# Who and how much for new paint?



## BatmanGTO (Jun 18, 2011)

Hello all,
I am new here and have been looking for a 66 or 67 GTO. So far I have struck out on buying the color of choice, which is black, but I also like the gold and dark blue. So now I've considered a car of any color and thought I can just get it painted black.

With that said, what is a good reputable shop to do this in the MI/OH area? And how much could I expect to pay for this?

I've never had a car painted before, for a good job would they need to take the old paint off? It would seem like and chips would reveal the old paint if they did not.
Thanks


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## geeteeohguy (Feb 2, 2008)

Painting a classic car is THE most expensive part of a restoration these days. In California, a "driver quality" paint job that is a complete color change costs around 10,000 dollars. Show quality is about twice that. My suggestion is to hold out for a GTO that is a color you can live with. A same-color repaint is a lot less labor intensive and will save you $$$, but will still be expensive. In today's depressed market, you will be money ahead to buy a car that does not need a repaint. You could spend 20k on a decent goat needing freshening, or 25-30k on one that is ready to go.


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## dimitri (Feb 13, 2009)

geeteeohguy said:


> Painting a classic car is THE most expensive part of a restoration these days. In California, a "driver quality" paint job that is a complete color change costs around 10,000 dollars. Show quality is about twice that. My suggestion is to hold out for a GTO that is a color you can live with. A same-color repaint is a lot less labor intensive and will save you $$$, but will still be expensive. In today's depressed market, you will be money ahead to buy a car that does not need a repaint. You could spend 20k on a decent goat needing freshening, or 25-30k on one that is ready to go.


:agree:agree:agree

You also have to take in accout the color of the interior. Will it match the color you want to paint the car.


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## BatmanGTO (Jun 18, 2011)

Thanks for the very helpful information. 

Do you guys know if a Hard Top with that soft vinyl stuff on it (sorry, not sure what it is called) can be removed and finished like a painted Hard Top? I actually found a local guy with a 66 with mirror like finish but it has that soft top which I really don't like.

You said you could find a GTO ready to go for under $30? I could only find one like that and it literally sold hours before I called. Please let me know of any Black, Gold or Dark Blue HT/Coupe 66 or 67 GTOs you know of that are that cheap. I would prefer the 4 speed, but an auto id fine if the car look good. Matching #s aren't so important to me as I'll likely put a stronger motor in it or better yet, find one that already has one.

Thanks again for the info.


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## jetstang (Nov 5, 2008)

I met a guy that had a 67 Vette 427 car, it had bubbles all over the hood, not bad, not perfect.. I told him the car is still awesome even in primer.. The car doesn't have to be perfect to attract attention. GTO is talking winning shows, others just can afford to show up.. Rust problems is more important than perfect bondo'd paint. Buy a rust free car and go from there if you can.


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## geeteeohguy (Feb 2, 2008)

Vinyl tops can be removed and paint can be applied. My vote is for no vinyl top and a one-color car. Not into the two tone look on '60's cars....looks great on '50's rides, tho'. You should have no problem finding a gold '66 or '67 GTO....it was a very popular color, and is still common on these years. As a plus, gold hides dirt and flaws really well, so you don't need to wash or detail as often!!


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## Instg8ter (Sep 28, 2010)

Hey Batman i am on Mi/Oh border,...:agree with the guys, body and paint is by far the most expensive part of a resto, mine was all metal and original paint and it still took a couple hundred hours labor to smooth it out before even thinking about painting it back to close to original color with body on. I will keep an eye out for cars in our area and post them for you.

1966 Tempest pictures by instg8ter - Photobucket

Brian


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## BearGFR (Aug 25, 2008)

Hey Batman, it can be done. Until last weekend I'd never in my life painted a car before. Now my 69 GTO is black, and no longer has a vinyl top either. I did all the work including painting in my garage. I still have a lot of work left, wet-sanding the clear then buffing it back to a gloss, but it's work I can do. Be forewarned as others have said, it's a TON of work and will take many many hours. If you want to consider it seriously, then please buy yourself a set of Kevin Tetz's "Paintucation" videos. Those, and asking questions on Kevin's forum are all the education I got.

Bear


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## BatmanGTO (Jun 18, 2011)

Thanks for the information everyone.

As for the paint, I would rather pay a professional\someone with experience.

