Sooner or Later Your Spyder Is Going To Need New Paint, What Is It Going To Cost?

Posted by: @nottamiata

LOL, you said "pain" job.

But that's my point. 2100 is reasonable, 5K is highway robbery.

If someone quoted me 2100 It would raise my suspicion.  I would go over everything and get testimonials before I would ever consider them. 

2100 could be the price of a 1500 paint job somewhere else. 

I think 3500 is very reasonable.  

As Cpidy mentioned there is a big difference in the material costs and that is where the margins are.  Some paint and body people refuse to use inferior products because they want to maintain their reputation and take pride in their work.  

Also it comes down to experience of knowing how to properly lay down paint and not everyone is equal. Too much or too little paint and it will not last.  

I would budget $2k for materials if I were doing a complete paint job on my Spyder

of coarse I have a red car so that adds to the cost

Yes, $2100 is still low. $5000 is on the high end but reasonable. The amount of prep to make a paint job look good is insane. Mighty Car Mods did a video just recently about the prep they had to do to paint the Mira.

@cspidy

In your hypothetical $2,000 car painting budget, where does the money go?

According to multiple Internet sources, it takes approximately 2 quarts of paint to cover, say, a Miata.  So assuming you wanted two coats it would be a gallon.  4 coats, two gallons etc.  A quick check on Ebay lists Toyota urethane paints from  $150-250 a gallon.  Sure there are primers, reducers, thinners, clear coats, bondo, and more kinds of abrasives, polishes, and polishing pads than I can imagine; but I am having a hard time getting my mind about $2,000 just for materials.

Please enlighten me/us!

BTW, full disclosure:  I have only painted a coupe of cars in my life .... and they were plastic model cars ..... and my paint jobs, admittedly, came out looking like shit.  Don't even ask about the decals.

Posted by: @not-2-old-for-2-seater

@cspidy

In your hypothetical $2,000 car painting budget, where does the money go?

According to multiple Internet sources, it takes approximately 2 quarts of paint to cover, say, a Miata.  So assuming you wanted two coats it would be a gallon.  4 coats, two gallons etc.  A quick check on Ebay lists Toyota urethane paints from  $150-250 a gallon.  Sure there are primers, reducers, thinners, clear coats, bondo, and more kinds of abrasives, polishes, and polishing pads than I can imagine; but I am having a hard time getting my mind about $2,000 just for materials.

Please enlighten me/us!

BTW, full disclosure:  I have only painted a coupe of cars in my life .... and they were plastic model cars ..... and my paint jobs, admittedly, came out looking like shit.  Don't even ask about the decals.

you won't find a quality top coat for less than $500/gal, be careful what you buy for a cheap price. quality primers are also expensive. you asked the question, my suggestion was to go to an automotive paint store and find out what quality paint materials cost. I can find many cheep paints online if that is what you want. the emphasis here is that costs have gone out of sight with paint for cars.

and don't forget the clear coat.

As I said, $512 for my deck lid, which included removal and replacement on the car. Body shop has a good reputation, but so far i have no direct experience. Will let you know when The Frog comes back.

To CSPIDY's point: The guy said that they mix the paint down to the gram, so I wouldn't be able to "get a break" on adding the deck lid to the ticket. Never heard that level of precision before, but I dont get out much. They have four or five big, clean bays. The guy I spoke to mentioned a monthly materials cost of over $30K, so they are anal about the amount of paint they use. Must be expensive... And a deck lid isn't very big, either.

If it is a standard color that they can mix perhaps they will charge by what was used but higher end paints, custom colors, clears and pearls will likely be different.

You can look up the costs of your paint with Eastwood, House of Kolors or even Sherwin Williams if you want an idea of what the paint will cost.

https://www.eastwood.com/paints/automotive-finishes.html

https://www.houseofkolor.com/kolors/?ref=topnav

https://www.sherwin-automotive.com/fleet-refinishing/products-reference/paint

https://www.paintforcars.com/

but as others have said the key to a good paint job is in the prep.

As they say in building hotrods, you can get things good, fast and cheap but only two at a time so pick wisely.

With any quote you can’t just look at the number, what are you getting for you dollar? Are they stripping the car down to bar metal or is it simply a scuff and spray.

you simply can’t take anything for granted, you have to ask the questions to the shop you are considering. Will there be additional costs for repairs that weren’t noticed before the strip?

Then again it depends what you want.

I would also use a shop based on reputation.

