Paying to Paint my 69 R/T.. Advice?

[Hessian]

Hey all,

My 69 charger is currently in flat black primer.  It's a restomod and I want to keep it in the same flat black color but with a clear coat (or satin?) so I can wax it etc. 

Obviously I'm not a body/paint guy so I'm hoping some of you that are can give me some advice in both what to ask for and also a 'reasonable' price.  I put that in quotes because I realize that cheap does not equal good.  Not looking to get a cheap paint job but I want to also be smart on typical labor rates and hours that "should" go into completing paintwork on a 1969.

Any advice is appreciated.

Hessian

[Canadian1968]

You just want the outside done? The inside of the doors, trunk , hook ect do not need to be painted?

Its in primer , are you going to block it out ? or let the shop do the prep work?

A lot of $$$ people do not realize is in the R&I needed to paint a car, so removing door handles, trim, lights ect.  Well this is assuming that you want those removed , which I strongly suggest beacuse leaving any of those in , just opens the door for peeling, rusting problems down the road.

If you could deliver the car basically as a shell I am sure that will help $$$ some money.

Now, about the satin finish you want.  I have been painting professionally for 8 years now,  we don't do many Satin/ flat jobs but those that I have done are usually just bumpers ( think Montana mini-van!! ) I dont' really see why you want to wax a satin finish. You deffinantly cannot buff or polish that for sure.  I would say a satin finish would be my preferance, as this can be achieved using a Matte clear coat . The clear coat will give you your protecting and and reasonably easy surface to keep clean, simply with regular washing.

One thing I will say, whatever you decided make sure you talk to your painter and be sure he is familiar with flat / satin finish coatings. My experiance is they are actually very difficult to apply, with out getting a tiger-stripe effect ( basically you can see each pass that is made with spray gun ) especially on black.  I watched a painter with 20 years expericance repaint a hood for a new challanger 4 times trying to eliminate tiger-stripes !!

Price should be a lot lower than a gloss job, like I said you can't buff flat / satin. Keep this in mind!!! What the painter sprays is what you get !! There is not buffing and polishing like a high gloss finish!!  Your comment about waxing makes me wonder what exactly are expecting.

I would say.... $3000-6000 with shop doing prep
maybe as low as 1500 - 3000 if you prepped it yourself?

[Hessian]

Canadian1968, thanks for the reply and info...

I'm wanting to get the type of matte finish you describe below.  I've attached a pic of my car and I basically want it to look close to how it looks now, just a bit more refined and 'finished'. 

I'll definitely want all the chrome removed prior to painting.  The bumpers need re-chroming for sure. 

There's also at least one spot in the drivers side sail panel that has some waves.... filler I'm afraid.  Body shop's expert eyes will no doubt find some more but I don't think it's horrendous. 

Sounds like the matte finish is easy to care for?  Just wash and wear?  Is there any negative side to using this type of finish?  Other than ensuring it's applied correctly?

Thanks again
Duke

[Canadian1968]

I can't really think of a "negative" side, other than its just not as popular as a gloss finish.  Its is a specialtily coating for sure, so like i said 90% of the painters out there will have limited experiance and knowledge of it , even more so when it comes to doing a complete car with it.  Not to say it can't be done , but if you find a shop you wanna have it done at, ask to have s test panel done. An old hood, door, fender.  Not only will this help you decided what sheen is right, but just make suer your happy with what it will look like.  I have sprayed RM, Sikkens, Sherwin Williams paints and these all use a ratio of " deadener" to the clear , to achieve a specific sheen. So you can have any thing from 10% to 90% it will all look different.

I would also highly recommend the car be sprayed assemebled , by that I just means doors, hood, trunk on. TO avoid different sheen between panels,

Hav you thought about wrapping the car??? Alot of the mat cars I see around are actually wrapped when I get up close to them !!

[Hessian]

THanks again for the info.  Very helpful.  I have heard about graphics being "wrapped" on vehicles but never an entire vehicle!  I'll have to check that out...  I wonder how expensive it is.  I'll have to do some more research.

On the assembled paint option, that makes a lot of sense.  I'm deathly afraid of them removing the front clip... it's orig to the car and we all know how brittle these things are....

[bill440rt]

Perhaps this thread will help you. 
http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,87480.0.html

This was my first matte/satin black paint job, sorry not on a Charger. Used PPG's Flexed-n-Flat clear, cocktailed with their other clears for an "eggshell" finish. Very easy to apply to obtain a uniform finish, zero tiger stripes. Stripes are very common with single stage matte jobs.

They are difficult to get a clean job with no dirt nibs, your booth must be spotless because you cannot nib-sand & buff out any imperfections.
You can use a detailer spray on it, but avoid waxing because it will alter the finish.

[Hessian]

Hey Bill440rt

Thanks for the response.  After reading your Malibu thread, that's exactly the look I"m going for. 

I'm planning on going to a local body shop that the Dodge dealer uses for their body work to get an estimate.

I'll keep you posted.

Thanks again