I seen a GTO on ebay that the guy said he removed the vinyle top. I wouldn't had known if he didn't say it was done. Would paint matching (black) be a problem if they were to only remove the vinyle and paint\finish the top? The paint on the car I was looking at is perfect, but I hate that vinyle top.


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## BearGFR (Aug 25, 2008)

Well Batman, there are a couple of problems. There are many different shades of "black" and sometimes they can be hard to match exactly. Another problem would be the boundary between the top and the rest of the car. I don't remember exactly how the trim for a 66-7 vinyl top looks or where it is so I can't say for sure --- but if the vinyl top doesn't "end" on a natural body line then it would be very very hard to do "just the top" and make it look right. For example, on my 69 the bottom edge of the vinyl was along the bottom of the sail panel and created sort of a 'connection' line between the bottom of the rear window and the top of the quarter panel next to the trunk lid. With the top gone, there's no line there - just one big smooth expanse of sheet metal from the rear wheel opening all the way up the sail panel and onto the roof. Matching paint along that 'edge' then making the edge disappear is next to impossible. Plus, there were trim rivets surface welded into the metal there where the chrome top trim connected that I had to cut off then "work" to make that area perfectly smooth. That's guaranteed to "mess up" the paint that's next to where the rivets were. 
Another thing you can run into is rust. It was common at the factory for them to put nothing under the vinyl in the way of protection, so lots of times when the vinyl comes off you find ugliness and rust that has to be dealt with. I was lucky - my car being built in Texas and having lived here its whole life - under the vinyl it was fine. I'd say that if you're REALLY set on nuking the top, then you should just assume that you're looking at a 100% all over paint job to make it look right. There's a chance you could be pleasantly surprised, but it's not a very big one.

Bear


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## BatmanGTO (Jun 18, 2011)

Thanks Bear, looks like I'll need to find a killer deal on one with a vinyle top to make the purchase fit my budget. For now I'll stick to the hard tops unless said deal comes along.


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## Thumpin455 (Feb 17, 2010)

I pulled the vinyl top off my 72 GTO and my 67 Cougar. Havent painted the 72 yet, but the Cougar is done. Lots of rust under it on the Cougar even though it was a California car. You have to fill in the trim holes or have the trim on it but no vinyl, so you might find good metal, you might find rust, so plan on repainting the entire car anyway.

No decent cars for sale up here in the U.P. and if they have one, they want even more for it than its worth.


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## geeteeohguy (Feb 2, 2008)

Bear is 100% on this one. The '66 '67 vinyl top is trimmed around the fastback cove area with stainless, but when the stainless is removed it'll leave holes and rivets. On non-vinyl top cars, it's one big clean area. IMO, vinyl tops kill the lines of these cars.....


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## Instg8ter (Sep 28, 2010)

could always step down to a Tempest Custom or Lemans to get in a better price range and they don't look to shabby when they are done up...GTO in same condition as i got my Tempest would have been 3 times as much to start and by the time they are rebuilt with GTO parts only thing they are missing is a 3 letter name. that said i don't think the market will go much lower (lets hope not) so it is a buyers.










1966 Tempest pictures by instg8ter - Photobucket

Brian


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## BatmanGTO (Jun 18, 2011)

That is a nice looking car Brian. For me, I'd rather buy something ready to go. I don't have the tools, space or knowledge to do a restoration myself. Did you paint that yourself? I looked through a few hundred of your pics, nice work.

How important is #s matching when it comes to value? I have a guy who returned my email and said the car has a 455 in it, which is sweet, but the price is a little high, about 7K more than the last 455 gto I tried to buy. I have to wait for more information on it. What about PHS documentation?


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## Instg8ter (Sep 28, 2010)

yes Batman i did the paint and everything else but the machine work for the reasons stated (cost of labor). 66-67 did not come with 455, and numbers matching is what pushes the value for the most part, that and options and condition of course. heres a few in our area under 30k

Pontiac : GTO | eBay

Pontiac : GTO | eBay


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## BatmanGTO (Jun 18, 2011)

Lol, that black one was the one I was thinking about but wanted to remove that vinyl liner. The paint is so nice on it I would hate to have to repaint it all. I am assuming that is a high dollar paint job on it. Plus the work to finish it would put me way over budget.

In your opinion what is a nice condition GTO without matching numbers worth? From what I can see the one with the 455 is in excellent condition. But I am still awaiting pictures.

I seen that red one too a few different places. That one is very tempting as it is 10K cheaper that the 455 one. But to be honest Red is one of my least favorites.


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