We.are lucky with our Spyders because rust doesn’t seam to be an issue with these cars, that can really add cost with rust repair.

I know someone that painted their car body with no experience  which I helped color stand and buff afterwards.  It turned out great and what inspired me to do my side skirts which also turned out great.  

If I were to paint my own Spyder here is what I would do.  I would remove each panel  and do it over a period of time that way I won't exhaust myself and so that if I screw up I can isolate the problem. With the panel removed it is much easier to isolate the part and have a better spray angle and no over spray.   You can do this and have patience to get it right.  The best part of our cars is the fact that we have removable body panels.    It doesn't have to be an all day affair either as you can divide the work and do it over a period of time until completion.  

Posted by: @dev

I know someone that painted their car body which I help color stand and buff afterwards.  It turned out great and what inspired me to do my side skirts which also turned out great.  

If I were to paint my own Spyder here is what I would do.  I would remove each panel  and do it over a period of time that way I won't exhaust myself and so that if I screw up I can isolate the problem. With the panel remove it is much easier to isolate the part and have a better spray angle and no over spray.   You can do this and have patience to get it right.  The best part of our cars is the fact that we have removable body panels.    

 

 

 

That is a great idea, small bites, only thing to consider would be if you were using a metallic paint you would have to be very careful of the amount of paint sprayed to keep the color uniform.

Posted by: @cspidy

Posted by: @dev

I know someone that painted their car body which I help color stand and buff afterwards.  It turned out great and what inspired me to do my side skirts which also turned out great.  

If I were to paint my own Spyder here is what I would do.  I would remove each panel  and do it over a period of time that way I won't exhaust myself and so that if I screw up I can isolate the problem. With the panel remove it is much easier to isolate the part and have a better spray angle and no over spray.   You can do this and have patience to get it right.  The best part of our cars is the fact that we have removable body panels.    

 

 

 

That is a great idea, small bites, only thing to consider would be if you were using a metallic paint you would have to be very careful of the amount of paint sprayed to keep the color uniform.

Yes very true. What I found in regard to painting metallic to match is first using a company that has a paint matching system.  When applying coats of paint you need the correct shade of primer.  For our cars gray does just fine except for yellow which needs white or at least a coat of white paint before yellow.  The last consideration is consistency of how you apply your coats.  Two coats is what makes it match.  If you add a third coat you will change the tint of the paint and the metal flake will look off.  Also too much paint will crack, the goal is to use the thinnest amount you can get away with. First coat should be very light wetting. Your second coat should apply until you have saturation and then leave it alone. 1000 grit block for the primer, 2000 uniform grit block before the second coat.  Let it degas and then add clear but most of all make sure it’s not to humid or too dry. If you plan it out you can get a professional or better result because some finishers may not go the extra mile. If you are not confident practice on a junk yard part like a side view mirror. Watch YouTube videos and understand how to avoid mistakes. 

For the urethane  or none metal surfaces you need to use a flex primer.    

The prep before the paint is the most important however if the surface is smooth use it to your advantage and don’t screw it up by going aggressive with sanding the surface.  

There is no doubt that an experienced person can do a better job but most of what makes a good paint job is the materials. 

Posted by: @dev

Posted by: @cspidy

Posted by: @dev

I know someone that painted their car body which I help color stand and buff afterwards.  It turned out great and what inspired me to do my side skirts which also turned out great.  

If I were to paint my own Spyder here is what I would do.  I would remove each panel  and do it over a period of time that way I won't exhaust myself and so that if I screw up I can isolate the problem. With the panel remove it is much easier to isolate the part and have a better spray angle and no over spray.   You can do this and have patience to get it right.  The best part of our cars is the fact that we have removable body panels.    

 

 

 

That is a great idea, small bites, only thing to consider would be if you were using a metallic paint you would have to be very careful of the amount of paint sprayed to keep the color uniform.

Yes very true. What I found in regard to painting metallic to match is first using a company that has a paint matching system.  When applying coats of paint you need the correct shade of primer.  For our cars gray does just fine except for yellow which needs white or at least a coat of white paint before yellow.  The last consideration is consistency of how you apply your coats.  Two coats is what makes it match.  If you add a third coat you will change the tint of the paint and the metal flake will look off.  Also too much paint will crack, the goal is to use the thinnest amount you can get away with. First coat should be very light wetting. Your second coat should apply until you have saturation and then leave it alone. 1000 grit block for the primer, 2000 uniform grit block before the second coat.  Let it degas and then add clear but most of all make sure it’s not to humid or too dry. If you plan it out you can get a professional or better result because some finishers may not go the extra mile. If you are not confident practice on a junk yard part like a side view mirror. Watch YouTube videos and understand how to avoid mistakes. 

