I am at the point to where I can start putting a nice finish on the ole girl. Since I do not have the SKILLS, equipment, or facilities to do a nice job I would like to hire it out. Question...What could I expect as a reasonable price? I am only doing the cab and front clip at this time. The cab will be gutted. Doors off, windows out, etc. I plan to take the front clip completely apart also. My cab is in very good shape and will need little rust repair. There are a few areas that will need to be welded. Cab corners are good. Any thoughts? I know you Patina Guys will think I'm crazy! Thanks

 

Pretty open ended question . Driver, show , world of wheel's contender , color-quality of paint , under hood , inside cab - doors , time frame , ect. ? Lots of questions you will have to decide on . I don't know what bodyshop rates are there but here it would be $ 100/h paint material can vary from $500-$2000+ . For some shops time can be a big one . If allowed to use as a " filler " for slower times the price can be substantially less . I'm sure the great guys on here that have had work done will chime in .

 

I agree EBEAR, it is open an ended question. And like everything else on these trucks, "just keep it running or darkside extreme?" Looking to make it dentless and original quality paint. No show quality stuff is required. Just wanted some ball park figures or personal experiences before I start my search

 

First off, your truck looks to be in very good shape for a survivor. That said, when you start tearing it down be prepared to find more rust and more work that needs to be done. Not all the fasteners will come out the same way they went in in 1955. Rust on these old trucks has a way of hiding under bolt heads and washers...a nice clean round hole in the sheetmetal can become a ragged oval and need repair. Labor cost is the long pole in the tent. A good rule of thumb for materials is $2,000. This covers primer, reducer, W&G solvent, tape, paper, base coat/clear coat, and other consumables like filters, disposable paint cups, etc. Back to labor...I am not sure what the labor rate is in your locale, it can run from $50/hr to $150/hr. Most shops today are production shops...late model collision repair done in volume with as little panel pounding as possible, if the panel can be replaced then that's what is done. I mention this because the work you want done does not fit this business model. Sooo...you can take your truck parts to one of these shops and pay the premium that they will charge to do your work or you can go to a high dollar custom shop that knows the scope of the effort and will charge accordingly. Either way it won't be cheap. There is another option, find someone who is reputable and doesn't have a lot of overhead...usually a retired guy who works out of a small shop on his property.
As a starting point you will have to clearly identify your goal, as they say, when you don't know where you are going then any road will take you there. The first thing that I would do is leave the truck assembled and find a Dustless Blasting service in your area. Have them strip the truck down to bare metal, this will give the shop a better idea of the condition of the sheetmetal. Since the dustless blasting process uses water, the metal does not get hot and warp. In SoCal you can get a whole car/truck done for around $600. Check it out in your area, this is money well-spent. Hope this helps...

 

I do my own work so I can't provide costs. What I will say is that someone wants to know the cost to paint a vehicle, my answer is that is low $. When you get to the point that you are holding the color gun you are 99.9% complete. The $ are in the disassembly, cleaning, repairs, straightening, fitting, priming/filling and blocking (it seems like forever).

 

After all the nice work you've done on the chassis Dave, I'm surprised you are second guessing your ability on the body work. When I did my '53 f350 I started with a truck in quite similar condition, but with rusty rear corners. The welding was the easy part of the build for me because I used to do that for a living, but I had never done any body work. With the combination of help from this forum, local shops, and youtube, there is more than enough information available. At first it seemed a little overwhelming, but I just broke it down to one piece at a time. I stripped the paint off, cleaned & primed each piece, painted the bottom of the cab, inside the fenders and various parts that weren't going to be seen, did some body work, and took it to a paint shop for the final coat of paint. That part I didn't have the equipment or ability to tackle. Good luck!

Grant

 

Thanks for taking the time to share Charlie! Anything helps My goal IS to find an ole retired guy or a guy who moonlights from a shop they work at. I'm trying to save as much $$$ as I can by tearing it down to individual parts and then reassemble after it's painted.

 

Thanks for the vote of confidence Grant! I applaud your accomplishment and I may end up doing the same if the prices are ridiculous. We all know these projects are an ongoing, time sucking thing, but sometimes our patients gets tested, and I consider myself a very patient person. So it will probably come down to the question. "Do I have more time than I do money?"

 

I found an old guy (actually about my age) who charged $40 per hour plus materials. I had my truck water blasted for about $300, and I paid a different guy another $300 to spray epoxy sealer and then high build primer. I did the final body work and block sanding. The $40 an hour guy did the rest. The whole deal cost about $2000. That number includes paint and supplies but not previous body work that I had done on the front clip, floors, doors, lower cowl, and rear wheel wells.

My paint looks fine from a distance, but there are issues for sure if you look closely. I guess I got what I paid for. Good luck Dave.

Jim

 

Hi:

I was in a similar spot as you are. I originally thought I'd do some of disassembly the work myself, take it in pieces, reassemble myself. As I met people with the skills and patience to talk to me, I realized that doing bodywork and getting things to line up are tied up into related tasks. I ended up using 1 shop to get the metal put together and lined up. They were removing dents and rust the old fashion way, using heat, hammer & dolly and hydrolic tools to ever slightly bend and align. It looks like your truck won't need as much of that, except the surprise rust as mentioned by others above.

Then the body and paint shop took over. I was warned repeatedly that most shops don't know how to work on old metal and take these projects as fillers. It's not uncommon to see your truck again in 6+ months if you go that route.

My metal guy's painter was just too good of a painter for my needs. If you have a top 5% professional making show quality customs for a living, he's just going to be too expensive for what must of us are doing. Given his quote was $30K (I'm not joking) and I'm the simplest job he'll do all year, I just couldn't reason that in any way.

I finally found a shop through referral that had a few classics in the bays among the insurance work. They dissembled 100%, primed & painted and reassembled and got all alignment right. My metal guy still can't believe I got the truck back in 2 months. I went for the whole thing: undercoating, body color bed strips & rims, etc. It's a shinier finish than I expected but I'll get used to it

 

guess I was lucky... I found two body men that would work after hours for 15.00 an hour... but lots of hours... that included patch pieces, filler and up thru primer, ready for sealer and final paint

Be prepared for paint cost... they have skyrocketed over last few years... the Yellow I chose was a little over 600 a gallon (painters discount price at the paint store)... total material cost was right at 2K... and then his labor.

It ain't a cheap proposition... but your truck looks like a great start. Just be prepared for what you can't see.... yet.

I disagree with blast assembled... I wanted every inch to get paint so mine was blown apart to prime and paint... then reassembled in my garage.

this explains my post titled "money pile is high enough" on the forum

good luck
John

 

Thanks for sharing your experience Wallace! You're lucky and I hope I can have the same luck. Buy the way your truck has turned out beautiful, you should be proud. I'll be waiting and watching for that "first drive" video

 

Dave, why aren't you painting the bed, rear fenders, and running boards right now?

Good luck finding that cheap but good painted. If you were closer to me I'd have a guy for you.

 

Hey Dave,
We found the prices to vary a lot just depending on close proximity to a
major town. In Austin the quotes & overhead were very high... We took our truck to a little shop
in the country 70 miles away for less than half the Austin (major city) cost.

Good luck up there in Nebraska. If I were to do it again I'd use Tractor Paint
to keep the cost down on materials.

Ben in Austin
1950 F1

 

You might check with Kyle Bond in Gibbon NE. He did my 56 F100 and 57 Chevy. Has a reasonable hourly rate and will work with you. PM me if you need a phone number.