Paint shops in the DC area

hello all. purchased a 57 flared replica this weekend (actually saw the ad on this website) from one of the members and am interested in getting it painted. it has the original black gel coat but has a few nicks I would like to get fixed so figure it will need to be repainted. I got a ballpark quote from a place in Old Town Alexandria from a place called Olde Towne Auto BOdy and Paint for about $3K. I have heard they do really nice work but price is kind of steep. Any suggestions are welcome.

Thanks and looking forward to a long relationship with you guys.

Todd Wilson

I guess it depends on what your finish is worth. :)

A friend of mine works full time in the auto body business, and he regularly sees paint jobs for show cars and high-end restorations that have price tags over ten grand.

On the other side, you can get a quick job from a run of the mill shop for probably under a thousand if you can get some of the prep work out of the way yourself and such.

It's all in what you want to spend and how nice you want the end result to be. Personally, I would have figured on $2500-3500 for a paint job on something like a Speedster that will not only be durable enough to last for years, but will also have the finish you're looking for with something as eye catching as a Speedster.

Talk to the shop and see if they can show you a "portfolio", so to speak (other cars in the area that have been done by them, or finished cars they have in the shop yet to be delivered). That should give you an idea of how good they are, and whether or not the price is worth it.

Chris

Try Collector's Auto Restoration (CAR), 7967 Twist Lane, Springfield, VA 22153 (703) 455-0181 in the Newington Industrial Park. Jimmy Ratcliff is the owner and he specializes in fiberglass Corvette body work. Won't be cheap though. You can reduce cost by stripping off accessories, trim and rubber yourself and putting it all back together yourself. You need to find a place that is very familiar with working with fiberglass. Most places that aren't will merely fill in stress cracks with filler -- only to have them quickly reappear.

Todd,
Give Quattro Auto Body in Bethesda a call, ask for Ada (owner)... they have been doing my body and paint work for over 20 years. EXCELLENT QUALITY.

Fred

Although I don't know of paint shops in your area I do know about paint since Fern was done last year. The paints that they use now days are much better than they used to use and are more expensive. The big part of painting fibreglass cars is the labor since they need to be block sanded by hand. If anyone passes a sander on the body they are probably not used to working on glass cars. That is a big part of the expense. Look for a few coats of color and a few coats of clear. Mine cost $3500 CDN. So the price is in the ball park.

Thanks to everyone for the quick replies. Been chatting with some folks at work who have boats and based on total paint area the $3K is sounding pretty reasonable. Right now it has the black gel coat and looks pretty good but I want to install the bumpers that came with the car but they are unfinished fiberglass. Does anyone think I could get away with having just the bumpers painted and trying to match the gel coat?

of course!!!Before you spend big money (if your paint is just a little flat) stop by an auto body shop and ask what it would cost
to compound/rub out your finish. you'd be amazed at the difference
and then your bumpers would match great.
as for painting "glass" cars i feel its bunk. as long as you are not doing any "repairs" to the body ("glass")then its a matter of
lightly scuffing paint for adhesion and then apply paint. the paint
does not know whats under the previous layer. repairs are another
story. it all depends on what point your body is now.
i used to own a tvr (fiberglass body car), i spent many many hours
block sanding that car by hand using 220 wet sandpaper.
that part of the job is a very ugly memory, but it was my choice.
once painted that shine/finish was second to none, looked great.
it would have still looked great without the extra sanding just
not "staight".
when someone charges you more because you have a "glass" car make
sure you get more. block sanding to eliminate waves in body.
and color sanding/rubbing after paint to eliminate any/all
orange peel. thats where all the labor is, prep and post paint work.
the application of paint is the same.
i prefer two stage paint, shine looks deeper.
good luck with your project.