Counting The Cost
There's a lot more to painting than just paint, so we hit a local paint dealer-Coast Airbrush in Anaheim, California-to see what it would cost to paint a theoretical car. With Resurrection Hot Rods and Customs' Tom Prewitt as our consultant, we dreamed up a '68 Camaro that would be adorned in House of Kolor Apple Red with Snowhite Pearl rally strips. Coast owner Dave Monig pulled everything we'd need off the shelves, laid it out for us, then ran up an estimate.
We expected the paint and primer to count for a big chunk of the total, but were surprised that the substances needed to make them work-the activators, catalysts, and reducers-cost half as much again. As with most things, the little things will get you. It's good to know you'll spend more than $100 on sandpaper before starting, and that could easily double if you're taking a car down to bare metal. And you're looking at almost that much again just for tape and masking paper.
We did include a couple of sanding blocks in the total but didn't include power tools, like a grinding wheel, DA sander, or block sander-not to mention a paint gun. So if you, like us, have ever wondered why a paint job costs so much, now you have a better idea of where all that dough goes.
| 1. Body filler | $77 |
| 2. Sandpaper | $112 |
| 3. Tape and masking paper | $85 |
| 4. Primer | $171 |
| 5. Basecoat/stripes | $475 |
| 6. Clear | $125 |
| 7. Activators, catalysts, and reducers | $331 |
| 8. Respirator and spray suit | $90 |
| 9. Cleanup supplies | $53 |
| Total | $1,519 |
Do you have to strip a car...
Do you have to strip a car down to bare metal before repainting? It depends. If your car still has original, acrylic lacquer paint dating back to the '60s or earlier, absolutely, no matter how good it looks. This type of paint checks, or cracks, over time, and once bare metal is exposed, the paint must be removed. Generally speaking, later enamel or urethane paint jobs that are in good shape can be primed and painted over as long as the clearcoat is adequately scuffed.
When considering whether or...
When considering whether or not to strip your ride down to bare metal, remember that many classic Chevys are 40-plus years old, and the odds are they've been damaged and repaired-often badly. This '66 Chevelle door was fixed with an old-school dent puller rather than a modern stud-welding setup. The resulting holes should have been welded shut and ground down but were stuffed with body filler instead. Laying down new paint over something like this would be asking for trouble.