No way it can be $800, unless he has to strip it to the bone, make some repair, spray several coats, wet sanding in between!
Whilst picking up my daughter's Mustang at Caliber Collision today, I noticed a 90 red NA sitting in the lot. I asked my "collision advisor" about it and he told me that the guy had brought in a hardtop to be repainted. "how much would that be" I asked. He rattled off a litany of hourly charges, material charges, blah blah blah...
Bottom line is upwards of $800. Damn, that's gonna be one expensive hardtop.
No way it can be $800, unless he has to strip it to the bone, make some repair, spray several coats, wet sanding in between!
Gabriel
Yeah, I laughed too.
Then he asked me to bring my red in for an estimate. Just for grins, I think I will.
Holy crap! That sounds waaaay high. I paid my guy about $200 to paint my hardtop. Granted, it's still Montego Blue on the inside, but who gives a shit? Unless the paint contains gold flakes, crushed pearls, and exotic cat pheromones, I have no idea why a simple respray should cost that much - especially a good old fashioned red.
Last edited by trickyrix; 01-09-2008 at 09:18 PM.
'94 Black & Black & Tan
'99 head swap, JR header, TDR intake & header blanket, MegaSquirt, RB hollow bar, Tein Flex, 15x8 6ULs, HD M2 Sport, FM cat, Borla cat-back, black '95M interior, MOMO Zebrano, IL Motorsport console...
Dyno Days
8/16/08 (bone stock): 103.1 hp/99.0 lb-ft - Dynojet
8/23/08 (Borla cat-back): 108.2 hp/104.1 lb-ft - Dynojet
8/13/11 (more stuff...): 126 hp/116 lb-ft - Mustang dyno
Roger Moore: the Danny White of James Bonds
This is Caliber Collision in Colleyville, they are the kings of high priced insurance work.
sweet i know where to take my car for an estimate when filing a claim
07 civic si sedan -- the new toy
92 miata-dead 85 VF500F, 01 750 Ace Deluxe
furry friends -- sibes - lakota, anana, baby - schnauzers - roxie, tater --- MUTT -- Aero()
- gus gus and gidget -- birds - stewie & Libby
You can go buy another hardtop (in red) for $800.
Many say that the proper way to repaint a hardtop includes removing the rear window, and the rear window seal is not supposed to be reused. The new seal is available only through Mazda and will run a couple bills. I suspect the $800 quote includes this seal at MSRP +20%.
Even though I went TCB, you can't tell it by looking at the paint (on the outside ). If it's done right, there's no need to take the SOB apart, IMHO - esp since the hardtop will (should) see pretty limited use. Hey, do what I did and have it painted a contrasting color! That solves a lot of problems!
$800 or $200? I dunno... $600 buys a loooot of other fun stuff (like a nice new soft top or a fancy steering wheel)... hell, it'll even get you a decent set of rims!
'94 Black & Black & Tan
'99 head swap, JR header, TDR intake & header blanket, MegaSquirt, RB hollow bar, Tein Flex, 15x8 6ULs, HD M2 Sport, FM cat, Borla cat-back, black '95M interior, MOMO Zebrano, IL Motorsport console...
Dyno Days
8/16/08 (bone stock): 103.1 hp/99.0 lb-ft - Dynojet
8/23/08 (Borla cat-back): 108.2 hp/104.1 lb-ft - Dynojet
8/13/11 (more stuff...): 126 hp/116 lb-ft - Mustang dyno
Roger Moore: the Danny White of James Bonds
I don't necessarily think it should be disassembled, but that is the "proper" way.
$800 is what it cost to have a big name crew at a big fancy shop do it.
I wouldn't pay that, but I wouldn't rattle can it either.
Good paint is not cheap, and cheap paint is not good.
Did I mention that this NA was a 90 with over 200K on it?