What I paid, you can't get it for that, your price would be about $1,200, give or take an hour or two at $40 an hour for the Airbrush work. Lotta time involved in this Scheme.

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Can I hear an AMEN BROTHER???

I opened my second shop last August. Just in paintbooths, frame machine and a few tools, I spent over 200K. It cost me another 100K in lease payments, rent payments before I even got the shop up and running.

And lost money in paintjobs... I'll give you a PERFECT example.

The man I'm leasing the building from wanted his '63 426 Hemi Fury painted. It needed much bodywork and the estimate I wrote was 9K in parts and labor WITHOUT a paintjob.

He decided that he didn't want to put that much into the bodywork so I changed the bodywork to 5K and charged him 3K for a paintjob. (THAT paintjob I normally charge 8K for)

Sooooo, he pays 8K for the entire job. The only cost not included was the 1000 dollars he paid to have the car soda blasted.

The guy soda blasts the car and gives it to me. We wash the car down in typical fashion with degreasers, etc and do ALL the bodywork (it was a shiitload). We paint the car and wetsand and buff it. It looks fantastic (it's black and straight as hell)

A few weeks later, we start noticing tiny bubbles all over the car... almost like moisture got in the paint. Well, I've been doing this for 23 years and have never seen this before. I know it's not moisture, we painted my own car 2 hours before his and a Corvette the next day with no problems.

The only "thing" that is different is the soda blasting. Over the years, I've had Corvette bodies soda blasted but never a steel body car.

I talk to one of the soda blasting's employees and he tells me that they've had a few cases where the cars were degreased and prepped but not washed with water.

Apparently water neutralizes the baking soda so it doesn't react with the metal later.


Before I decide to repaint it, I end up having this car wetsanded and buffed at least 3 different times and baked in an oven at 180 degrees (once we wetsanded the car, we baked the crap out of it in case it was moisture) it cost me about 400 in electric and gas to bake it. (and another couple of weeks of labor for the detailer that was wetsanding and buffing)

Sooooo, now it costs me 1200 bucks to have it re-soda blasted.

It takes one of my guys 2 weeks to redo the bodywork (another 3600 bucks)

My painter had to repaint it. (almost another weeks worth of wages...1000 bucks)

A detailer had to wetsand and buff it...another week (800 bucks)

1000 dollars in materials (not including bondo, paint, sandpaper or compounds... just paint materials)

So, so far I've got 7600 bucks in it to redo his car.

The car got buffed last week, I still have to pay the bodyman to reinstall all the chrome and trim.... about another 3-4 days of wages. (1200-1500 bucks)

Glad it didn't cost me anything to paint his car.

[:@][:@][:@]