I'm wondering about how much to expect when repainting the whole car, what could I do to knock out some of the labor myself and get the job started?

 

probably sand the car down, take out the door trims and what not, if you have dings and what not, use some filler and sand smooth.....use a block and not your hand cuz you'll notice a Wave effect when its painted.

 

don't even try doing body work, it might cause more problems for the body shop. I recommend, they do it all because some places do things differently. I am a body man, this is why I say this. My .02 cents. Good luck!

 

thanks guy I was considering repainting the whole car because I was hit in an accident and need the driver rear fender painted, but I'm gonna get a hard top and aftermarket front bumper so I figured if I'm gonna paint all that I should just get out the key scratches and rock chips and get a custom color..

 

My car was 6K to repaint. No color change. You get what you pay for in the bodywork world, IMHO.

 

JEEEEEEEEZ! 6K! dood i thought i was a baller with my stuff!

 

I didnt pay for it...I promise you that!

 

Also keep in mind if you intend on having just the outside painted. For example will it bother you if your engine bay does not match the exterior of the car? or what about where the body color flows into the trunk, door sills, door, etc?

Just something to keep in mind. If his stuff would bother you then you are looking at an "engine-out" repaint, which basically means your car will be completely stripped and repainted. This of course will give the absolute best results, but will require a lot of either money, or time and knowledge.

 

I believe my color-change ran about $5500 without engine bay back in February '05. That did not include all the shaving or body work I had done. Fortunately, I live in a non-metropolitan area, hence the lower costs.

 

Don't bother doing anything yourself to "Start it off". The shop will probably charge you the same and will have a smile on their faces 'coz you did some of the work. I'm sure you have heard this before. You get what you pay for when it comes to paint jobs. This means, Maaco, Earl Shrieb, or any of those guys are out of the question.