Painting my 308

Hello Ferrari Enthusiasts,
Wondering where can a regular guy get his Ferrari 308 repainted in the greater Los Angeles/ Orange County area??
I assure you I’m not being lazy by posting this question. I’ve done my homework…but with no definitive results. I’ve spoken to Ferrari repair shops that I associate with and several Ferrari owner friends and even my local club has not produced a viable option.
Got a quote for $55-60K from a well recommended shop in Carson (to be nameless) but that is nowhere near the budget. Just wondering if anyone else has gone through this recently and wishes to share the experience and recommend a shop. Thanks in advance and I look forward to hearing from you.
Cheers,

 

There is a ton of labor involved to do it right. The going rate in the mid-Atlantic for exotic paint/body work is $200/hr +/-. So your quote would equate to just under 300 hours. Seems a bit high to me, but I am an idiot.

Have you thought about a wrap? Also, you could just wait a year when things slow a bit. Bet you could get paint done for significantly less then.

There are so many crazy car shops in the LA area, I would think you could find a decent painter. We have like 5 options around here. They all know it too.



Sent from my iPhone using FerrariChat

 

Do you want it painted correctly? (trim and glass removed etc) or do you just want it painted? I agree that $55,000 is a little much but what does that include? Vehicle going back to the same color? Rust repairs or bodywork? Can this be handled with paint correction?

 

55k is up there in the "What the H3LL are they smoking?" category.

A friend recently had an (original serial number) Ford GT 40 repainted and he paid a bit over 8k for that; he had his 64 E-type repainted and it was just under 10k. Of course, it wasn't in California...

 

Yes they are.

 

Did you get the impression they didn't want to do the job, or did they hear the work Ferrari and the numbers suddenly jumped up?

 

To answer the previous questions,
I’m looking for a regular paint job….not glass out or anything fancy….same color, of course. There is some bubbling/ cracking of paint on the surface but no rust….couple of superficial dings and that’s it…. Car is solid otherwise with good gaps. Sand and paint!!’
Considered wrapping but prefer to paint!!

 

We had a 308 stripped and painted, glass out etc... Thankfully no real rust issues to deal with. This was 4~5yrs ago... ~$30k that was in WA.

$55k sounds high, but not surprising esp in CA.

 

I have a great shop in Pittsburgh that redid my ‘61 corvette. It was very cheap and very well done.

Matt

Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

I had my NSX repainted last year, or perhaps the year before. Recently. I paid about $12000 or so, I think. That's a full respray, trim and everything removed, etc... done right. Might have paid a bit more, I can't remember exactly, but around that. It's very well done. I suspect a 308 is more complicated to do right, but $55K seems insane.

 

Should be half that.

 

So they quoted you $55-60k for a masking tape, paint-while-u-wait Earl Scheib job? For that cost you could buy another 308. Absolutely ludicrous.

For about $5k maximum round trip enclosed shipping, you can have any body shop in the country paint your car. I'd get some quotes from shops in Nevada and Arizona.

 

Yup. That was my point about Pittsburgh.

Matt

Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

In 1985 I paid $1100 for a bare metal strip and repaint of my 308 in Fullerton, CA. That paint is still on the car today. They didn't take the glass out, except from the doors.

You should be able to get bare metal strip paint job in AZ (no glass out), for ~$10K, maybe with inflation, $12K. That is a reasonable price. It does not include any body work, but should include skim coat to assure straightness.

You paint and materials are going to be in the $2K range of that price.

It simply does NOT take 200 hours to strip and paint a metal body car. 100 hours (in reality 80 hours is closer for paint only) included R&R the doors, bumpers and decks, at $100/hour for labor is $10K for labor. Local places around here charge $65-$85/hour for labor.

That includes removing the doors and deck lids. Jambs of the doors can be media blasted clean, there is usually a media blaster that does things like that in larger cities, and is not expensive.

Deck lid undersides can be media blasted also, its fast and it works, and doesn't damage the parts.

I paid $7000 for paint and labor only, including media blasting as mention in 2009 for my '61 Corvette.

The R&R of all the chrome, windshield, door glass and interior, I did myself. There was another $1.5K worth of body work done also, fixing some long ago "repairs". Out the door onto a trailer was $8500 total. Then of course I had the rechroming expense, new glass, and new interior expense.
Doug
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

BTW, here is my $1100 paint job.
Doug
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Image Unavailable, Please Login You get what you pay for. I would not paint a 40-odd, year old car with the glass still in. Once you get started on the tear-down, paint stripping and repairs, there is really no place to stop until the whole thing is done right. I can't imagine the grief of having to go back in and do repairs a few years after a quick paint job.
With that said, I spent in the neighborhood of 45 at a shop in Oklahoma which was, and is, working on a number of cars shipped in from California. Let me know if you want contact info.

 

And saved a boatload of money by doing so.

The labor involved in painting a car is 90% prep work, which about half is disassembly/reassembly. I've had 2 cars repainted and I always removed the glass, trim, doors, etc. myself, as the shop owner recommended.

One other comment...If no body work such as rust repair is needed, then you'll always be better off not taking the car down to bare metal. The factory primer is as good as you'll get, so remove the color coat only if possible.

 

What year car? If it urethane paint, scuff, seal and paint should be good. But cracking is a problem. Sounds like an older car. That area should be sanded and primed as needed.

However, you might look for a hot rod or custom car shop. Most do excellent work. Around here in CT the shop I use charges $60/hr compared to $90/hr for a shop that typically works on BMWs, Mercedes, Porsches and the like.

Big difference between making it look good and restoring to high quality.

 

This was down to bare metal and cost about $12,000.00.

Matt

Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Beautiful car, Matt.

Who did the work?

 

Hey Guy's,

Ok $55k to do this is ridiculous. I own a collision shop and my hobby is to restore my cars on the side. I can tell you that taking the Ferrari apart is a pretty simple process. Removing doors, hood trunk and glass is not a hard task and makes it much easier to work on and paint. with minor rust and paint cracking stripping the car down. you would be around 120 hours plus materials. budget for $12-$15k

Here are a few pics of what we did.

I would try some of the smaller less know shops, as sometime they turn out the best work, no pressure to be the best!!


Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

A guy named Ted out of Oakmont. I’d never recommend him.

Matt

 

Thanks

I'm looking for someone local to do some work on mine, but I'm not having a lot of luck.

I have a call into exoticars, but it's been a couple of weeks with no reply. Another place that came recommended had a change in ownership and isn't interested in rust repair.

I might have to start looking outside of the immediate area, but I'm trying to avoid the inconvenience/expense of other metro areas.

 

My Corvette was done by Pro Comp Customs on Route 8. They were absolutely fantastic. $8k all in.

Matt

 

I just got off the phone with Julie with Pro Comp and they're taking the car in two weeks.

They are the real deal - they won the 2022 Riddler Award.

https://www.imsa.com/news/2022/03/08/this-31-chevy-sho-bird-is-your-2022-autorama-ridler-winner/#:~:text=The%20winners%20of%20the%202022,Trucking%20in%20Pleasant%20Gap%2C%20Pennsylvania.