of preparation, we had an incident where a painter had moved to California from another state and he was unused to painting with water-based materials. Despite being instructed on the prevailing methods, he insisted on painting, in particular mixing, in his tried and true way. Unfortunately, those methods don’t work with these different chemicals that typically require a lot less reducer. Needless to say, he mixed his paint and painted the car only to find that his old methods were redundant. The whole car had to be rubbed down and started over. No matter what you think you know, read and follow the instructions.
In this book, we’ll concentrate on process and technique rather than the chemical aspects of paint materials or legal requirements. You can study the wide variety of materials that are available as well as the legal requirements regarding refinishing in your city and state or country through books and the Internet. Mick’s Paint is located in California, where the maze of regulations is very confusing. You could call two different paint stores and get three different answers.
Regardless of what you are painting, whether it’s a muscle car, a hot rod, a custom, a truck, a motorcycle, or whatever, the principles are the same and those principles are what we will be covering in this book. First, you need a plan. You need to know how long it’s likely to take, how you are going to get ’er done, and, most importantly, how much it’s going to cost.
Find a car such as this 1963 Dodge 880 with decent factory paint and you should think very seriously about keeping the original paint. A repaint might alter the value significantly.
Of course, you can ignore all this and plough ahead, but in our experience not knowing what you’re in for is a prelude to disaster. Forewarned is forearmed. For example, if you get the body prepped and had not accounted for the cost of paint materials, how are you going to finish the project? You can’t leave it in primer, as primer typically absorbs moisture. You won’t notice for a few months but that moisture works its way down to the steel where it initiates oxidation. A year in and you’re going to have to strip the car back to bare metal, including all the Bondo. It makes sense, therefore, to have a plan and know what you’re getting into.
To Paint or Not to Paint
To paint or not to paint is a question that you might be wondering why we’re even asking, but if you have an original muscle car with factory paint then you have to consider carefully whether to paint or not. Even if the paint is worn out and flat, sometimes on the right car original factory paint is what you want; it adds value when a repaint might devalue the car.
If the factory paint is good in places but bad in others, you have to review it thoughtfully and see if the damaged or badly worn places can be repaired without painting the whole car. Again, it might save you time and money and result in a car that is worth more than if you had repainted it.
Once the decision has been made that a complete, down to bare metal paint job is required, it’s time to do some further thinking. The first thing to be aware of is that a quality finish is not a job for the faint of heart. It will take you weeks or months if not longer to complete. Some of the top-level jobs at Mick’s Paint have in excess of 1,000 hours of labor. That’s 25 weeks, equaling half a year, and that’s for a professional; an amateur may take even longer. This is time-consuming work with few shortcuts. That’s why top-notch, show-quality paint jobs cost so much. If or when you uncover some less-than-satisfactory repairs under the existing paint, it will be depressing and probably more expensive than you budgeted for.
This pair of tidy Mustangs is in great shape and therefore may be too good and original for what we have in mind. However, it pays to buy the best car you can that is together and complete with all its trim and pieces. A body shell with a pile of parts is not the way to go. Worse still, in Mick’s opinion, is a car in primer.
What Car to Paint
Of course, you might already have the car of your dreams, the car you want to restore and repaint rusting in the back 40, cozy in a garage, tarped in the driveway, or, worse, rusting in the yard. However, if you don’t have the car and you’re trying to figure out what car that should be, read chapter 4 that goes into the decision-making process more fully. Be aware, though, even at this early stage in the process, a poor decision now will no doubt turn out costly in the end.
Are Parts Available?
I’ll get into parts sourcing in more detail in chapter 4, but, again, even at this preliminary stage you want to be thinking about where you’re going to get any parts you might need. If a 1971 Pontiac GTO convertible is your dream car, we can tell you that the parts are expensive and difficult to locate.
Mick’s Paint recently had one in the shop that needed some bodywork, including a new hood. After weeks of searching, a used hood was found for $3,500 but it looked rusty in the photos and needed shipping across the country. By the time it was shipped, was acid dipped to make sure all the rust was removed, and was prepped, it would have cost the customer at least $5,000 before paint, and that was the cost if it didn’t need any other bodywork, which you know it would have. In the end, the owner opted for a good quality fiberglass hood, as the car was not a restoration.
Maybe your dream car is a 1971 GTO, which is a rare car worth restoring, something like that might be out of your price range. It might be time to think about a more popular car to tackle for your first big project.
This 1971 GTO convertible turned into a problem. A good original hood was impossible to buy so a fiberglass hood was sourced. The headlight surrounds are original fiberglass.
A hood for this 1965 El Camino shouldn’t be difficult to find because, after all, it’s interchangeable with the Chevelle. The problem is that all the good ones are on Chevelles, consequently making them not easy to find.
The GTO’s original Endura front bumper was so bad that it needed to be replaced with a fiberglass piece that can be massaged for a better fit.
How Much Will It Cost?
People who don’t know much of anything about painting cars are always surprised at the time it takes and the cost it involves. “It’s just paint. How can it be so expensive?” Well, things have moved on since Earl Scheib painted cars for $19.95 and materials are no longer inexpensive. A gallon of paint in Los Angeles is now between $400 and $1,000 a gallon depending on the color, with reds being more expensive. If it’s a metallic or pearl base coat and clear process, then you’re going to need clear coat. A good quality clear coat costs $450 a gallon and you’ll need three to four gallons. Why so much? Well, you want it to look good and you want plenty of clear so that you don’t sand through to the actual color.
To paint the outside of a typical muscle car might take as much as four to five gallons of paint alone if you go the single-stage route, not including inside the trunk, under the hood, and other miscellaneous areas. If you use the two- or three-stage approach, the amount of paint will be less, maybe 2.5 gallons, but you’re going
