I was thinking about the cost of a semi decent respray ...
The story so far is that my shell is totally bare ,welding repairs complete , filler and epoxy primer applied and hi- build primer applied and most high and low spots eliminated ( a good pro would find some additional prep but the shell and panels are all looking reasonable .)
I am thinking of 2 options A= a dark solid color midnight blue in a good quality 2K
B= a dark metallic blue + clear coat in a good quality 2K
I am not expecting a best of show standard more of a nice driver quality job that has to live in the real world and be able to survive regular use .
Any ideas as I am so out of touch with current prices ?
I was considering doing the painting my self in the solid color but because my compressor is slowly dieing and the winter is here it is probably more realistic to hand things over to someone with better equipment and a real booth because it will speed things along and get my project back on the road .

Here's the costs of the paint i bought alongside quantities etc. That was for etch, high build and single stage solid colour, all 2k. That was enough to do the outside and insides of all the panels, inside the shell, all of the small parts , things like radiator panel (can't remember the name of it right now... big thing that holds the radiator in place and bolts to the subframe) and still had about half or 1 litre left.



I'm going with the base coat clear coat on the next repaint, because i had issues when flatting down the single stage - you may have seen it in my build thread where it started to break through into the different pigment colours, most likely due to bad binder. Once you get an idea of the quantity, you can always try a place like http://www.qpaints.co.uk/ I've used them and very helpful people on the hone, fast delivery and everything has always been in stock. They sell all the PPE too, masking tape, prep stuff etc.

Ray , thanks for such a quick and detailed response .
I have 2 good paint suppliers that I have been using and they have both been helpful and even do deals for cash which helps the budget go a bit further ...




Metallics require a bit more skill as there are variations in how they lay down, based on temp, flash off time, angle of gun etc. Depends on the type of person you are of course... i would try it for the sake of trying it (in fact, i will be on the Trans Am in a year or two).

I would not pretend to be able to paint my car in metallic because the prep needed is probably twice the work for a solid color
Of course, that's the DIY route and it sounds like you're also entertaining the idea of having someone else do it... i've not had much experience in the cost of this. I friend with a '79 Camaro paid £4.5k about 4 years ago for a repspray... not sure if that included basic body work for dings etc but did included primer and flatting. Not sure if base coat clear coat or single stage, think it's base clear. Another job i know of on a 3rd gen that was a metallic jobbie, was 2 or 2.5k.

I could try the solid dark blue but my Airmaster compressor 9cfm and Fast Mover gun are not really up to the standard a Pro would use and to be honest the compressor is a bit tired and probably now only fit for smaller scale repair work To replace it with a similar unit is about £ 650 ) and maybe that money would be better spent having someone paint it ?
Like I said most of the primer is on and the only part left to prime is the deck lid spoiler .
With the weather turning cold and damp and painting in a large domestic garage ( dry but cold ) there could be other problems caused by humidity .
Decisions , decisions ...
Thanks again for the advice Ray .