$$$ Paint

[anlauto]

Another thing about single stage is you better be a darn good painter...forget about touch ups and blow-ins, nevermind dust in the paint etc....all a large pain in the butt with single stage.

[Tropicalcats]

Thanks Cody
That's what I need is to be educated and your right the little I save on the paint is not a stroke of the brush in the big painting. I suggested the single stage because I thought that was how it was originally done and maybe it was. Come to thing of it my original Challenger which was also plum crazy had peeling paint after 5 years. Thanks to all of you I am learning about  getting my car in paint and I will be able to talk with the various paint/body shops with more knowledge and ultimately a better finished product that will last for years to come.

[rattlesnake]

I paid about $6,300.00 for some new metal and body work (trunk floor, rear frame rails, quarters) about 8 years ago but never got it in the paint, it sat in vari-prime for 8 years. Last fall I took it to Specialty Paint Applications in Sheridan, Indiana. They stripped the car down to bare metal and checked all bodywork, he fixed what needed fixed, primed it, took it to white, then fire orange and cleared it. Everything SPA did cost me $7,500.00. I got out of there a little cheap because I was willing to work on his time frame. He worked on other jobs at the same time as mine and he is a one man show (don't trust anyone to do work to his level) The paint looks about a foot deep. Used Dupont paint.

[FY1Cuda]

Hope by now you've been convinced to go two-stage.  Besides the trouble with dust or drips, the metal in the paint will tend to sag to the edges.  Here's a shot of a Challenger painted in 2002 with S-W paint.  The color was dead-on with the OEM color we found under the door panels.  Again, don't be tempted to use Dupont (or Nason)  for FC7--it's a bad match.

[torredcuda]

Nothing wrong with single stage and if you want a correct looking paint job that is the way to go as it was painted single stage from the factory. Base clear is nice and much easier to spray and touch up but will look too "shiny" compared to an original paint car.

[72cudamaan]

Nothing wrong with single stage and if you want a correct looking paint job that is the way to go as it was painted single stage from the factory. Base clear is nice and much easier to spray and touch up but will look too "shiny" compared to an original paint car.

    Though you could use a flattening agent in the clear to bring the gloss down.

[nqkjw]

This topic is interesting.
I'm in Australia and from what we generally see on the bulk of cars that are imported we don't have a lot of faith in US paint jobs,but obviously you can get some good work done over there.

My challenger was done 6yrs ago.It was blasted back to a bare shell,required a new trunk floor but otherwise minimal metal work and for $20k they promised me a job that would take "top panel and paint"at any show outside of any capital city.And that's what I got.

A few years later a different shop did much the same job on my dart swinger but just to a nice driver quality standard.From abt 10feet you can't tell the difference between the two.This second shop was a new shop and they really wanted my job as a startup job so they did it at a really sharp $6k.Similar subsequent jobs I've seen them turn out they've done for $9-10k.

[torredcuda]

http://board.moparts.org/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=0&Board=A12&Number=6048502&Searchpage=1&Main=6025856&Words=+RusTy%2FSE&topic=&Search=true

[Sleepychallenger]

I'm paying 4k to have mine done. He does really good work and is finding the metalwork for me. Benefits to being in a small town where folks try not to charge too much that people cant afford it (San Angelo, TX)

[RzeroB]

Pay for the good paint, pay for the time it takes to have it done right, or learn how to do it yourself and do it right.  It's not hard, it just takes a lot of time.  Anyone can learn how to paint a car and have it come out nice. 

If you do take it to someone to have it painted, an absolute before hiring them is to look at some of the previous cars they have painted.  Lots of painters think they are great, but you need to confirm that with your own eyes.

There ought to be a word for the real work that happens between the metal work and color being placed on the car.  That's where the true "painting" of a car costs can add up and makes or breaks a good paint job.

I have a lot of respect for CODY and I agree that anyone can learn to paint, but it takes a lot of skill and sometimes I think artistic talent to paint well. I'm an amature painter having painted six cars. Though my results are improving I still have a long way to go before I would say I was "good". It takes a lot of skill to lay down a super nice paint job.

On CODY's other two points I agree whole-heartedly. 99% of the work of a great paint job is in the surface prep. The actual painting of the car is just the icing on the cake. The prep will make or break the paint job. No matter how good the paint or painter, a lousy prep will show thru the paint.

As for the Sherwin Williams products I used their "Finish 1" base-clear system on my last job. The car turned out really nice - my best work to date. I was really impressed with how well the clear flowed out - it needed very little wet sanding before being buffed out. The final results produced a nice brilliant shine with lots of depth to it. I would definitely consider using the Finish 1 system again.