blowover done on my old car. New colour, no door shuts or engine bay. Just wanted a change as the original paint was knackered.

Was quoted 975 for a fancy silver/blue pearl colour.

The job done was atrocious, cracks in the bumpers, uneven pearl. He hadnt even sanded the car down before spraying.

I refused to pay, he refused to give me the car... and thats how I got my e30.

If I had the motivation to do it I would take him to court, but the car is worth next to nothing anyway, and he cant sell it until I give him the v5 as he isnt a mechanic and has no 'lien' so I am enjoying the fact he is stuck with a badly painted, worthless heap taking up space while I enjoy the world of e30's.

The upshot of this is, sprayers are con men, they all do sh*t jobs, and will rip you off as soon as look at you. And never go to Konceptz in callington for a spray job.

1-3k is about right for a spray job.

You should have sprayed some paint down his throat.

Evenly tho.

I'd have done a better job of it than he did on my car.

greentouring wrote:The second time I was more ambitious: me and a mate hired a compressor, had already prepared the body, built a spray booth in a garage with one open end, and one afternoon went for it. It turned out a treat and most people didn't believe we'd done it ourselves. It cost so little.

This is along my line of thought at the moment, will definately be doing all the prep anyway. I assume flat paint is easier to get a better finish with than metallic?

Before we all go rushing off to do our own prep....make sure you know what you're doing....

If you flat through the primer (assuming you prime the car yourself, or take the car back from the bodyshop after it's been primed) then it will need priming again, and if you go through to metal it will need a coat of etch and then high-build!

I'm not gona lecture people on how to do it, as i've only been doing it professionally for 1 year...but been into bodywork for about 4 years...and it's like the old saying... THE PREP MAKES OR BREAKS THE PAINT JOB!!!

Don't forget that wet-flatting the final finish is as important as wet-flatting the primer....very few body-shops (if any) will be able to respray a whole car and not get orange-peel or other defects on atleast one of the surface's!!!

Also, the majority of the time will be taken to remove trims, and then mask the car!!!! (this can take 1/2 - 1 day!)

Masking aint as easy as it looks....if you mask the car wrong and he sprays it....when you remove the masking it will tear away any paint that was in contact with it!!!! If that happened to be on a panel, it would mean you have either your top-coat or lacquer peeling!!! When you then go to wash the car it will slowly peel away till it's really noticable!!!!

Also if your prep aint good, it'll take longer to correct your mistakes, and will cost you more in the long run!

I work in the trade and I can honestly say I hate the bodyshops who rip you off!!!

In terms of materials, you could probably get paint for £120 to paint a full e30 (with some left over) and will only need thinners (about £10) and consumable's (£5-10)!!! and other bits and bobs....£200 tops!!(unless you're buying flip paint or something like that)

But, the reason most place's will charge alot is because of the labour involved....to respray a car PROPERLY I would say you need minimum 1 1/2 - 2weeks....unless they have a few people working on it!!!

It sickens me to say even the bodyshop I work in only gets the visible panels (boot, bonnet, roof, top of wings and flat surface's ) perfect....they charge around £750 for a respray and skip on the bits that make it a good job!

I actually had an argument with my boss as he didn't want me to wet-flat the whole of a customers bumper as "you wouldn't be able to see half of the bits unless you got close".....that car was been re-sprayed to go to the MaxPower show!!!!

I'm looking for a new employer as we speak as I don't feel my current one understands the standards i work to!!!

I see it quite clearly...finish a customer's car to the same level you would do your own....!!!

Having bored you to death with my story, just to summarize....

If you know what you're doing, and the bodyshop are okay for you to either work in the bodyshop, or take the car away after primering, then you'll be okay,, if not, then don't bother, pay that little extra, and get it done professionally!!!!

That doesn't mean go to the person who charges the most either.... go by reputation, as that can only be built with good work!!!

Silly question time: What are HS paints and primers?

