Prime and Block Time & Price

[dromano]

I have searched the forum but have not found much information to help me out.

I am about to have my truck painted, I had some minor rust and dents that were recently repaired and my painter is suggesting I just seal the rest of the truck as opposed to priming and blocking the entire thing before paint.

The rest of the body is in good/decent shape. No rust or major dents but for sure some small waves and tiny dings/dents. It's a 10-5 foot paint job.

Given the major body work is done (rust/dents) and the truck is in pretty good shape, about how long would y'all think it would take to prime and block my truck?

My painter charges per hour so I just want to gauge whether or not it will be worth the investment.

I am by no means looking for a show quality paint job as I want this truck to be a daily driver and do not want to be too paranoid to drive it but I also want to make it look as good as possible without completely breaking the bank.

If you could please give me an idea/rough estimate of how long it might take to prime and block a truck with a 10-5 foot paint job I would greatly appreciate it!

[WH0DAMAN]

If you don't care about the final appearance being wavy and having the body work show back up after you paint then just seal it and shoot it. But, I guarantee you will care after its painted and sits for a month. The primer on the body work will shrink back and you will be pissed that you didn't just follow through with priming and blocking the entire car.

At my shop we charge roughly 40 hours for blocking and priming the car twice. Granted, we do show cars so you could get away with just doing it once. Figure about 20 hours if its done right. That means blocking it by hand...not with a DA. 40 hours x $54.00 per labor hour plus $34.00 per hour for paint materials = $3,520.00. 20 hours would be $1,760.00.

I see cars that have just been sealed and shot all the time. If you don't mind it looking like a washboard when you look down the side then that's your choice.

[WH0DAMAN]

Keep in mind also that the rates I quoted are for Oregon. Texas could be a lot less. It also depends on if its a professional shop or some guy doing it on the side. It also depends on what quality of primer you use. There is a difference. Just make sure he doesn't charge for a premium product and use the cheap stuff. I hope this helps a little. Please feel free to ask if you need any more info.

[dromano]

Originally Posted by WH0DAMAN

Keep in mind also that the rates I quoted are for Oregon. Texas could be a lot less. It also depends on if its a professional shop or some guy doing it on the side. It also depends on what quality of primer you use. There is a difference. Just make sure he doesn't charge for a premium product and use the cheap stuff. I hope this helps a little. Please feel free to ask if you need any more info.

Thank you! This helps a ton, he charges $46 an hour and will use any product I want and will provide receipts/allow me to watch him use/pick up the products to make sure he is not charging me for high end stuff but is using crap.

I am on a budget so I am hoping that they agree to let me just prime and block it once and do not run into any unseen issues.

[dromano]

Originally Posted by dromano

Thank you! This helps a ton, he charges $46 an hour and will use any product I want and will provide receipts/allow me to watch him use/pick up the products to make sure he is not charging me for high end stuff but is using crap.

I am on a budget so I am hoping that they agree to let me just prime and block it once and do not run into any unseen issues.

WH0DAMAN,

Thanks again for the input, I appreciate it. One question I still have.... Given they are suggesting to just seal and shoot. Would they need to redo all the bondo on the truck or could they just sand down the areas that did not need body work then prime and block.

I would like to avoid having them have to strip the rest of the paint/body work completely given I have already paid to have the major repairs done then prime and block. Again, keep in mind I am not looking for a show quality paint job.

Thanks again for the help, this is my first time having a car painting so I am still figuring it all out as I go.

[davepl]

Looking at an old bill, My Pontiac 2+2 has 572 hours of primer/block/painting. I don't have a breakdown.

When I questioned "holy cow!" to that amount, they gave me a bunch of examples, like 100 hours spent blocking out the -underside- of a Mopar because it was going to be shot in a high-impact color and he wanted the underbody "perfect".

I guess it's a new saying - "Flat costs money, kid, how flat do you want it to be?"

As always, someone has a cousin that can do it for a case of beer, but neither of my parents had any siblings so I'm SOL.

[snipescastle2]

I guess I got off rather easy. My painter charged me a flat price of $2500.00
And he spent a lot of time getting my bedsides flat and straight, especially because he knew black would be harder to shoot and show all the flaws.
I had other shops Quoting me $4500+ and we all know that body and paint are by no means cheap, and having the equipment/facilities to do the job right are vital to an outstanding paint job. hope you get a great deal on the work your having done, but make sure you think it through first. I know my painter spent a lot of hours getting my panels smooth.
Ben

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[66clow]

I would shop around as much as possible. One reason is you will get more and more advice to better educate yourself what you really need done and find out who is telling you the truth of what you need. I work around the body shop business and most shops are happy to take your money for a show quality paint job even if that is not what you want. Go to a bunch of car shows as well to ask people and you can see the work. It is really difficult to give advice on this subject without seeing the truck. The cost for body and paint can get out of hand real quick .

[Corey'sgotachev]

We are in the market to get our truck painted. As one who is reading a lot of posts on the subject to try to learn what is needed, what questions should I ask the local body shops? Our truck is primered now but I noticed it is far from flat and will need more sanding before paint. What kind of paint is better? One stage? 2 stage?

Thanks, this thread is very informative.

[66clow]

Here's a good read
https://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/...at-experience/

[webfoot]

I did this myself, and it was my first paint job. If you have the space I'd get a gun, some high build primer and a nice long block and try it.

Its a 68 GTO which is pretty devoid of flat panels, hence the perceived "waviness".

[davepl]

Yeah, if a guy could learn to competently learn to block and sand well, and had a gun and high build primer like you say, and a can of guide coat...

You could really (a) knock some labor off the bill and (b) put as much time into it as you wanted, on your own dime (for the cost of paper), and get it really nice.

The one big tip I'll pass along is to do panels on the body, not on a buck or sawhorse. That tends to round the edges in, whereas you want the gaps to look like they were cut into a single large original panel. And that's about all I know!

[webfoot]

3M makes a dry guide coat that is really darn slick. No more rattle cans or gummed up sandpaper.