Rolling Thunder's Charger Restoration Thread *PICS* *UPDATE!*

[Back N Black]

Hey, you were much nicer to Troy. you called me a smart ass. 

[Moparheaven]

I think that we have all started out in the car hobby alot like Kevin68n71. I don't know for sure but he must be young to the car hobby, or at least to having a nice car. I started out thinking it was outrageous to spend 2k on a paint job that I thought was show quality then, 1987. Which by my standards today would not make my red headed step child drive. At the time I also thought that every house that was 2,000 square feet should be the same price or at least close. We all know how wrong I am, but I did not know how wrong I was. I now will spend 12k on a paint job without blinking, from my painter that has proven himself to be top quality, and when or if I sell that car the buyer can SEE the difference. Just like in a house. Anyone can see the difference between a 2,000 Sq ft. Manufactured home and a Custom built Mini-Mansion. They both have the same living space but they don't live the same.
I understood where Kevin68n71 is coming from, but I don't understand the dogmatic approach to attempting to prove that he is right.  Respect is earned when admitting when your wrong.

It is hard to tell someones emotion in a letter, but I am in no way trying to be a jerk, or mean sprited. Just insightfull.

Z

[TK73]

Lessee... $6 for sandpaper, $4 for tape, $4 for mineral spirits, $.50 for newspaper, $20 for 4 cans of rustoleum, coupla hours in the parking lot... $34.50 for my car   

[Shakey]

Hmmm...maybe I should get my butt into gear and get my car to the body shop

is your mommy gonna give you enough allowance money to afford a paint job? Remember kiddo this is not like painting your little johnny die cast models

You still live with your mother don't you silver?

Can you ask her if she dropped you on the sidewalk (by accident or on purpose) when you were a child?

[Rolling_Thunder]

i'm hurt...      you guys want pictures so i post them...     yet ya'll are still bickering over paint   

[Moparheaven]

I enjoyed the pictures that you posted. I can tell that you build a really nice car. Attention to the small details. Is this going to be a car that you are going to keep?

[68charger383]

I wouldn't trust the guy for $5K...............tell you what, send my car over first and then we'll see if he does a good job or not before you send yours over!

Sounds like a good deal for a paint job in Los Angeles....congrats   

[Rolling_Thunder]

I'll be keeping this...     bought it when i was 15...      my first car

[Troy]

i'm hurt...      you guys want pictures so i post them...     yet ya'll are still bickering over paint   

I liked the pictures (even commented on your welding). So, are you gonna paint this car every year? I still haven't gotten used to it being blue.

Troy

[dads_69]

Hmmm...maybe I should get my butt into gear and get my car to the body shop

is your mommy gonna give you enough allowance money to afford a paint job? Remember kiddo this is not like painting your little johnny die cast models

You still live with your mother don't you silver?

Can you ask her if she dropped you on the sidewalk (by accident or on purpose) when you were a child?

LMAO......Thats funny, I don't care who you are, you know your laughing at that comment. No doubt Silver, give the kid a break. I know I've asked you this question before Silver, but you were a kid once correct? Owning a car and having big dreams, wait, I forgot, you were a boaring kid w/no inspiration, never mind.

[Moparheaven]

That's cool, I wish I had my first mopar.  Hope it turns out as nice as you are expecting.

[Rolling_Thunder]

i'm hurt...      you guys want pictures so i post them...     yet ya'll are still bickering over paint   

I liked the pictures (even commented on your welding). So, are you gonna paint this car every year? I still haven't gotten used to it being blue.

Troy

Thanks troy - I just liked it better white - all the memories of high school and all - - - My welding isnt horrible...   still learning a bit but what can you do...      some people will call it plain compared to the blue but oh well - i dont think it'll be plain at all with a hemi in it...     

