Paint Checklist

I met someone recently who had his El Camino painted for $1000 out in the country. The before pictures were scary and he really only purchased for the crate motor that was barely used but decided to restore it. It looks very nice for a driver with very little trash and it had not yet been wet sanded. Assuming it only runs a little more for the van, I'm interested as my paint is thin and chips very easily.

I want to start putting together my list of things that I need to consider/order before doing even an budget priced paint job. That includes paint, sealer and clear.

Any suggestions appreciated. I know I need new rubber/"glazing" around my vent windows as well as my rear pop outs. I'd consider putting in a new windshield at the same time and replacing that gasket.

What else?

1000 will buy the materials, if it's not top of the line.
As an example, my 108 van has one gallon of primer plus the reducer. That cost 150. Basic primer, nothing fancy, and I did not sand it out.
The color is a low line single stage industrial paint in a stock color. That was 250 with the hardener.
I did not do any body work on the van, just painted over dents, but I did sand the whole thing down. I used the school's DA sander and air, along with the paint booth and spray guns.

Sandpaper, masking tape, masking paper and solvent to clean the guns was ~ 100.
I bought 2 spray cans of Black to cover the overspray in the grille, trailer hitch and wheel wells. I also painted the mirrors. That's another 15 bucks.
So you are at 515 for this one.
I didn't remove the windshield, rear windows or any of the front door trim.

Mind you, this is the lowest priced decent stuff you can get. There are places where you can buy cheaper paint, but the quality is not as good.

Also, I did remove the mirrors, bumpers, side and rear door handles, grille, headlight trim, wipers, emblems, front, tail and reverse lights, and antenna.

I did not do the door jambs, insides of the doors, or any other stuff. This was a quick coverage of mismatched parts and no body work. Body work adds to the materials cost and obviously labor. It took ~8 hours to sand, an hour or so to remove all the trim, a couple hours to wash and mask, and around 2 hours for the 2 coats of primer, and another 2.5 hours for the color, including cleanup time. So call it 15.5 hours for a bare minimum van. A small car will take less time, depending on trim. Note also that everything I removed except the emblems had been removed before, so none of the hardware was wrong, frozen or missing, and I knew what I needed to remove it.


The paint I plan on using for the 66 is going to be a base coat/clear coat (two stage) stock color quality paint. This will be into the jambs on the body and doors. It will be about 500 for a gallon. That's a normal price for quality stuff. Color will vary the price. There was another similar Purple that was 1200 a gallon for the base coat alone. With the dash and edges, figure on a gallon and a half.
Add the clear coat that can be 2-300 for decent stuff to 5-600 for a gallon of clear and hardener. Also a gallon and a half for the clear.
The inside will be White; not as expensive. Figure another gallon at least.
Then there are the removed trim parts, doghouse, etc. Figure another gallon if you are careful with prep and paint them in big groups.
Primer will be at least 2-3 gallons with block sanding between.

What I'm trying to show you is that if you add up the costs, plus someone's skilled labor, a thousand dollar good body and paint job is "too good to be true".
BTW, I then had a design made up and had a local decal guy cut and install the 4 color vinyl decals. This is often used for taxis and other business cars. This was over 500, but really 'finished' the van and again made it less obvious that the body isn't perfect. Not something that you would do on a typical car, but it's what I had planned on. I could have easily spent 20-60 hours doing body work on this, but it is just my driver.

As for your question of what else do you need.

First, your comment "very thin and chips easily" indicates the paint on your van now is probably not a good base for new paint. If it chips now, another coat on top can just as easily chip. Consider removing this top layer that sounds like a previous cheap respray. Sanding, stripping or blasting. They each have pluses and minuses. Research this on the web. There are a LOT of discussions on them. Also talk to the person you are going to have paint the van. All painters have opinions on what works for them from past experience. You don't want to chemically strip your van and then find your painter won't touch it due to issues in the past.

Basic nice paint job with no color change.
This means back-masking the jambs and door edges, no paint inside, no paint on the dash, inside or doghouse.
I'd get new gaskets for the front and rear lights, front door handles, locks, and inspect each trim piece and fastener when removing for quality.
If you remove the windshield or fixed windows, new gaskets are probably on the list, unless replaced recently. Window channel felts and fuzzies are a good idea too. Inspect door seals.
Good paint with jambing. This is when you are changing color or the old color is tired inside too. Maybe you are painting the insides of the doors too. This requires painting the inside edges of the doors and the jambs. You must remove the door seals to do this right! Also, there was a clear plastic inside the door to keep water from coming inside. Time to cut new ones! Make sure the doors are aligned and won't chip paint the first time they are closed.

