WeakSauce92

I've been trying to research an about price for the amount of work needed for my honda. it's a 92 hatch and has rust on the quarter panels and rear hatch. I also want to paint it blue. Please help and thanks to those who do.

cleansi

pics ? theres a site that sells replacement fender wells that you havta cut out and weld in wwwfixmyrust.com any thing decent unless you get hook ups should what i think will run bout a g for a legit paint job

calvin924597

At a shop or doing it yourself? If you do it yourself, you need a good drill and wire wheel for grinding the rust off, and a good amount of bondo and sandpaper for getting the contours right. Paint is probably the most expensive part. If you get it done at a good shop, itll probably be almost $1000 for the whole car. Probably about $300 if you do it yourself. But you'll need a good paint gun/air compressor, paint, sandpaper, rubbing compound, clearcoat, etc.

Vindicator9000

Are you planning to do some of the work yourself, or going to a shop?

Prices of professional body work varies EXTREMELY based on all kinds of factors, the biggest one being time. Sure, you can get a $200 paint job, but it will not have nearly the care put into it that a pro doing a $1K paint job will.

We'll assume a labor rate of $50/hr, and that you're meaning to do it RIGHT, ie replacing the quarters completely. To replace rear quarters, I'd estimate 15 hours, for $750. For the hatch, it's going to be much more worthwhile to get one from a junkyard for $100 than to fix the rust. Then for GOOD prep and paintwork, I'd throw another $1K on top, more if you want the engine bay painted too.

So, if you're getting it all done by someone else for $2K, I'd say you're doing pretty good.

Now, if you do all of the prep yourself, and repair your own quarters, the price could drop pretty dramatically. Also, there are various ways to replace quarters without welding, although obviously the results won't be as good. If you deliver the car to the body shop completely roughed in and ready to be painted, I'd say they might be able to do a great job for $500.

Part of the equation is finding a good painter. My brother in law is one of the best painters in my area, and I've seen him do some amazing jobs over substandard bodywork, for great prices. Try to find a guy around you that has that kind of reputation.

WeakSauce92

I was planning on having a someone that knows their ish do it. I was planning on getting the hatch portion from a junkyard or order a new one. So if I try my best to get rid of most of the rust, and sand down the clear coat? or down to bare metal, the cost will go down pretty good? I don't have much money for this but really want it done. I could spend more and just might because I've never had a "clean" vehicle but I just know I'll have an emergency that will eat up my funds.
Thanks for the info guys!

Vindicator9000

I'll put it this way: the more prep you do, the less prep they have to charge you for. This is assuming that you know how to rust repair and do bodywork... you might make it worse.

The absolute best way to fix the rust is to get OE replacement panels, cut out the old ones, weld in the replacements, and blend. That's also the most labor intensive option. If you decide that you want a shop to replace panels, then no amount of rust removal you do will make any difference, because they're just going to cut out the whole quarter anyway.

There are lots of different ways to tackle this problem at lots of different price points. You need to start looking around for a GOOD body shop, and get quotes. Talk to the managers about your ideas, how good of a job you're willing to settle for, and your price point. Body work prices go up to sky's the limit depending on what you want, so you need to figure out your budget and what you can live with.

If you walk into a shop and say 'here's $1K, can you fix all the rust and paint it,' most shops will be able to do it. No shops will be able to do it right at that price though. It all comes down to how 'right' you want it.

For the record, I've seen $1K rust fix/respray jobs before. If done by a good guy who knows which corners can be cut, it will look.... acceptable. Not great, but acceptable. A really good paintjob will hide a lot, but there will be flaws in the bodywork at that pricepoint... or the body guy just really needs the money. Because shops just can't afford to put 20 hours into getting the surface flawless for the amount you're paying them.

WeakSauce92

Thanks much vindicator!