Shell painting - costs

[Jono]

Just wanting to sense check, in general terms, what sort of cost range a good standard re paint on a bare Mk1 shell should be?

Assume a completely bare shell, all welding and panel work done - blasted and etch primed with work to be completed including filling, fettling welds, blocking, seam sealing stone chipping and painting in 2 pack then handing bare shell back to customer for building up.

Cheers

Jon

[CooperTune]

Not sure my being on this side of the pond will help you. I have been doing shells on a spit since 1990. After returning from military
service in spring of 1974 I met and began working with a one man shop for all my body and paint. We became close friends and
worked together on many projects. I'm so sorry he passed away five years ago and I had to start looking for other options. I'm
located mid Atlantic coast USA. Over the last several years I have contacted and or visited a lot of shops. It seems here and I
have traveled far north and south and it looks like what you are looking for five years back was $5500 US and now if they will even
look at the job prices range from $8000 to $10,000. Reading recently it seems show quality paint and body bare shell will be closer
to $20,000. I no longer offer the service, a customer has to arrange that himself. A recent job I picked up at shop several hundred
miles from my shop is a deep disappointment. The owner arranged and paid before I saw the job. The shop has promised to take care of the runs sags orange peel once I'm done with assembly. So glad I did not arrange the job. Steve (CTR)

[mk1]

Realistically & depending on exactly how much work is involved you can rely on somewhere between £2,500 & £5,000

[Jono]

Great, thanks for the comments.

[snoopy64]

If you’re south of Birmingham anyone any good will be charging £5k

[Jono]

Frozen north for me but that's about the ballpark I'm facing so good to know it's 'in the range' of normal

[Rusty old S]

Midlands , £2.800 ish

[Richspec]

I think i spent around 5 grand on blasting, various panel work, additional welding for the cage and seats and the full respray.

Showing its age in a few areas now after 5 years but it gets plenty of use so what can you expect! ain't no trailer queen

[Highnumbers]

Reading recently it seems show quality paint and body bare shell will be closer
to $20,000. I no longer offer the service, a customer has to arrange that himself. A recent job I picked up at shop several hundred
miles from my shop is a deep disappointment. The owner arranged and paid before I saw the job. The shop has promised to take care of the runs sags orange peel once I'm done with assembly. So glad I did not arrange the job. Steve (CTR)

The biggest variable is your location, followed by caliber of shop you take the car to.

A top quality restoration shop here in Southern California will charge you $20,000 or more - even bringing in a shell that is closer to paint-ready than what's described in this thread. So expensive.

In fact, it's so expensive here that I bought all the equipment to do paint/body and taught myself how to do it. Just finished the work and the car looks excellent. But it took me 10 months..

I have to question some of the quotes in this thread. 2,800 GBP? Paint and body is a LOT of work, and much of that work is after color is sprayed, colorsanding orange peel out etc, polishing up the final work. Either somebody isn't quoting out the work well enough, or they're paying themselves pennies.

[Herbert]

Message deleted

[Polarsilver]

My painter last year told me the "material cost" for paint etc for a Mini Shell was circa £1000 +100 Labour Hours & you have the costs to repaint a bare Mini shell that is the Labour Preparation & Paint to..Underside + inside + Outside & Bonnet Boot & Doors .. then He has the kit & paint booth to pay out for + rent heating & rates + Taxman to pay... so i think i got a deal at £4k & a very good job was done ?

[billycooper]

Think I paid £3500 for a full bare shell, included prep, luckily I had very little to weld, and it was for a competition car, so yes there were things we didnt do that you would for a show car, sand blasting £350 extra, i'm up north but the bodyshop got flooded out a few months later and he's never got set up again

See the first page

https://www.flickr.com/photos/16788879@ ... 7483268927

[Costafortune]

Rule of thumb with many car sprayers.

If they're cheap, they're crap.

If they're expensive, they're crap.

It's all about word of mouth and seeing the work they've done before. I can recommend a good place in Chesterfield but you're looking at around 3 grand to paint a bare shell - assuming it doesn't need shitloads of prep. Also, ALWAYS ask them to do the final prep. If you don't, every fault is your fault.

[miniminor]

My brother paid £3000 about 9-10 years ago for an Elf shell fully painted and finished. Thought that was OTT back then but it is a stunning job and still looks superb nearly 10 years later.

[NicholasUpton]

All I restore in my shop is mini’s. Being in one of the most expensive states in the USA along with the regulations that I have to follow have driven the cost up. Based on what your describing in the original post figure $7500- 10k for a nice paint job depending on the condition of the body, and the color cost. Show car restorations normally run double that. As we color sand and polish the engine bay, interior panels and complete exterior.

[Exminiman]

Thread resurrection…….have costs gone up considerable recently to paint a shell ?

Shell is all welded with new panels, floors etc, final prep to do and roof, boot, bonnet and quarters to strip still, just been quoted £12k

I was thinking about £6K, am I being unrealistic these days?

The body shop has a good reputation, and is quoting 240 hours and £1500 materials , no VAT ….

is this justifiable do you think?

[snoopy64]

Hi, things certainly have gone up and but everyone still seems to be busy which doesn’t help… what have you asked them to do/ asked for?

[Exminiman]

The usual really.
All Metalwork is done, gaps are good including the door bottoms - mini machine floor...and new boot, floor arches..
Prep work is to do, including stripping : Roof, Rear quarters, bonnet, boot.
Upol Raptor Anti Stone Chip underneath
Painted in 2K

[mini_surfari]

Personally, seems a bit rich! We had one quote of 15k to paint the van!

But most places were around 3.5-5k. (Complete bare shell painted underneath already though).

Ps that was end of 2021 into 2022.

[kit of bits]

I think there’s a good business opportunity here for someone, I’ve been looking for someone to paint my shell I don’t want a cheap job but not stupid either I’d have thought £6000 plus materials should get you a very nice job..
D