HS means high solids, MS means medium solids. basically its what is left on the job after all the solvents and thinners etc has evaporated ie- HS leaves more material (paint or primer) on the job than MS so if i used HS laquer it would be glossier than MS laquer because theres more solid material in the substrate. if that makes sense

mate have a go your self then you will see what you are paying for! the work is just mental, aspecially if you have a go at home, all them crazy stuff that happens to paint work!!!

slippo wrote:mate have a go your self then you will see what you are paying for! the work is just mental, aspecially if you have a go at home, all them crazy stuff that happens to paint work!!!

I'm not sure exactly what you meant to say...but yes, there is alot of labour (not pregnancy type) involved, and it should be left to people who know what they're doing.

i was trying to say there is a lot more work involved than it looks, and also it takes alot longer than people or customers think! so im sure if they tried it there self they would f*uck it right it and see how much work is involved, and respect the charges and time and effort.

slippo wrote:i was trying to say there is a lot more work involved than it looks, and also it takes alot longer than people or customers think! so im sure if they tried it there self they would f*uck it right it and see how much work is involved, and respect the charges and time and effort.

So true...

If I was to attempt this myself, what tools would i need?

is it possible to hire these?

whiteM3 wrote:If I was to attempt this myself, what tools would i need?

is it possible to hire these?

Unless you're hammering out big dents...you don't need tools...

if your cars straight, then you need to prime the car....and then guide coat it (if your primers grey, spray very lightly black guide-coat over it to show you the high-low spots in the primer).

You'd then need to flat the whole car with p600 so only the primer colour is showing...i.e. no black dots left....

you then take it to paint...
and after paint...flat the whole car with P2000 and then buff with Farecla G3 or similar product.

aye, but coming from someone whos only ever done spray work with a can, i assume i'll need some sort of paint gun?

but thanks for those other tips, they have been noted!

this is gonna happen in a couple of months when its got a bit warmer...

whiteM3 wrote:aye, but coming from someone whos only ever done spray work with a can, i assume i'll need some sort of paint gun?

but thanks for those other tips, they have been noted!

this is gonna happen in a couple of months when its got a bit warmer...

best to get the bodyshop to prime it, and then let it dry before taking it back home...if you do it yourself and get dirt nibs in it, it's gona be a bas*ard as when you flat it, the dirt nibs will come out leaving tiny pinholes everywhere....

you could do it yourself in a tent/garage, but remember one thing...the primer is the foundation for your finish...and defects in that will show-up more in the finished job!

Also, if you get any silicone in the primer...it'll peel off once painted...!!!

I'd suggest leaving the priming and painting to a bodyshop, and then doing the prep (as long as you feel confident) yourself to cut on the cost a bit!!!

I can't stress enough the importance of prep and finish!!!

If you're confident, the go for it!

it's going to be one of 2 outcomes...

1. you do a piss poor job, and the finish is shite! costing more to put your errors right! (bodyshops hate that, and will no doubt charge more!)

2. you put more effort in than a bodyshop would've, and flat all the car (including the bits you have to get close to see i.e towards the bottom of the car) where a bodyshop would've cut corners, and you get a good paint job at less than the going rate!!!

Royalratch wrote:But there's no doubt that of all the car repair industry areas, bodyshops are the rip-off plumbers of the land.

And that's SCIENTIFIC FACT!

They take a sneering look at a dink in a wing and then say: '£1000 at least mate. Gotta find a new wing, then get some bolts, then kind of bolt it on, then you gotta paint it and THEN you have to leave it to dry, yeh, I'd say nearer 3 grand now I think about it mate...'

Well that says it all... Im quiting my job (As a sprayer) because I no sorry we (Put brush full of Tar back in the tin) have been found out! I would over charge you If you came and asked me to do 'You' a favour.

We get all the know it alls up at our place, as in most Trades "Oh whilst you got paint in the gun could you just do this, and this, oh and that!"

People that know absolutely everything about everything, get ripped off. Now thats a Scientific fact