[Kevin68N71]

I think that we have all started out in the car hobby alot like Kevin68n71. I don't know for sure but he must be young to the car hobby, or at least to having a nice car. I started out thinking it was outrageous to spend 2k on a paint job that I thought was show quality then, 1987. Which by my standards today would not make my red headed step child drive. At the time I also thought that every house that was 2,000 square feet should be the same price or at least close. We all know how wrong I am, but I did not know how wrong I was. I now will spend 12k on a paint job without blinking, from my painter that has proven himself to be top quality, and when or if I sell that car the buyer can SEE the difference. Just like in a house. Anyone can see the difference between a 2,000 Sq ft. Manufactured home and a Custom built Mini-Mansion. They both have the same living space but they don't live the same.
I understood where Kevin68n71 is coming from, but I don't understand the dogmatic approach to attempting to prove that he is right.  Respect is earned when admitting when your wrong.

It is hard to tell someones emotion in a letter, but I am in no way trying to be a jerk, or mean sprited. Just insightfull.

Z

Young?  Are you thinking of someone else?

I am 48.  Started working in a gas station at 15, owner saw that I was a waste to be manning pumps, put me in the tune up bay (ahead of the oil change guys) and by the time I was 17 years I was pulling and rebuilding engines for him.  3 years vocational auto training.  Rebuilt my Charger engine at 18, my dad's Caddy engine at 19, every Volkswagen I could get my hands on (easy, fun money), and have built up an eleven car collection.  Restored several cars, done everything but paint and automatic transmissions.  Owned dozens of other cars from Fiats to Mustangs to Cadillacs. 

I am not boasting, just stating the facts.  I don't see how my measured analysis of paint costs sounds juvenile, but oh well.  I laid out what seemed to be a reasonable amount of time to SPRAY ONLY a car, and no one has refuted that, just made juvenile comments.  That's fine.  As I mentioned before, the same BS in the body shop world happens in mechanics, just like the a-hole at Firestone wanting to replace the entire air conditioning system on my 1980 Avanti when I knew all it needed was a charge.  That was for $3,000.

Paint jobs that come from the factory aren't perfect, we all know that.  If you want to spend 15, 20 or 40K on a paint job go for it, its your money!

It's fine you insist that I am wrong, but you can't explain that there are nice, long lasting paint jobs out there for $5,000, and that was not just for spraying the paint with the owner doing all the work.

Go ahead, flame, call me young, whatever floats your boat, but you can't talk away the facts.

[Moparheaven]

I'm sorry that you missed the whole point. Most paint jobs these days cost 5 to 7k. Minor body work and such. You said that was outrageous??? Now you're saying it's a good deal for 5k. Which is it.

The point was.......you get what you pay for....most of the time. I'm sure that everyone has a story of not getting what you pay for, but most of the time, you do, and when you don't you can complain. 

Rolling thunder was just explaining what a good deal he was getting...........

OH well.......Please tell me more of how you are right. I can't wait.

Z

[Kevin68N71]

I'm sorry that you missed the whole point. Most paint jobs these days cost 5 to 7k. Minor body work and such. You said that was outrageous??? Now you're saying it's a good deal for 5k. Which is it.

The point was.......you get what you pay for....most of the time. I'm sure that everyone has a story of not getting what you pay for, but most of the time, you do, and when you don't you can complain. 

Rolling thunder was just explaining what a good deal he was getting...........

OH well.......Please tell me more of how you are right. I can't wait.

Z

First of all, you can stop being condescending any time now.  I have asked for anyone at all to tell me how I am off on my guesstimations on SPRAY ONLY.  No one has done that.  If someone in the know said, Kevin, it really takes closer to 8 hours to sand the car between coats, ok, then that is what it is.  But no one has.  Nor has anyone been able to answer why there are much cheaper paint jobs out there that are not Shieb or MAACO and the owners are quite pleased.  All I hear is "Well, I'm a perfectionist", or "I'd like to see you do it for less", or a smartass response like how you can't wait to hear how right I am.

I am expressing an OPINION.  If you don't like that, tough luck.  Oh, and for the record, I don't "have to be right" about anything.  My ego is squarely in check.  I've got a number of questions out in the paint section. 