Also, check each door for hinge wear. You need to fix any slop before paint!

Sealer! If you look in the service manual section 23, there are pages of how sealers are applied to the body.
Wash the van and look for any leaks. Inspect each opening and the drip rail. Check each hinge and body seam. All the sealer repairs must be done before paint.

NICE paint job. Each trim part should be fitted before paint. Body and paint is about making stuff look good and be protected. Make sure the grille fits the opening. Make sure there aren't gaps or dips where the headlight pie pans meet the body. Make sure the tail light lenses still fit the opening with enough room for the final paint thickness. If you have side trim, make sure that the body lines are straight and that the trim is also aligned and fits.

costs =vary with location in us , dealer. seller & economy in that area. I have painted for a living everything but a tank!. in paint booth & outside when necessary. Whats important is the actual body work -that will determine how it looks -and actually what you wnat it to look like ?? Show?/ hehe= not me - nice driver?/ yes!! Paints just like an old woman - some takes mopre preperation & cover up-some dont. When you think you are ready for paint =go back over the entire vehicle- with a cotton rag under your hand!! That trick alone will magnify every wave & warp you cant see!! Im not a 2 part -color then clear coat type-likely never will-yet i will recognise that that type finish is a better in shine & appearances than most. Many say easier yet anytime i have to squirt a paint job twice =?? well that alone has room for additional mistakes. I do have a chev pu -i painted in acrylic enemel in 1984 -never been stired inside - what ever mother nature can do its had it on that finish - yes i did use a hardner also in that paint. Still shines almost as new - yet maybe im lucky too.?? My next 2-3 projects will be painted the same way & yes- outside also.just got to know how to get the area aroung the painting project prepared . Just like baseball= no drips, no runs & no errors!! There are several places on net now selling some discount paint products- even ebay-compare prices & products -always . 100 bucks a gallon is the norm here - washington state & idaho. Yet like a pair of shoes = you can spend as much as you want to - just handing someone more money- i cant remember when ive seen any paint product that was greatly inferior to another. Just some seem easier to use than others . Basically -use a known brand name product & never ant problems. Happy Vannin

Low line paint VS high line paint.
Flow-out and application. The good stuff lays out better and smoother.
Quality ingredients. Better, truer pigments, better resins, more Ultraviolet (UV) protection. The paint will cover better and last longer.
If you have painted a room with cheap interior paint, only to have to do a second or third (or fourth!) coat, you know that cheap paint doesn't cover as well.
Warranty. Not important to a amateur or backyard painter. The insurance shops have to offer a warranty, and they pass this back to the supplier. If only 1 in 500 jobs has issues that get charged back, this increases the cost for everyone buying that product, even if they can't put in a claim.
Name brand. There are some high end names that really aren't more value for the additional cost, but they charge more for that name. Obvious examples are PPG, HOK and Sikkens.

Thanks for the info. I should add that this cost is labor, not materials. I also should add that my van is pretty straight, so not much money in work there.
The paint is thin, so it is definitely going to bare metal. Definitely want to change color. My doors DO NOT have seals, so that is on the list. The tailights are Frenched and I found that when I removed the P.O.'s plywood insulation, he only had some plastic waterproofing it from behind. That is now leaking so I need to know how to do this correctly. He also Frenched the l. plate, and it shows cracking from the bondo, so I want to figure how to prevent that. Same for the crackling around the hinge filler material.

The man who paints will tell me what materials I need to purchase. The El Camino owner purchased paint, primer, and sealer. The painter is deaf and cannot speak, so he is limited in his ability to work. You just write down what you want done. Therefore he is cheap. He loves doing this work as oppossed to the shops that only do insurance work. Eggs are cheaper in the country...

I'm not saying the paint job was top notch, but it was better than Maaco. I saw very little garbage in the paint and he took it down to bare metal first. He even removed the chrome trim. He will wet sand for additional money. The paint looked very good and had orange peel that would buff up and out. The owner is just waiting until he does a few more things to it. His two tone tape work was straight as an arrow.

I've decided that a top notch paint job really makes no sense for me (financially or practicly) as this is a working van and a several days a week driver, not a garage queen. I'll hit the shows and celebrate it as a driver. It's loaded with stuff at this very moment and rarely stays empty. I'm highly considering sealing the interior floor and using a spray liner afterwards.

A respectable paint job that catches the eye and advertises my business is my need. I just want to address anything that makes sense before painting.