Looking for paint/body shop and upholstry shop in southeast MI.

[claytonjn]

My '92 Camaro vert is in dire need of some new paint, and I'm planning on swapping the interior from tan to black...I figure I should get each of these priced and try to get them done at the same time, if possible.

The car is currently green, but I want to get it painted black. There is also one small section of body repair that needs to be fixed, some surface rust around the wheel wells, and I want to shave the door handles, marker lights, antenna, and gas door. I also want to remove the ground effects and door molding as well as modify the front bumper cover (which would probably need fiberglass work). I don't want to open the doors, trunk, hood, etc and see any green.

As for the interior, I haven't been able to find black leather split-back rear seats, so I want to get mine recovered. I also haven't been able to find the correct rear speaker panels in black, so I need those recovered. I also have a set of Pontiac deluxe door panels that need to be recovered. I still don't know what I'm doing about front seats (any ideas would be appreciated...I'm currently wanting to find a set of seats with the belt built in like on the BMW verts)

Can anyone recommend places around West Bloomfield that do quality work at an affordable price? Also, if anyone wants to post what they think I should be expecting to pay it would help to know how reasonable any quotes I get are.

Thanks!

[Gregs_gsxr]

How far of a paint job are you looking for ? just a color change like mask and spray (like maco) or strip it down, cut everything in and spray the whole car put back together?

[claytonjn]

I don't want to see any green. I don't mind if I'm taking stuff apart and see green that's normally hidden, but I don't want to pop the hood and have it all green in there. Other than that, the only advantage I can think of for disassembling everything would be to protect from rust? The only rust I've found is on the wheel wells so I'm not concerned about that. On the other hand, if I do the paint and interior at the same time it may be just as easy to remove everything. What do you recommend?

[Gregs_gsxr]

depending on how much time and money you want to spend

[claytonjn]

I want it done right, so if it's out of my budget I'll just save until I have enough. Could have enough now, could be months, could be years.

[birdie2000]

For a color change like you're looking for I'd say plan on at least $3-5k depending on the shop and the quality of work they do. It'll probably be closer to the $4.5-5k end of that because of the additional stuff you want done (rust repair, shaving things, modifying fascia, etc.). I wouldn't be entirely surprised if you got quotes over $5k at some shops.

Now, you can get lucky and find people who do body/paint work on the side out of their homes/etc. That'll be about the only way to get a quality job done for less than that, but you need to be very careful about screening your candidates.

[claytonjn]

I can probably do most of the body work myself...I just need to get my hands on a welder and touch-up my skills from high school. The only thing I'm not sure about is the front end...I haven't decided how drastically I want to change it, but I've never worked with fiberglass. I've got a buddy who went to school for painting cars and can do it at a slight discount, and my dad used to work at a couple companies that make automotive paint. He's got a buddy who teaches kids how to paint cars and my dad said if we do the prep I could possibly get it done for free... That would be awesome if it's his buddy doing the painting but if it's the kids then I'm not sure it would be worth it.

How much do you think those things would cost separately (body work and prep, and the actual painting)?

[Gregs_gsxr]

a gallon of paint, a couple quarts of reducer will usually do a full car, thats with cutting in doors, hood, fenders. I do recommend you remove the doors, fenders, hood, front, rear and side bumper covers and gfx. I would remove weather stripping, door moldings, door handles and locks etc. This will give you a better job and less paint edges.

[birdie2000]

If you did everything except the actual painting, and took it to a shop to spray it, I would guess you'll spend $900-1,300 for materials and to get it sprayed. If you're going to do it that way, I would recommend just taking it to a Maaco and paying for one of their better base/clear paint jobs after you've done all the body/prep work. They buy paint in such quantities that they can buy it cheaper than most smaller body shops can. It's not going to be a show quality job, but you can get a decent product if all they're doing is the spraying (provided the work you did yourself is up to par). A high quality paintjob is 90% in the prep/body work. And whatever you do, don't prime it with rattle can junk (IMO).