Can anyone reommend a decent Body/Painy shop in NJ or Eastern PA?

[2quick]

Hey guys, Can anyone recommend a Decent Body/Paint shop in NJ or Eastern PA? I've got a 66 Satellite that I have over 150 hrs of body work into. I just got of the phone will a shop in Edison NJ where the guy quoted me almost $9000 to final block and paint in BC/CC. So far the entire car was striped to bare metal, All major rust repair and fabrication was done, (If you aver tried to take on a 66-67 B body you know what I mean) and I've got 3+ coats of SPI Gray High build primer on the car. Most of the hard work was done already and I'm just not feeling spending almost 9 grand to finish it. I'm really just looking for a shop to take on minimal final blocking and paint in LL1 Turquoise BC/CC. Beside not actually having that kind of money, I thought that by doing most of the major work myself, it would make it affordable enough take on this project. Am I crazy to think $9000 is too much to spend to block and paint a car? I would almost be OK at like $3500 - $4000 but $9000 is out of range at this point and I'm starting to think I'll never get it done. See Pics below.

 

[HawkRod]

So this is a tough question, because it depends on so many factors. Heck, you could get a Maaco special for few hundred bucks.

For a top notch paint job, paint materials alone can run a couple of grand. Depending on what kind of final finish you want, there can be a LOT of time in addressing small details. These are the kind of details that a top notch shop would want to take care of to ensure you are happy with the results. They are also the details that separate a great looking car from an OK or even semi crappy looking car. The other day I painted my windshield headliner trim. It looked great before I painted it, and then looked like crap after I did - lots of small dents and imperfections that I didn't see earlier.

I understand the caution that a body shop may have in quoting something like this, since they have not done the prep work. Here is a suggestion: Ask them to quote a primer job and final block sanding, plus a final paint job with NO bodywork or additional detail work/prep in between. Also agree that after the block sanding you will inspect the car with them and agree on any extra cost work you want them to fix. If your work is near perfect, you still have the price of the true "paint job". If there is a lot to fix, you can work with them to fix the car to the level (and cost) you want...

My $0.02

 

[2quick]

First of, Sorry for the bad grammar, I was trying to get out of work and my typing skills didn't keep up with the thought process. But anyway, Seems there are thousands of car owners out there that don't have the funds for a $9000 paint job, but still have very nice better then driver quality cars. I'm not looking to win top awards at SEMA nor would I ever let Maaco touch my car, But i'm sure there are places that can do a job like this for under $4500. With all the work I have in it already maybe its worth it to just spray it myself in the garage! $400 for a good gun and maybe a grand in material and I'm good. Has anyone ever sprayed their own cars at home? How did it come out? Would you do it again or pay someone? As far as equipment goes I'm pretty setup. Commercial grade 60gal 2 stage compressor, Air filtration, water separators, Primary Refrigerated Dryer, Secondary desiccant dryer. So some plastic and ventilation and I think I have a pretty good paint booth.

 

[dsd1967]

I paint all my own in a garage....the only vehicle I never painted was my wife's intrepid after she tagged someone...insurance took care of that.

With BC/CC it's pretty forgiving and you can wet sand and polish it after to get rid of any orange peel or dust.

I use eye loops on the garage ceiling, string clothes line rope through them and hang painters plastic through to the floor. A box fan at the garage door blowing out with cardboard sealing off all the side openings and I also tape at the top of the garage door so no air gets in there. Spend a lot of time cleaning the ceiling, garage door tracks and light fixtures with clean soapy water. The last time, I also sprayed the floor down, layed painters plastic down on the wet floor, covered it with cardboard and wet the cardboard down to keep dust down. It seemed to keep the dust down really well....and kept the paint from sticking to the concrete. I always open a window outside of the booth to let fresh air come in, and typically spray down the floor outside to keep dust down also.

The last vehicle I sprayed, I used Sherwin Williams Automotive paint. They were running a special with 3 quarts base with thinner, 1 gallon clear and activator for $300. I'm old school and use a siphon feed gun....never got the hang of an HVLP. This is what I last painted and it turned out pretty well with minimal wet sand and buff work. We had just north of $600 in both colors on this one...not including all the primer. Wheels were powder coated.

Oh yea....get a good charcoal filtered face mask, and I also wear a paint suit and head sock.....otherwise you will feel like flypaper when you spray the clear.

 

[flypaper]

.....otherwise you will feel like flypaper when you spray the clear.

how did i get dragged into this? :kermit: lol

anyway 9k for a good high end job isn't that crazy.
good materials will cost you money.
i have well over 2.5k in materials into mine and i'm not
using top shelf stuff.
if the guy also has shop overhead/insurance and is not working from his garage
i could see that price.

you could do it yourself.
just don't get caught! :headbang:

 

[eldubb440]

what all needs painted? hood compartment? undersides of hood and trunk lid? door jambs and interior door areas? trunk compartment? you want it sanded/buffed (its just not finished unless its buffed) ....... lots of variables there

you are already committed to 4500...... another few grand would probably net you a real nice job

bottom line is quality paint work takes alot of time, and paint isn't cheap........ im in south jersey...... if you arent too far pm me and i would be willing to take a look at your car

 

[HawkRod]

eldubb440 is doing the bodywork and paint on my car, so if you want to check out the work, see my thread here:
http://www.forbbodiesonly.com/moparforum/showthread.php?65096-Hawk-Rod-The-Restoration/page15

Page 14 and 15 have most of the paint pictures...

Hawk

 

[2quick]

what all needs painted? hood compartment? undersides of hood and trunk lid? door jambs and interior door areas? trunk compartment? you want it sanded/buffed (its just not finished unless its buffed) ....... lots of variables there

you are already committed to 4500...... another few grand would probably net you a real nice job

bottom line is quality paint work takes alot of time, and paint isn't cheap........ im in south jersey...... if you arent too far pm me and i would be willing to take a look at your car

Yes, I would like you to take a look!

Thinking that I would like to maybe do this in stages. First I have some more Repair work to do on the driver quarter and should be done with that in a month or so. Next i need to pull motor (318 Poly out 440 to go in) strip an prep engine compartment, epoxy and 2K + Block as needed. At that point I'm going to assemble car an align panels.

So once the car is whole again, then id like to have someone go over it, Should be pretty close by then but I really think I would like another set of eyes and hands on it to make perfect. Once the car is ready for paint I think i'll take it back home and decided what to do next. I may paint it myself! But at least if I do it in stages I may get the wife on board enough to let it happen.

Is that something you would be willing to take on? I'm not overly concerned about engine bay, inside trunk, or under car cause that's something I can do myself. Basically go over the outside, make sure the body lines are perfect, and prep for paint.

 

[Blown 67 coronet]

To strip all the paint and do a bc/cc I got a quote of 4K. same color as existing.
Phills Body shop in Harrisburg PA. not that far from NJ really. I know them and when I can afford they will paint my car. tell them Derek recommended 717-564-9202.
Ask for Wally Carper or Dave Bahajak

 

[2quick]

On another note I've been watching this guy on Ebay for about a year. Seem very inexpensive for PPG Deltron, I called him about 6 months ago and he said he would mix whatever colors I needed. When I asked him how he could sell so cheap he said he buys it by the tanker load. Is it possible that this is truly PPG Deltron at $167 a gallon?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/PPG-Deltron...0426918713&pt=Motors_Automotive_Tools&vxp=mtr