Thanks for the suggestions everyone,
I've talked to resto shops in the area and I have one that I would like to use in San Jose (about 2 hours from me if traffic is light), but they have an 12-18 month lead time and it's $98@hr. Couple places in the sacto area I talked to were (I think) way high for just paint because they wanted to assemble the car (put doors/door glass back together, interior, drivetrain etc.) which I don't need to have done. When talking to one of them, the bottom line was figure start at 25k for the paint job and go from there.
At their labor rate (72@hr) that equated out to almost 350 hours which I think is really high.
Shelbydogg, I agree on the bodywork thing, that's why I had the car blasted and sealed, no filler, essentially whoever does it starts from metal. The car needs metalwork, every panel, and the hood will need major work. In fact the hood will probably be the most expensive piece on the car in terms of time. It's a real POS and if I could get a better one (this is the year one "resto" hood) I would look into that as it would probably cost less in the long run. If I could get away with just some mud work and couple coats of fill primer sand/paint, I would go that route. If this was any other car, I'd be happy with a maaco or earl schibe paintjob. Just not this particular car.
Hey Mike, I think salinas is too far for me. May sound short-sighted but I want to have the ability to show up unannounced to see how things are going without taking a day off work to do so. Have to keep guys on their toes to make sure they are doing what they say they are going to do. I need to have some sort of "connection" with whoever paints it, like finding a babysitter for your kids.
About the only place I found to rent a booth would be through adult ed here in sac, but then I'd be back to who is going to shoot it? Me?
I've talked to 13 shops, got those narrowed down to three, talked to first one in person yesterday, maybe the second today or tomorrow, and the third tomorrow. One in North Sacramento, one near Natomas and one in Lodi. I think any of them can do the work, just have to shake hands and meet them face to face, get a feel for the shop and check their booth etc. before I decide. I'll share my findings once I do.
Added a couple of pics after rolling the car out in front of the house. I really wanted to lower it back down to ride height, but not in the cards today. Still looks pretty cool I think. Now if I can get that NP 244 transfer case and dana 44 front axle in there I'll be ready for some 4 wheelin!
