Paint?
- Thread starter BillKohrs
- Start date
There are a couple in the area. I had a friend paint mine, but he says he won't do another. I know Rich had Jeff Kleiner do his. There's a guy in Washington and I think a guy named Mike?
There are two shops in Washington.
When you get close, I'd suggest a visit to both and draw your own conclusion. Either way, I'd budget about $15,000 for a paint job that includes bodywork to prep the body, fit gaps, etc.
You can use the club as a reference, both Mike and Murrill are familiar with the Gateway Cobra Club and its members
- Murrill's DreamCars Murrill Feldman. He has done over 50 cars however we have had some mixed results in the recent past. 1871 Pottery Rd Washington, MO 63090
- Brune's HotRods Mike Brune Has done a number of cars with very good results. 465 Recycle Drive Washington, MO 63090
When you get close, I'd suggest a visit to both and draw your own conclusion. Either way, I'd budget about $15,000 for a paint job that includes bodywork to prep the body, fit gaps, etc.
You can use the club as a reference, both Mike and Murrill are familiar with the Gateway Cobra Club and its members
Thanks Paul for posting that. We ought to start a sticky thread with known good shops and contacts and what work they do. 
Kerry & Kathy
Member #007
Based on the current exorbitant costs...I may have to dust off my paint guns and rely on the training I received when I went through Fisher Body School in the 70's.... But paint / filler tech has changed so much in 50 years...it will still be a challenge.
Maybe we need to go the route that street rods have taken and go from $15k show car paint ...to rat rod cobra's that duplicate the scuffs, wear and road grime of a vintage race car.???
Maybe we need to go the route that street rods have taken and go from $15k show car paint ...to rat rod cobra's that duplicate the scuffs, wear and road grime of a vintage race car.???
Just to put some perspective around the $15K price tag of a paint job on our cars. Let's do some math, take the $15,000 and subtract $2,000 in paint materials leaving $13,000. Now let's look at labor, AAA says the average (not that I want my car painted by the average guy) body shop hourly rate is $47 - $215 per hour so let's average that out $131. Call it $130 to make the math easy. Divide the $13,000 by the $130 per hour rate and you get 100 hours. Does anybody believe that they can turn the ruff looking fiberglass shell that the delivery guy dropped on the driveway into something that looks show quality in your own garage in 100 hours. I couldn't do it in 3 to 4 times that long.
Greg, good wat to break it down but your not going to get your materials for the bodt work and paint for 2,000. I have 3,000 in the paint alone, and that was in 2015.
Yeah, my son was telling me they pay $700 for a gallon of paint now....he couldn't remember pre-covid pricing.
Yeah I was paying over that for gallon and then there is the clear, hardener, etc. I bet I was at least 5k for paint supplies alone. Love the job and I got to help with some of it, but for quality work, it's expensive.
Just bought epoxy primer dp2050 and associated items for the falcon and it was just shy of $500.
I tell everyone that FFR gave us a canvas for us to show the world our interpretation of these cars. My favorite colors are blue and orange, and no I'm neither a Florida Gators nor a Broncos fan. I just like the colors. One thing I did that really helped me was I built a large scale model of a cobra and then used my top picks of blue to paint it with the orange stripes. I painted one side one color and the other a different shade. These cars have so many angles and curves and just seeing the different colors on that shape in both sunlight and shade helped solidify my options and at a fairly cheap cost too. Just something to try and then the model gives you something to look at while you build the real life version in your garage.
As for body work and paint, considering I just did that on my 63 Riviera this year, here is what I know.
Labor: Well I would say I easily put in over 150-200 hrs of labor in body work over a 7 month period. One good thing (since I'm crap at body work) is the Riviera does not have a lot of curves (unlike a cobra, which is all curves).
Paint: I spent ~$900 in paint: sander/sealer, base coat, & clear coat at Mid-Nite Auto (their brand name), 1 gallon of each as I only needed the 1 gallon to put about 3-4 coats of each. The same setup in PPG was about $2400 at Mid-Nite. I also spent around another $200-300 in sand paper and misc supplies.
Granted, my intention was never to make a show car, but a nice paint job on a car I plan to drive a lot.
As for my Cobra, I took mine to Murrills Classic Dreams in Washington back in 2014. Paid, $7500 for door/hood/trunk gapping, body work and paint. He got it done in about 6 weeks, but again, it seems to be hit/miss with their schedule.
Labor: Well I would say I easily put in over 150-200 hrs of labor in body work over a 7 month period. One good thing (since I'm crap at body work) is the Riviera does not have a lot of curves (unlike a cobra, which is all curves).
Paint: I spent ~$900 in paint: sander/sealer, base coat, & clear coat at Mid-Nite Auto (their brand name), 1 gallon of each as I only needed the 1 gallon to put about 3-4 coats of each. The same setup in PPG was about $2400 at Mid-Nite. I also spent around another $200-300 in sand paper and misc supplies.
Granted, my intention was never to make a show car, but a nice paint job on a car I plan to drive a lot.
As for my Cobra, I took mine to Murrills Classic Dreams in Washington back in 2014. Paid, $7500 for door/hood/trunk gapping, body work and paint. He got it done in about 6 weeks, but again, it seems to be hit/miss with their schedule.
Mike's cellphone is (314) 974-7538 however he probably won't answer. You might text him first and identify who you are and why you're calling, he may take the call if he's seen the text.
You're better off to drive down and talk to him. He's there 8-4 everyday.
465 Recycle Dr
Washington, MO 63090
You're better off to drive down and talk to him. He's there 8-4 everyday.
465 Recycle Dr
Washington, MO 63090
