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Re: Costs of the restoration hobby

From: RAL
Email: ludwigautobody@famvid.com
Remote Name: 66.94.204.155
Date: November 21, 2003

Comments

Bill I wish you the best luck in your adventure,but you might want to sit down and "crunch" some numbers before going into restoring other peoples cars..You say that it only cost you $500 to repaint a car? I own a body shop (have for 27 years) and I have a soft spot for vintage/antique cars and I can say that every one we restore I lose money on it,luckily the collision end of the shop makes up the difference..The materials ,if you use good quality paints/undercoats are going to cost you way more than the $500 you stated and every hour you think it is going to take is going to turn into 3 or 4 hours on an old car...not sure what you use for spray equipment but after you buy a primer gun you are going to need a "color" gun and one for clear coat that all have different needle/tip sizes and the last ones I bought for HVLP were 479.00 each...also dont forget about the cost of liability insurance and EPA regulations and zoning for commercial work.. If you love old cars that much and want to work that cheap....move on down here, I will hire you on the spot!!

 

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