Datsun Roadster Forum-311s.org

Hello! I’ve been here in the shadows for a long time but last week finally achieved my lifelong dream of owning a Roadster - mechanically it’s excellent, but the previous owner put a very shoddy silver paint job on it that I’d like to rectify - I’d been thinking about doing the work myself, pulled off all the body panels, hinges, etc, and started work on the paint stripping but I figured I’d get a quote on paintwork from some local shops.

Two said they don’t do full cars anymore (shame), and the third one gave me a ballpark of $12,000

Having read some threads on this topic before, I thought that was a wee bit high, to say the least.

Anyone have any recommendations in the NE Indiana/Michigan/Ohio area? I have a spare garage at home, but I’d also like to have some free time this summer

Anyways, thought you all might find this amusing, excited to join the 311 club!

It's mostly the body/prep work that's time consuming , the paint with a clear coat ,or 1 coat isn't that hard to get 85% right ,if you've got good eyesight ,esp on smaller cars see the YT vids on B work paint the guy that's says " touch my like thingy , and subscribe damn it " is my choice

I had my ‘69 painted last summer by a shop in Akron for 8K. Their prep and painting was good, I am satisfied with that part. These type of shops aren’t really restoration shops per se, so they tend to be ham fisted with the finer aspects that a paint job involves. They basically know painting, not our cars, at least not the way we know them. You need to spell everything out for them. You should plan on installing things like side trim and emblems and pretty much everything else yourself. Doors are the big thing. If they fit well, you may want to consider leaving them on the car. Same with fenders. If you find a shop that can or wants to remove them for a more complete paint job(which is nice), expect to pay handsomely for, IF they can do it right. If they have already been off your car, and are not currently as well aligned as you like, probably better to remove and you can hopefully install them in a more satisfactory manner. This shop would most likely be happy to paint your car, as they were mine. Send me a pm if you’d like and we could discuss further. BTW, I did get a quote of over 20K last year when I was looking. But that was a very high end shop, out of my league.

There are very few body shops left that do full restoration paint jobs, especially for older classic cars. They may take on a project, but it will take a long time. The problem is that if they are also doing insurance work, which almost every body shop HAS to do, they are under enormous time restraints. An insurer may only give you "X" amount of time to complete the job and there are limits on rental cars, etc. It has to be completed quickly or the body shop is going to lose a lot of money, If they have to choose between your (slow) restoration and a front end or fender that needs to be finished on a customer car, they are going to push your car to the side. I have heard of one shop in Georgia that only does complete restorations, but they want you to pay the full amount up front and it's not cheap. But if you agree and pay they will work solely on your car until it's finished. And in this situation it makes good sense for them to complete the car quickly and on time so they can move on to the next. If you can tackle all the body work yourself and reasonably prep the car for paint, there are shops that will just do the final spray for $3000-5000.

If I remember correctly, I paid $12,000.00 18 years ago when I did mine. It was a body off frame job with everything painted individually and then assembled. What added to the cost was California and Bay Area.
Dave

Gotcha, I’m beginning to think there was some sort of miscommunication- I’ve got the body stripped and prepped, and am just looking for the paint, but I’ll call back the shop Monday!

I think the age is concerning people, as I’ve gotten much more reasonable (4-6k) quotes on my s2000. I’m going to take a stab at tackling some of the accessories myself, like the radiator fan cover, will let you all know how much it ends up costing!

Thanks to everyone who weighed in

Wondering if there are any Community Colleges that offer repair / paint classes? Maybe a thing of the past, now there are probably trade schools costing many thousands and a year or two to complete??

If you have a med. Sized Air compressor buy a HF purple mini sprayer and read on it YT vids first with the body work as good as you want primered then sand to 400 paper then wet it down to see it glossy like it will look painted .
Metallic likely too hard for a rookie .
a lite tack coat 1st then 2 separate covering coats then clear coat same ,or it can be 1 part . You can build a effective paint booth ( you need to review safety precautions on fume dangers and comply to it)
Find a junk fender to practice on
https://youtu.be/guBP0BIMbX8?si=CoZlbfUR0gHTWSqX.
Bondo Billy

Not so absurd for a good paint job these days. In addition to the labor that goes into it, the cost of the paint itself has skyrocketed.

I can't comment on today's paints, as I know they have changed. However, probably 10 years ago or so I did all the prep on a car for a friend who ultimately decided to shoot the color and clear himself... which came out like freakin spackle. Fortunately, there was more than enough paint on the car for me to wet sand and buff it out to a beautiful BLACK mirror. I occasionally see the car on the internet (maybe I'll look for it and post!). It was a two stage Dupont Centari paint as I recall. If the body work is straight and you get enough paint on it, you can do wonders with some time, sandpaper and a good buffer/pads/compounds. I also did cars that I took to Earl Sweib and asked them to put on extra coats of clear, and again would cut and buff them and they looked great. I don't know if any of those kind of places exist anymore, or if you could shoot it yourself, but you might surprise yourself. You might also visit the local autobody supply Shop and see if anyone there does side jobs or knows someone.

Found it...
https://images.app.goo.gl/HNJXtygEBsFAf2ot5

My recent paint job and body repairs of SPL311-00054 came in at $12K too.

I wish mine would only cost $12k. The first guy that did the body work on both my cars did not do everything he should have on the second and now the shop is fixing that. It has to be perfect since the car will be blue.

The white was was much less because white will hide some things. Still they had to block out the too much primer he put on. Since I did so much other stuff myself the blue car will be less than $40k, probably closer to 35K.

I went with Sora Blue for SPL311-00054.



Which blue did you choose?

That shop Counts Customs TV show
charges $100 an hour ,as I call them 2 yrs ago ,what your talking about masking 1- 2 hours
Spray Primer 2-3 hours & maybe this is done in your case
sand w 400 gr 5-7 hours
Spray Prep 1-2
Tack coat 1-2
1st color coat 2 hours
2nd 1-2
Clear 2
Fix paint probs 0 to 2 buffing fine sand 2,3 if need be
15 to 20 hours ,plus products
As I see it