cost... the age old question.

labour hours add up quickly.

so the better the starting material, the less hours spent.

getting a car to show quality straight takes many hours of sanding.

I paint all my own cars and the cheapest I have done was for 1500 for materials only, over a good solid body with only scuffing back, hi filling and solid 2k white. this is my current driver.

there were about 50 hours at least in the rubbing and minor repairs... at say $90 hour, this woudl have come out as a$6000 job... this was using VG auto cheap ass paint.


the 1200 ute I recently painted, cost me $2700 in materials, about 200 hours in repairs and prep. so the maths suggests this would have cost about $20k if I shopped it out at full rates. using all Protec paint.


I had a show car once and I did all the prep (100's of hours), I used PPG paint which cost a couple of thousand and had the gun work done by a pro. this would have been a 30-40,000 job shopped out.

my current project (42 Ford), I am doing it all myself and will probably just finish it in a suede finish.. for a few thousand, plus booth rental etc.

if you want to save big dollars, do all the prep yourself and pay for a painter and booth time where it counts. or go acrylic and maybe have a go yourself.

hope this helps.. im not a pro body/paint guy.. just a self taught hobbyist like you guys.

Cheers

ed