Estimated hours for minor fiberglass work - are you serious?!

> That's sad, I didn't think there were that many bad painters out there,
> but keep at it, you'll get better.

Kudos on the zinger! Heh, Heh!
"Production" body repair ended for me in '81, I have only done complete
paint jobs on Rods, airplanes and Classics since.

> My first car was a black 1954 that I spot painted in 1956, my brother
> drove it for 11 more years and you couldn't see the repair. I'll admit
> that it was factory color but it was mixed paint, not package.

Again, the texture & shine, not the color is the problem. You will agree
that black paint, especially laquer (eg, good ole' Lucite 99L) will magnify
ANY imperfections or distortions? But then, bone stock 'Vettes are not known
for "flat & level" paint jobs, it's the nature of the beast. My long board
is getting a real workout on my '84 project.

>My '98 had just a shade different on the side strips from the factory that
>you could see, the side strips on my '04 were painted here and put on. You
>couldn't see any difference in the color on it. The only color I ever had
>any trouble hiding the spot was a silver 240 Z but my son stopped by and
>hit it first shot, go figure.

Agreed, Silver sucks too. Remember the GM silvers of the late '70s early
'80s? Ford was bad also, they brought a new meaning to "Silver Flake" ;-)

> Oh, almost forgot the white Saab that I had to blend the color all the way
> from the front to the back to blend with another blend that preceded my
> repair. This summer I spot painted a '69 Corvette in 9 places that hadn't
> been on the road for 18 years, and it was in a show the next weekend and
> took peoples choice.

That is great!
You won't however convince me that it is "easy". You had to put more effort,
and even maybe love in to it, than a "production" body shop will.
Even if you are in a production body shop, it would be, IMHO, very
UNAMERICAN to treat a '69 'Vette like Grandmas Volare! :-P

> No "Maybe" about it you either know how to paint or you don't.

I agree to a point, any painter worth his salt will always be willing to
learn something. With my '84 "Flexible Flyer" I am getting the education I
had never dreamed of. HA, HA!

How are you and the C-6 getting along? Good I hope?

Marty

> Dad
> 05 C6 Silver/Red 6spd Z51
> 72 Shark Black/Black/4spd
>
>

> Now you're hurting me, I can't even recall when I first rolled the masking
> tape to break the paint line. I had a great teacher and I've worked some
> very odd jobs, like repainting telephone trucks silver at the rate of 6 a
> day for nearly 2 months, four of us.
>

I was new to body work then (I figured you knew that one) and didn't have
much in the way of a teacher until I got a job in 1990 that was next to the
Sherwin Williams Training and Research Facility in McCook, IL. They were
gracious enough to teach me when they were doing research work. It was their
job to write the book on spot repairs, panel repairs and complete
refinishing of new OEM colors.

You probably had to crank out 6 trucks a day to make any money. I must bow
to ya, 2 mos.at that rate is a tough task.
Don't remember how many but I came into a tractor dealership to paint blue
Ford/New Hollands safety orange for the IL.DOT. Think we got 3 a day
including the ROPS,mirrors and turn signal installations.

Spent 6 mos.on a production line painting tool boxes, that sucked. If you
have seen the banks at McDs' for Ronald McDonald House donations, (red
roof,white sides) I painted them, as well as boxes for Bosch, Ammco,Enerpack
and SK Tools. Had to paint them right the first time, every time, no runs,
no drips, no errors. If the paint line was too fast for the others, I got
stuck silk screening the logos on the damn things too.
Left that job after developing nerve damage in my hands/wrists (carpal
tunnel of course).

MArty

> Now you're hurting me, I can't even recall when I first rolled the masking
> tape to break the paint line. I had a great teacher and I've worked some
> very odd jobs, like repainting telephone trucks silver at the rate of 6 a
> day for nearly 2 months, four of us.
>

I was new to body work then (I figured you knew that one) and didn't have
much in the way of a teacher until I got a job in 1990 that was next to the
Sherwin Williams Training and Research Facility in McCook, IL. They were
gracious enough to teach me when they were doing research work. It was their
job to write the book on spot repairs, panel repairs and complete
refinishing of new OEM colors.

You probably had to crank out 6 trucks a day to make any money. I must bow
to ya, 2 mos.at that rate is a tough task.
Don't remember how many but I came into a tractor dealership to paint blue
Ford/New Hollands safety orange for the IL.DOT. Think we got 3 a day
including the ROPS,mirrors and turn signal installations.