As I said, my neighbor got a COMPLETE paint job for $5,000.  He didn't take anything off the truck.  He didn't sand it, prep it, or do anything. To me, the paint job looks great and he has been my neighbor, with that car, for a couple of years.  I have a neighbor with another car, who had it done for $3,000.  Logic would dictate that if the shops did everything for $3-5K, they would be willing to go a bit less if all they are doing is spraying.

Even Rolling Thunder stated that his price was steep, HOWEVER, the shop is NOT just spraying, as in my example...they are stripping and doing body work and doing some other things, as he explained.

Now, I am only going to repeat this one time:  I said a SPRAY ONLY paint job for $5,000 was too high.  A SPRAY ONLY. Not Rolling Thunder's job, a SPRAY ONLY.  Get it?  I'm not paying for it.  If you want to spend 5-7 k for a guy to SPRAY ONLY your car, be my guest.  Just don't tell me the whole job can't be done for $5k on a no-rust, very little bodywork needed car,  especially with two great examples 300 feet away from me.

[Troy]

I think there's a communication problem here because no one thinks of a paint job as "spray only" (ok, almost no one). I'm assuming here that when you say "spray only" it's for labor, materials, etc. If it's just labor the $5,000 is way too high. It doesn't take long at all to spray a car - but as I said, you're not likely to find anyone that will do it (without also insisting on doing some or all of the prep/body work). In the case that you're talking about the complete job, I'd also say that $5,000 just to spray the paint is high - unless you're using metallics or pearls when the materials cost can exceed half that budget. There are a LOT of variables, including labor rates across the country, so if a guy is used to paying $65 per hour he's more likely to expect an expensive job than one used to paying $30. You can buy cheap paint for 1/3rd of the cost of good paint. Same for primers, paper, and tape. There's more to it than the amount of time involved (or everyone would be doing it).

A long-time member Cudaken used to say that he'd rather cut and replace rust than straighten metal that looked like someone had danced on it. Just because a car is rust free doesn't mean it won't require a ton of body work to get it ready for paint. There's your biggest cost when it comes to painting a car - getting it completely straight. If you can get to that point then why pay someone to spray it?

There's no need to be nasty and snippy when most people are just trying to help. I suggest you take a car to one of the places your neighbors used and have them paint your car. Report back.

Troy

[Moparheaven]

  ................. .............

[Rolling_Thunder]

Anyway guys - I promised a teaser pic...    so here you go.



Looky Looky here...    what's missing ?    

[purple70rt]

Hmmm...maybe I should get my butt into gear and get my car to the body shop

is your mommy gonna give you enough allowance money to afford a paint job? Remember kiddo this is not like painting your little johnny die cast models

[PocketThunder]

Anyway guys - I promised a teaser pic...    so here you go.Looky Looky here...    what's missing ?   

Speakers?             

what color interior?  Tan would look good with white exterior.. 

[snooter]

paid $750bux for complete body work and paint for my old mustang..course this was in 1982......prices are down..ive seen some really nice GTX's around here that are drive now for $15K..found a bunch of TLC (tons of loot and cash) chargers for 5K and under....the suckers who bought in march are getting butt reamed heavily right now....seen several darn fine rust free chargers that can be had for under 20K...yes yes.its good to finally screw the muscle car stealerships...i would spend the cash on a nice grade 2.5 rust free charger for 20K....course gotta have all the good stuff like no crappy SE fake plastic woodgrain....column shift (sans hemi or daytona is gay).....no air or sissy power windows...and no LSD induced interior colors...yes id spend $20k for such a charger

[Rolling_Thunder]

Anyway guys - I promised a teaser pic...    so here you go.Looky Looky here...    what's missing ?   

Speakers?             

what color interior?  Tan would look good with white exterior.. 

Was thinking about tan but already have a complete black interior...    seats need to be recovered....   thinking of two tone black and grey...     you'll need to make suggestions when the car is painted...     

[suntech]

I like both your exterior color, and your suggestion for interior. Mine will white outside, and grey / black inside!!

[OneofNoneRT]

oh man,, someone stole your drip rail!

[Rolling_Thunder]

well - the Valance, doors, fenders, and hood were painted today...     still have to be cut and buffed....     decklid is giving some problems...    car should be painted by monday.