Race car respray cost?
Discussion
I was wondering What kind of money any of you have paid recently for a reasonably passable, obviously A1 paint job. The car in question is a 3000m TVR, so obviously fibre glass and its already completely stripped rubbed down to quite a good standard.
I need to get some idea as my budget for this project is not infinite, i want the car to look presentable, but its not worth spending thousands on as it is a race car.
I know most body shops these days only want to do insurance jobs and are not interested in complete resprays on older cars, especially one that someone else has already prepped.
I have been reading some interesting stuff about hand painting with enamel paints using micro rollers, apparently some pretty good results can be achieved if your patient and prepared for the elbow grease, any experience?
I need to get some idea as my budget for this project is not infinite, i want the car to look presentable, but its not worth spending thousands on as it is a race car.
I know most body shops these days only want to do insurance jobs and are not interested in complete resprays on older cars, especially one that someone else has already prepped.
I have been reading some interesting stuff about hand painting with enamel paints using micro rollers, apparently some pretty good results can be achieved if your patient and prepared for the elbow grease, any experience?
Reviving this topic.
I have a tatty looking race car and i think HSCC would want it to look a little more presentable.
This is a road sports car.
Should I be looking to get the car painted or wrapped? and what kind of costs are we talking about?
(not too excited about spending lots as i am a total newbie to racing and fully expect some level of panel damage in the near future..)
I have a tatty looking race car and i think HSCC would want it to look a little more presentable.
This is a road sports car.
Should I be looking to get the car painted or wrapped? and what kind of costs are we talking about?
(not too excited about spending lots as i am a total newbie to racing and fully expect some level of panel damage in the near future..)
Depending on the type of race car it's not unusual for certain body parts to get very hot from the exhaust, e.g side pods or engine covers. If this is the case with yours don't wrap it, the vinyl will melt.
Get an idea of what colour you want, buy the duct tape in the closest colour to it then get the paint matched to the duct tape, it'll be perfect for your body joints then.
Get an idea of what colour you want, buy the duct tape in the closest colour to it then get the paint matched to the duct tape, it'll be perfect for your body joints then.
I’d suggest you should be budgeting about 2k plus the paint.
I’m in the process of restoring a classic Alfa to be used for rallying. I want a good finish, but not a 10k concourse finish.
I’m doing all my own prep and priming and have a couple of options lined up to do the top coat. I’m expecting about 2k to apply the paint Which I’ve already got.
There has been and will continue to be many hours of my time going into it though.
I’m in the process of restoring a classic Alfa to be used for rallying. I want a good finish, but not a 10k concourse finish.
I’m doing all my own prep and priming and have a couple of options lined up to do the top coat. I’m expecting about 2k to apply the paint Which I’ve already got.
There has been and will continue to be many hours of my time going into it though.
velocemitch said:
I’d suggest you should be budgeting about 2k plus the paint.
I’m in the process of restoring a classic Alfa to be used for rallying. I want a good finish, but not a 10k concourse finish.
I’m doing all my own prep and priming and have a couple of options lined up to do the top coat. I’m expecting about 2k to apply the paint Which I’ve already got.
There has been and will continue to be many hours of my time going into it though.
Seriously, £2k just to put the paint on with no prep or materials? I’m in the process of restoring a classic Alfa to be used for rallying. I want a good finish, but not a 10k concourse finish.
I’m doing all my own prep and priming and have a couple of options lined up to do the top coat. I’m expecting about 2k to apply the paint Which I’ve already got.
There has been and will continue to be many hours of my time going into it though.

Even at a really spanky workshop rate of £100/hr that’s still 20 hours of spraying, so probably more like 40 hours for a typical bodyshop. I hope you have bought a lot of paint!
Steve H said:
Seriously, £2k just to put the paint on with no prep or materials? 
Even at a really spanky workshop rate of £100/hr that’s still 20 hours of spraying, so probably more like 40 hours for a typical bodyshop. I hope you have bought a lot of paint!
There's more to a paintjob than just the spraying, and there is always prep to be done, and work after.
Even at a really spanky workshop rate of £100/hr that’s still 20 hours of spraying, so probably more like 40 hours for a typical bodyshop. I hope you have bought a lot of paint!
stevieturbo said:
Steve H said:
Seriously, £2k just to put the paint on with no prep or materials? 
Even at a really spanky workshop rate of £100/hr that’s still 20 hours of spraying, so probably more like 40 hours for a typical bodyshop. I hope you have bought a lot of paint!
There's more to a paintjob than just the spraying, and there is always prep to be done, and work after.
Even at a really spanky workshop rate of £100/hr that’s still 20 hours of spraying, so probably more like 40 hours for a typical bodyshop. I hope you have bought a lot of paint!
velocemitch said:
I’m doing all my own prep and priming and have a couple of options lined up to do the top coat.
It sounds like the OP is willing to do as much as possible himself and if you already have it to primer surely it would be masked up?£2k sounds expensive to me for what you are describing but I’m just adding another view

My advice is dont spend more than you have to, my race car was painted by a mate who runs a classic restoration buisness, free as an advert fantastic job, but you could cry everyime it went in the gravel, Car has just had a two year rebuild, by some one else. it was difficult to book a respray, as we have just had massive coubntry wide floods and trim and spray shops are packed with insurance vwork. So we had a guy come in over the weekend and paint it under a plastic sheet at the back of the engine shop, cheap and chearfull.
Another project car said:
You're not gonna get anything cheaper than this ^With the added bonus of being able to touch up as and when needed or even paint a new bumper/wing.
D_G said:
Why aren't you considering a wrap? I did mine with £250 materials and very easy if you need to repair afterwards, a bit time consuming at first while you learn but easy to do small areas with knifeless tape
You did that DIY by yourself on the whole car?I assumed it was a major PITA and paying someone to do it would end up costing in the thousands?
(Also, what's knifeless tape?)
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