doublecabmel

Dearest RL Community, you have always come to my rescue! I am in need of a fantastic painter for my 1958 Porsche Speedster. I have done my homework and I know what the car needs. The color is metallic silver which will be a 2 stage paint job. I've been to John Wilhoit and John Esposito. Fantastic work! However; it's about $50,000 to paint what basically a glorified VW. The crappy shops are $5-$10,000 and you wouldn't want them to paint a honda civic. Can anybody recommend a shop that is between the lousy shops and the best. I want a very, very nice driver that I can show. All help is appreciated!

Thanks!

ladius

Can't speak from experience but my boss, who has some exotics, only takes his cars to Premier Motorsport in Carson. I'm not affiliated with them and barely know them.

for what it's worth...

doublecabmel

Premier is amazing, but very EXPENSIVE! They do all of the super Ferraris. Thanks for the suggestion

David A

Call Kevin at 818.455.2400. He changed my windshield seal on my 993 and at the time of drop off he was painting 3 356s. It's a small shop and he does everything himself.

doublecabmel

Kevin has a great shop, but again starts at $30,000 and ends up over $40,000. Is it me or is this a lot of money? I mean the car isn't very big

David A

He might be less now, he moved to a smaller shop alone.

doublecabmel

Still looking

kevingen2

Can you post some detailed pics ,and where are you located?the problem is what might be under the excisting material,as of now i am really buisy but if you are in the los angelas area,yoou can come see the shop,as i am just north of SantaClarita

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jcnesq

Did you ever find a painter? If not, I may have a few ideas, post here or PM me.

doublecabmel

I found a painter. Not quite what I wanted, but I've worked with before and I go over at least 1/week to supervise and crack the whip

PVKPorsche

To answer your question, yes $30k seems like way too much to prep and paint, assuming there isnt a lot of body work.

cjcam930

Try Ed Palmer at Kundensport. He is not cheap either though, but does superb work. Quality body/paint work is very costly these days. The little stuff will eat you alive too: Even 15 years ago when I redid an early 911, just replacing or replating the bright trim plus replacing the rubber seals came to several $grand.

doublecabmel

Speaking of Kundensport.... I was at the facility and boy do they have some cars. There is at least a 2 year wait list and prices start at $40,000 and end up over $50,000

cjcam930

Wow - I'm assuming you are looking for an extensive rotisserie job with a couple hundred hours of labor. I'm sure prices have risen some but my car in 2011 was around half those prices for a bare-metal repaint without completely disassembling the car. That included some significant metal work - welding and shaping custom metal flares and a bit of rust repair. Once you get into pulling out wiring harnesses and replating/replacing every nut and bolt on the car, the sky's the limit.

After redoing 3 early Porsches, I'm not sure I have the stomach or budget for it any more!

doublecabmel

Going rate is about $200- $250 to properly restore a 356 and about 2x that for a 300sl.