Repainting a Fiberglass Cobra?

[LudicrousSpeed]

Hi Guys,

Question for you. How difficult / costly would it be to have a glass body Cobra repainted a different color. I've seen a few used cars for sale that are really interesting, just dont like the color.

I'd want a REALLY good quality repaint. Experiences? Suggestions? Who does good work in SoCal & what kinda $$$ am I looking at?

Am thinking Deep metalic blue (or maybe a bergundy) w/pearl white stripes & lotsa clear

Thanks
-Mark

P.s. possible car is an ERA 427.

[MFE III]

I recommend Jeff Miller (aka Batman) in Temecula. He did mine and a couple hundred others. Don't have his number handy and I noticed that his website is down, but maybe someone else here can post his number.
Matt

[David Kirkham]

Mike McCluskey does wonderful work if you want a real show car.

As for the price...that is a loaded question. Macco is 1000 bucks (who knows) and Mike, well, more.

Give him a call. He is in Torrance. 310.375.1234

David

[ZOERA-SC7XX]

To save money, once you pick a painter, you should disassemble the car yourself prior to sending it off. When the painter is finished, you then can reassemble your Cobra. Good luck.

[mrmustang]

Originally Posted by David Kirkham

As for the price...that is a loaded question. Macco is 1000 bucks (who knows) and Mike, well, more.

David

For the record, as a current MAACO owner, I cannot paint a Cobra for $1,000, not even if the owner does all of the prep and brings me a "ready for paint" empty shell. Fiberglass has it's own unique issues that no other car does, it takes special prep, special primer/sealers, and a special touch to lay down a quality job on a fiberglass body (any fiberglass body).........Case in point, a 1980 Corvette in my shop for a complete color change, it got shot at 12 noon today, it will air dry in my booth until 12 noon on Saturday before it's pulled out into the shop again....Overkill, not for those who know what it takes to do a quality job on a car like that one.


Bill S.

PS: Last quote I did for a Cobra was $4,500 and that was for a base clear with no stripes....Will another MAACO shop quote less, perhaps, but in the end you get what you pay for..............

[Silverback51]

For a good paint job you are probably looking at $5000.00 or more.

[David Kirkham]

Bill,

No offense intended (hence, my "who knows" addendum).

Personally, I wouldn't paint one for $20,000...frankly, I wouldn't paint one for $50,000. It is just too much work (and hazard) to do. I have no idea how ANYONE can reasonably paint one for $5,000. It's just too much work.

That is the real reason behind why we polish our cars now. I hate paint.

David

[Ibr8k4vetts]

The last thing I wanted was a high dollar paint job, I built my car too drive! A friend did the body work and I spent $2000.00 on paint job.
I don't even flinch when I get a rock chip or worse! I know guys who are afraid to drive their Cobras cause they don't want to hurt there paint.
P.S. look at my Gallery to see pic.

[Clois Harlan]

Mike,

I am with you on the paint because I track my car and I don't want to think about what a piece of rubber or gravel would do to a high dollar paint job. I painted mine twice myself (over 10 years). My first paint job cost me in material alone over $1000.00 and HOURS AND HOURS of work. The second time the material alone had doubled for a high solids quality paint like Siikens. It is a lot of work and to change color is not a big deal if you take the time to do it right but it IS a lot of work. The going rate around here is about $4000.00 for a good paint job and it goes up from there depending on what you want. One of the guys here in Tulsa had his car in a custom painters shop for nearly a year and when he was finished he wrote him a check for $13,000.00 and his Cobra looked great. The problem is when he drives it and gets a few blemishes on it, then it doesn't look that much better than mine. These cars were never meant to be show cars!

Clois

[Ron61]

Mike,

When I had my Cobra, I never paid a high price for the paint either as I knew it was going to be driven a lot. I liked the white and red paint scheme so that is what I had it painted. Also the white was very easy to touch up and I had some pretty good chips in the front area, with one chunk broke off the edge of one of the air intakes by a flying wheel weight. I just sit down and over a period of time with the white paint I managed to fill it in and most people never even saw all of the rock picks. Also the white was great as it never showed this dust we have up here but you can see it on my red car for a block.

Ron

[bdeutsch]

When I looked in to having an ERA painted here in Northern California (trying to weigh the costs of a finished product versus a non-finished product), with shops recommended by local car guys, bottom end (non-show quality, but none the less a good paint job) varied between $5k to about $6.2k. If I wanted to pay for a concours level finish, estimates went from a low of $10k to a high of around $15k. Fiberglass did not seem to deter any of the shops I spoke with from giving an estimate, however, it may be reflected in the final cost.

As mentioned in an earlier response, these prices will vary from region to region but in the end, cost varies depending on what level of finish you want, reputation of the shop doing the work, etc.

Bob

[David Kirkham]

Ibr8k4vetts, Clois, Ron,

I couldn't agree more. I will post some of the most beautiful pictures of a Cobra I have ever seen--as soon as I can find the dang things.

Bob, I totally agree with your cost projections...though high end paint is moving past $15K now.

David

[David Kirkham]

[David Kirkham]

This is an original FIA car. I think the sandblasted look is really, really, cool. I even leave it on my brushed car. It shows the car has been truly loved.

[brobehr]

its, its, perfect...

loved and driven what else could be better ?

brobehr

[ICBomber90]

Dave,

That is the "look" I'm going for! Plus when one of my kids bounce a bike off it I won't

Pat

[SP01715]

Originally Posted by David Kirkham

Ibr8k4vetts, Clois, Ron,

I couldn't agree more. I will post some of the most beautiful pictures of a Cobra I have ever seen--as soon as I can find the dang things.

Bob, I totally agree with your cost projections...though high end paint is moving past $15K now.

David

Yep, For a complete body off paint job at a high end shop you are looking at 20k-25k.

[vanoochka]

The prep work that is done before the paint is applied will make all the difference in the end-result. A great paint job on a wavy body is like lipstick on a pig.

Working the imperfections out of a fiberglass body requires more finesse than on metal, so consider finding a shop that does high-end work on Corvettes and check at least 3 references.

[62Cobra]

I love the "full Race Trim" look! When I'm at a cobra event I admit, I get a little tired of looking at one more shiny blue 427 with an old guy at the wheel. It adds dimension to a car to see one thats been enjoyed and raced. The current trend in hot rods is to make them look more like a barnfind than all prettyied up and shiny. It's almost a challenge to make a car look like it has history.

[LudicrousSpeed]

Originally Posted by 62Cobra

I love the "full Race Trim" look! When I'm at a cobra event I admit, I get a little tired of looking at one more shiny blue 427 with an old guy at the wheel. It adds dimension to a car to see one thats been enjoyed and raced.

I gotta agree, especially after seeing those pics of the FIA. I also agree with the old farts comment. Being still quite young and excessively attractive, I'm trying to buck that trend.

Gentlemen, thanks for all the good info. Looks like a repaint is more trouble than its worth. Its just gonna be hard passing up a nice car because I cant stand the color. Poor me.