priming costs after media blasting

[greenmachine]

Hey guys

My car will be done with media blasting this week and awaiting priming. The media blaster was slow earlier this year and cut me a deal of 50.00 an hour. He sends all his finished work to another shop for priming after the blasting is done. I met with the other shop today and was told a grand to prime the whole car in DP40. Does this sound like a good price? First time doing a mopar (or restoring any car for that matter). Thanks guys. Erik

 

[Jasoncoronet]

Really thats no a bad deal. You may be able to save a couple of hundred but what is most important is that it is primed correctly. Just make sure the primer is sprayed on even and done as soon as you can once the blasting is done. You are doing it correct however.

Good luck bud.

 

[Propwash]

Without a doubt, PPG DP40 is expensive stuff.......Also without a doubt, it is very good stuff. Go figure. Sounds like a bit more than half of the total will be labor and other consumable charges. Sounds fair to me. Not any kind of smoking deal or anything, but still decent.

 

[Cornpatch MO]

DP 40 is an excellent primer. It is an epoxy primer and will not allow water to go thru it and rust metal underneath. Good for extended periods before being painted. Body plastic can be applied over the top of it. Best to read instructions on the can or find out about it on the web.......................MO

 

[Donny]

$50.00 and hour for media blasting, with what type of media? (Sounds way too cheap) And, a grand to prime the car? Wow, amazing! For a large car such as ours, when I blast its about 1200.00 for the body, extra for doors and stuff. Priming I must be way cheap! To do the entire car in self etch then epoxy, including doors and stuff we're about 8 hrs max, plus materials, $45.00 hr

 

[greenmachine]

Thanks for the response guys. Donny, normally the blaster charges 80 bucks an hour. He said most cars take about 10 hours ( he said plan on 1400-1600). During the winter he slowed way down on business and told me he was willing to do cars for 50 an hour. They use walnut shells, sand (hardly ever on exteriors panels) and different combinations of ag to get desired results. The place is Portland blasters. So far I have been impressed. I think my friends think I am crazy for dumping another 2 g's into this paint job, but I want it to last. Erik

 

[Donny]

They could charge more, industry will sustain a higher price. He's right, about 10 hrs on a car body (no more than that though), usually around 5-8 hrs. Walnut works good, very dirty though, and, it's organic and will absorb water/moisture whereas Plastic won't, but, if clumped up any media will discourage moisture from egressing. I've been stable at my prices since 2002, and don't plan on raising them in the media blasting side of the house.

 

[greenmachine]

Just heard from the blaster, looks like I bought myself a true bondo buggy. 1/2 " in some places. lots of bad slide hammer work and holes, he estimates four patches on the driver quarter and hasn't even looked at the passenger side yet, but expects worse. he even said these guys were good with the mud. Crap. Guess I gotta knuckle up and work more OT. Hope I don't have to get new quarters on both sides, that could run 1500 a side? sound about right?

 

[Donny]

Just plan on new qtrs. I try to 'judge' the condition of the car as I'm working on it. If the part(s) are too far gone, I usually get the Ok and or go ahead to stop those areas as I try to save them some money. I hate to send clean junk back to people, its very disappointing when they write me a check for stuff that's going in the dumpster!

 

[Propwash]

that could run 1500 a side? sound about right?

Full quarters for your car are about $1100 bucks for the pair from AMD if you go through Jeff at 521 Restorations.....Are you referring to the cost of the quarters and having someone install them?

 

[greenmachine]

So just patching the quarters even though they aren't rotted costs more then replacing the entire quarter? Summit wants 434 a quarter delivered. Am I looking at a grand a side for labor to hang them? What if I visited wildcat auto wrecking and cut exact patches out of a donor? I'm 1200 into media blast 1000 to prime, 5000 to paint, now another 3000 to do quarters? Damm. Shoulda bought a finished car. Lol.

 

[Propwash]

Those quarters you're looking at over at Summit are quarter skins, not full quarters....There's a difference. It all depends where your car is rotted if you can just go with a skin vs. a full quarter. If its just rotted/damaged around the wheel house, in front/in back of the wheel area, a skin will work fine. If it's rotted up around the roof pillar, rear window and trunk gutters, might want to think about buying full quarters. If you can patch the bad areas, go for it. Factory metal is always better and the less metal you got to buy, the cheaper. As far as them changing out something out like the quarter skins, $2000-$3000 with rough finishing sounds about average...Crazy how fast it can add up. Good luck.

 

[snakeoil24]

They could charge more, industry will sustain a higher price. He's right, about 10 hrs on a car body (no more than that though), usually around 5-8 hrs. Walnut works good, very dirty though, and, it's organic and will absorb water/moisture whereas Plastic won't, but, if clumped up any media will discourage moisture from egressing. I've been stable at my prices since 2002, and don't plan on raising them in the media blasting side of the house.

Donny why do you use etch primer under epoxy? Epoxy does not like to be sprayed over etch. I had my entire B Body done last winter for 800.00 using Star blast xl from Dupont. it is all about timing. when business is slow money talks. I would use Dupont imron, DP 40 or Kirker epoxy.

 

[greenmachine]

As far as I know just the very middle of the trunk is rusted. Everything else looked good rust wise per my media blaster. Just beat up with bad bodywork. What do skins cost to replace? Roughly? Thanks

 

[roadrunnerman]

I think the skins go for $250-$300 a side. That is what i'm planning to use one my car.

 

[Donny]

If you use skins, you have a LOT of welding, with full qtrs you have far less welding, and, its more complete. Ive been tossing for a while on self etch then epoxy or just epoxy or just self etch for a few yrs.

Media Blasting leaves the metal primed and ready to receive primer. My personal litmus test is can it be worked in the respective primers? Case in point, if I etch metal, then I can easily weld on it, and I observe the etch sinks into the metal, the heat will not delaminate it, or remove it in welding. On Epoxy the heat will pull it off. I have done work (welding) to media blasted metal that is in etch and epoxy, the epoxy burns off whereas the etch stays put, sunk into and penetrated into the metal. I've done this also on just epoxy, and, the same welding will also pull Epoxy off the same way. Perhaps its an overkill on my part, but, I have no adhesion issues with epoxy sitting on top of etch. I've done this and verified it. If someone has no preference, I'll go both routes, if they just want epoxy then I'll do that. The biggie on just Epoxy is the amount of prep that has to go into the metal; ie metal wash cleaner etc. That process is time consuming as hell. The Etch inserts this process into the metal as an extra layer of protection, and, is rich in Zinc which replaces any Zinc lost in the Media Blasting process. So, its all about trade-offs!

 

[greenmachine]

Body man looked at it states both quarters can be saved, just old crappy slide hammer body work. Woohoooo! That scare just saved me 1550 per side. Labor/parts! This stuff adds up quick.

 

[Donny]

Addendum: Sanding the Self Etch down a bit after it dries yields a nice surface for Epoxy to lay down on!