How much for a full paint job?

[SilviaSR20DET]

Im planning to buy a 1997 240sx 5sp that is green. I really dont like that color but its a good price. How much are good paint jobs run for? Any help will be much appreciated. Thank you

[Tubed4evr]

This all depends on how nice a finish you are looking for.  I had my car painted this summer and had to have the whole thing stripped (lots of labor) before it could recieve a new coat. All in all I got a deal at $1600 for stripping, minor body work, and paint.  Normally you can just sand the existing paint and go over it, so the labor for yours would be alot less than mine.  For a good looking daily driver I would be looking in the ballpark of $1000 then tack on a bit if you have some dings or any bodywork the needs to be taken care of before the paint goes on.  Of course I am sure you know you can spend as much or as little as want on a paint job (i.e. Maaco~$300      Show Finish~$5000+).  Just go get a few estimates and tell the painters what you want the car for and they should set you straight.

[thelinja]

I took my car to a good body shop and was charged $300 just for painting.  I did all of the prep myself though.  I sanded the old paint off and fixed all of the old scratches and blemishes.  It probably took me 14-15 hours to get the car prepped perfectly so I can see why it costs a hell of a lot of money to paint and prep at a body shop.

[AKADriver]

Wait until one comes along with a color you want, or live with the green.

[RedlineRacer]

I just had my car painted last summer and I had a decent paint job on it with the same color for almost 800 dollars. But my roof was also oxidizing so that ran the price up like 200 dollars and I had a few dents and dings. But if you want to change the color it usually runs 50 dollars for every door jam. So for a 240, it cost usually 200 dollars more to have the car painted a different color.

[SimpleS14]

It all depends on where you live and who you want to paint your car. I'm looking to paint my whole car another color since my conversion, but I'm looking all over the place to find a good deal. So far the best deal was $2900...if and only if I take out my headlights, interior panel and weather stripping. He told me all the work he has to do to the car and even showed me his work...very very nice. <img src="http://www.zilvia.net/f/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/thumbs-up.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':thumbsup:'> If I just give my car to him or anyone else (with no prepping) it runs for $3500-$6000.

edit: Now that I think about it, I'm going to keep the same color. &nbsp;It's rare (Emerald Green) and so is my car. &nbsp;Plus it only cost $750 to paint my front end. &nbsp;<img src="http://www.zilvia.net/f/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':D'>

[Chokets]

do it yourself dude, walmart sells spray paint, you can like just randomly grab some different colors and go at it, using tape and newspapers to protect stuff, you could paint the whole car for less then $30 (especially if you use sunday papers!<img src="http://www.zilvia.net/f/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=';)'> <img src="http://www.zilvia.net/f/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/eh.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':eh:'>

[Nerfdude]

yeah man, plasti-kote! woo!

no... do the prepwork yourself. it's time well spent. then go to maaco and get it painted and clearcoated for like 500.

[adey]

can any of you tell me how I would get rid of (seemingly) minor surface rust? I have a little bit at the base of my A-pillar where it's bubbling underneath the black paint.
I also have a little bit on my passenger side strut tower where it connects to the fender 'frame', right between the welds/connection.

How would one go about getting rid of these and repairing them? I'm thinking (at this point) just some sandpaper, JB Weld (or similar?) and touch-up paint....

[wpayne]

Well as far as rust, I know you can sand paper it all and buff it really good and if there are any indentations from the rust, where it ate away or anything, theres this mold you can get, forgot what its called, but you can slap it on your car, then sand it down to the shape of the care. Then you have to do the painting on that section though. Make sure you have a good sanding tool and have some experience cause this one guy did it to my girlfriend's sister's car and he made the surface look a lumpy so just watch out. Hope this helps.

[RedlineRacer]

Advance Auto sells a spray that you can spray on rust and it eats it off. I am not sure on how great it works, but there's a suggestion.

[thelinja]

I had probably a 5-6 square inch spot of rust on the rear quarter panel near the tire well. &nbsp;I sanded it down really good and it made kind of an indent. &nbsp;After I got all of the rust out I used wet sandpaper and bondo to smooth it off to the contours of the rest of the panel. &nbsp;I wish I would have taken it to a body shop though..If you look closely at it, it pretty rough. <img src="http://www.zilvia.net/f/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/confused.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt='???'>

[thelinja]

Oh, I forgot to say that I sprayed it with a rust proof primer after the bondo was smooth.