I guess it had to happen! After 30 years...The clear coat is flaking off. Only on the Halo and Passengers side rear quarter, but still makes me sick.

Attach file:

---

  Selection_068.png (196.36 KB)

it has held up well.

Do the prep yourself, save a bundle!

Expect a huge shock when you go get your estimate. As in 4-5k minimum for them to do it right. And that's average. Some will be 10k for a "nice" paint job.

Looks like you lost some of the color base as well. You might consider getting just that portion of the car blended and cleared. It won't be 100% the same but for a driver good enough. It will save some money.

Quote:

Yep, if you buy the good stuff, a gallon of PPG in that blue will run $1,100 , no, I'm not kidding,

He ain't kidding... Some specialty paint's are even more expensive... Get into those George Barris or Jrs House of Kolor stuff and you are into BIG money for a gallon...

However, and this sounds stupid, but if you have a good MAACO or something around, don't ignore them.

I used a local place, One Day Paint, to reshoot mine. And they did a pretty good job. My only complaint, Sherwin Williams does not work on the front bumper worth a damn.

But I got the car done for under $2k.

Do this:

1. Remove all emblems and lights that you can.
2. Remove all seals around the halo and the top (if painted).
3. Do your own body repair... any big nicks, cracks, fix them yourself. Eastwood sells all you need. Also sand off as much of the old stuff as possible.

When you are done, all they need to do is a finish sand, seal, paint, done. It will save you a BUNDLE doing this.

Agreed, and yes PPG paint ain't cheap - I just figured the final bill on that '03 we did - it rolls out this week. That gallon was around $800-900 - Blends can be done just fine, just make sure whoever is doing them knows what they're doing. To get a complete repaint on a Corvette (at least here and we do all the sanding, etc) expect at least $5k goes up from there. Shops here charge around $50/hr plus supplies and materials. If you know how to do some of the prep correctly, yes - do so and save some $$
We've use Sherwin also - thinking he's bout given up on them for some stuff...

I got my 91 prepped and shot for 2 G's and my 90 coupe for 2500. Both were exterior only jobs with PPG and whatever GM uses at the dealer. No under hood, door jambs, etc. A local shop with a good rep did my 91 and believe it or not, my Chevy paint and body shop did my 90. Maaco did my Yukon for a grand. I'd say that was fair at best. I just can't see dumping big money into paint unless your going to keep it for years, show it, or have rated. Ask around. Talk to some car guys and aim pricewise for somewhere the middle. The 90 at Chevy came with a lifetime guarantee, whatever that means.

Quote:

So do I.

Double that for a good shop.

Quote:

PPG has different quality levels on their paint brands.
Their Concept is the most expensive.

Thanks everyone for the heads up on the paint prices. I knew this wasn't going to be a cheap fix.

here's the real joke... Vette's are easier to work on... and they charge more!!!

Quote:

They are?

I would think the easiest way to prep it would be to disguise it as a '67 and slip it into Bill's garage.

Quote:


Just be prepared for it to take awhile. A long,long while.

Quote:

yea... C4's are, for example, not prone to rust (C2 and C3 do rust in the birdcage).

unlike a metal car, the floors don't rot out...

This is why Jack @ McJack's went into Corvette restorations, because most people were too damned cheap to fix a metal car correctly.

I have seen this happen... go into a body shop with a Camry that needs paint, and they estimate $2k... take a Vette in with the same requirement, and they double the amount!

Yea, metal floors rust out but there aren't too many C-1-2-3-4's drivers out there that don't have cracks in the floor boards.

All in all repairs for paint prep take the same amount of work glass or metal, doesn't matter. The glass work actually takes longer with the cure times for resin or panel bond. Welded sheet metal can be hit with a grinder immediately.

And it takes less time to fix a dent vs stress cracks.

This is for doing repairs correctly (the only way to do it).