Spent 6 mos.on a production line painting tool boxes, that sucked. If you
have seen the banks at McDs' for Ronald McDonald House donations, (red
roof,white sides) I painted them, as well as boxes for Bosch, Ammco,Enerpack
and SK Tools. Had to paint them right the first time, every time, no runs,
no drips, no errors. If the paint line was too fast for the others, I got
stuck silk screening the logos on the damn things too.
Left that job after developing nerve damage in my hands/wrists (carpal
tunnel of course).

MArty

Marty said:

QUOTE:You are wrong about black paint (if it has the original factory
enamel). You are spot on about painting the whole car. UNQUOTE

Small point of order...if you are referring to Corvettes, there's no
such thing as "original factory enamel" prior to about mid-year of the
1982 model run. All Corvettes from 1953 through mid-1982 were lacquer.

Jim

Marty said:

QUOTE:You are wrong about black paint (if it has the original factory
enamel). You are spot on about painting the whole car. UNQUOTE

Small point of order...if you are referring to Corvettes, there's no
such thing as "original factory enamel" prior to about mid-year of the
1982 model run. All Corvettes from 1953 through mid-1982 were lacquer.

Jim

bring it to daytona i'll match to paint.....


Eric Rizzo wrote:

> I just was at a large body shop yesterday to get an estimate to repair
> the front tip of my C3. I scraped up about a softball-sized area right
> on the point of the nose (a couple of pictures at
> http://www.rizzoweb.com/photos/CorvetteDamage/)
>
> I almost fell out of my chair when the estimator told me it was going to
> be about $2k! Does over 23 hours of labor to repair such a small area of
> fiberglass damage seem inordinate to anyone else? And then he wants to
> re-paint not only the front bumper cover, but both fenders all the way
> back to the doors - that's an additional 13.5 hours of painting labor
> and supplies.
>
> I'm looking for another shop in the area that does vettes so I can get
> another estimate, but I just wanted to know if anyone here finds those
> numbers to be inflated.
>
> Eric
> --
> '74 Coupe 350 Automatic
> Black/Black

bring it to daytona i'll match to paint.....


Eric Rizzo wrote:

> I just was at a large body shop yesterday to get an estimate to repair
> the front tip of my C3. I scraped up about a softball-sized area right
> on the point of the nose (a couple of pictures at
> http://www.rizzoweb.com/photos/CorvetteDamage/)
>
> I almost fell out of my chair when the estimator told me it was going to
> be about $2k! Does over 23 hours of labor to repair such a small area of
> fiberglass damage seem inordinate to anyone else? And then he wants to
> re-paint not only the front bumper cover, but both fenders all the way
> back to the doors - that's an additional 13.5 hours of painting labor
> and supplies.
>
> I'm looking for another shop in the area that does vettes so I can get
> another estimate, but I just wanted to know if anyone here finds those
> numbers to be inflated.
>
> Eric
> --
> '74 Coupe 350 Automatic
> Black/Black

> wrote in message
...
> Marty said:
>
> QUOTE:You are wrong about black paint (if it has the original factory
> enamel). You are spot on about painting the whole car. UNQUOTE
>
> Small point of order...if you are referring to Corvettes, there's no
> such thing as "original factory enamel" prior to about mid-year of the
> 1982 model run. All Corvettes from 1953 through mid-1982 were lacquer.
>
> Jim
>

Thanks Jim,

Thanks for the correction!
Didn't know that about Vettes. It makes all the difference.

Marty

> wrote in message
...
> Marty said:
>
> QUOTE:You are wrong about black paint (if it has the original factory
> enamel). You are spot on about painting the whole car. UNQUOTE
>
> Small point of order...if you are referring to Corvettes, there's no
> such thing as "original factory enamel" prior to about mid-year of the
> 1982 model run. All Corvettes from 1953 through mid-1982 were lacquer.
>
> Jim
>

Thanks Jim,

Thanks for the correction!
Didn't know that about Vettes. It makes all the difference.

Marty

"Marty" > wrote in message
...
>
> > wrote in message
> ...
>> Marty said:
>>
>> QUOTE:You are wrong about black paint (if it has the original factory
>> enamel). You are spot on about painting the whole car. UNQUOTE
>>
>> Small point of order...if you are referring to Corvettes, there's no
>> such thing as "original factory enamel" prior to about mid-year of the
>> 1982 model run. All Corvettes from 1953 through mid-1982 were lacquer.
>>
>> Jim
>
> Thanks Jim,
>
> Thanks for the correction!
> Didn't know that about Vettes. It makes all the difference.
>
> Marty
Not an issue at this point since we know that it had been repainted black
and could be either paint, most likely enamel. If I remember correctly the
1982 was produced in St Lousy and BG that year and both paints were used
simultaneously in it's separate facility.
--
Dad
05 C6 Silver/Red 6spd Z51
72 Shark Black/Black/4spd