Car Painting

[wilhelm]

One of my Kaisers needs to be painted.  This is something I know nothing about.  Can anyone offer suggestions?  For examples:  What will it likely cost me? Is there one way to paint that is better than another?  What are pitfalls to watch out for? Anything else come to mind from your own experiences? Where's a good place to go in Mesa AZ?

Of course, I would like to have the finished job as good as I can get it.  I appreciate your help!

[darrin502]

The cost of Paint work can be all over the place. It can go from $500.00 up to $10,000 or more.
The way a car looks after painting is totally dependent on the body preparation. If the body is not done right the paint will not look good. You have to decide if the car is just a Dailey driver or a show car or some where in between. The paint for a professional is the easy part, the body and prep work is everything. Maybe you have seen cars that when you look down the side they look like a wash board. This is because the body work was poor. Paint hides nothing. The color makes a difference. Dark colors need much better body then light colors. But all colors need good body work. Paint work is what everyone sees my advice is take your time and do it right or you won't be happy.

[alohagreen]

As painter here is a sample, of what i do.

[MarkH]

darrin502 is right. Most of the cost, and final beauty is in the prep. If you're doing it yourself one neat tool the painter used on my car was a long flexible fairing board for fairing boat hulls, and pretty much sanded the whole car with it. He commented that usually he can "cheat" a bit on cars with body lines but when it's all curves there's a lot more work involved.

You'll also need to decide if you're going strictly original if it was lacquer, enamel or acrylic, or if you want to go with a modern base-clear paint.

[alohagreen]

Maaco check em out  , that will be on the AFFORDABLE end, from there it just goes up.
90%to 98% is in the preparation  before paint.  The more quality prep work, the better the end results.
Picture of car, for more suggestions, do you NEED it jammed,is there rust,dents or multi coates on now? etc etc etc
Are you restoring it  for points, or custom Kolor (I paint HOK) of your choosing?

[alohagreen]

"Of course, I would like to have the finished job as good as I can get it. "
it is up to your expense account, or what you are willing and able to pay...

[alohagreen]

post  that 55 chevy jake

[alohagreen]

if you have 2 55 chevys then the answer is BOTH...lol

[alohagreen]

wilhelm if ya have any more questions just ask here or pm....

[wilhelm]

All of you have been very helpful, lots of good information from guys who have been through it before.  I'm starting to feel informed enough that I can at least "talk the talk" with wherever I go to have it painted.

Someone asked about cost ... I would say I want it to look nice, without any glaring paint issues, not necessarily show quality.  The rust spots on the body concern me and with all the rest of the alligator-skin places, it will get worse fast.

I've had people look at my Kaisers, even people in their later years, and can't believe they have never heard of or seen a Kaiser before.  Interestingly enough, the most often asked question (by far) is:  "This is one of the most beautiful cars I've ever seen!  Why did they stop making them?"  So, that's one more reason I need my Kaisers looking good.  I don't want to make excuses for these cars.  First impressions are lasting.  Regarding this forum, your help is why I tell people here that before they buy a classic car, to consider how good the online forum is for that brand because most of us are going to need it someday.  It's easy to tell them KF is one of the very best.

If anyone has anything else to add, I'm all ears.

Thank you to all!