For the urethane  or none metal surfaces you need to use a flex primer.    

The prep before the paint is the most important however if the surface is smooth use it to your advantage and don’t screw it up by going aggressive with sanding the surface.  

There is no doubt that an experienced person can do a better job but most of what makes a good paint job is the materials. 

 

I totally agree with dev and would add that if during your prep work, should you have to sand all the way down to bare metal, you will need an etching primer for those areas.  Once you seal those areas with an etching primer, then cover that with the same primer you use for the rest of the project.   Color of primer makes a HUGE difference for the tone of the color coat.  I did section repaint on a red car and was so frustrated because I could not get the matched paint to match.  The sample matched the paint in the can but it didn't even come close when I sprayed the car.   It drove me nuts! The difference? The primer color.  Turns out red automotive paint (and likely others) is actually "transparent" (term the automotive paint store used when teaching me).  I re-prepped and when I switched from the white primer to a gray primer, low and behold, I got a perfect color match!  Blew my mind!

Also . . . When prepping HDPE "plastic" pieces, should you have to sand down to the base material, you'll need to first spray an adhesion promoter or your paint will likely flex right off.   I experienced this last year when I purchased OEM mud flaps for my corolla.  I sanded and prepped, primed and painted the mud flaps and totally forgot to start with adhesion promoter until half way through spraying the color coat.  I even had adhesion promoter on hand -- just totally forgot!  I went ahead and finished the project anyway, as I was using a single stage paint.   The spray job was one of the best I've ever done (not that I've done that many).  It looked great.  I let the paint cure for a week or two before subjecting the parts to the riggers of  bolting to the fender-wells. Once the bolt made the slightest snug contact with the paint,  the paint flexed and popped right off the part!  It worked out fine, letting the paint cure first, because the paint so easily slipped off the part.  Had I tried to remove it immediately with a solvent, it would have been a huge mess to clean-up. Fortunately,  there wasn't any big hurry to get the job done. 

I also agree that you might save a chunk of change if you do the bulk of the prep work yourself,  which is the most time consuming and most important part of the painting process.  At least,  that's been my experience.   

Uncle Mush just reminded me about adhesion promotor. The best one that I have used is SEM sand free.   The best way to use it is after you sand the primer you give the area a light coat and while the adhesion promotor is still wet you apply your first coat of paint.  The promotor will help with problem areas on the primer so paint is equally distributed as its atomized form the spray gun and it helps fuse the paint to the primer.  As for the bumpers that are urethane you need to use flexible primer surfacer. 

I would also not remove the all of the existing paint from the bumper because if you do it might make things worse with the urethane disinergrating. Instead use scuffing gel and plenty of water until the part is entirely gloss free and uniform. 

Posted by: @dev

Uncle Mush just reminded me about adhesion promotor. The best one that I have used is SEM sand free.   The best way to use it is after you sand the primer you give the area a light coat and while the adhesion promotor is still wet you apply your first coat of paint.  The promotor will help with problem areas on the primer so paint is equally distributed as its atomized form the spray gun and it helps fuse the paint to the primer.  As for the bumpers that are urethane you need to use flexible primer surfacer. 

I would also not remove the all of the existing paint from the bumper because if you do it might make things worse with the urethane disinergrating. Instead use scuffing gel and plenty of water until the part is entirely gloss free and uniform. 

 

 

 

 

My experience was different from yours, dev.  With the product I used, I first had to scuff the bare surface of the HDPE, then spray a coat of adhesion promoter on the scuffed HDPE, then the primer, then sand to smooth and then the color coat (single stage color coat).  I also used that same process on one project where I used a two-stage paint process (water-based color and clear-coat).  I only mention this in case there are differences in adhesion promoters and how they are used.  I have very limited experience with the process, as I have only had to use adhesion promotor on three projects.  I'd have to go out to my shop and unearth a bunch of stuff to get the name of the adhesion promoter that I used.  I've still got the can.  If anyone needs me to do that, let me know and I'll go out to the shop and get the product name and post it here.

i forgot the brand of flex agent adhesion promoter i used... i'll check when i get home tonight...