Realistic Hawk 289 build cost

[KevinW]

<snip>
Paint job between 6 and 20k. There are cheaper out there but be warned.

..... why I am about to embark on a home DIY paint job. Materials and tools ~£1k. There will be some club mag articles on this over the next year.

[Migge]

£ 20.000 for a paint job? Let's say it takes the guy a whole month to do it, That's 20 days x 8 hours = 160 hours. Maybe £ 1.000 for the material and that's a lot. £ 19.000 for 160 hours means £118 labour per hour?????

A superb paint job should be under £ 10.000.

And it will take less the 160 hours to do it. It depends on the quality of the GRP body etc.

[KevinW]

£ 20.000 for a paint job? Let's say it takes the guy a whole month to do it, That's 20 days x 8 hours = 160 hours. Maybe £ 1.000 for the material and that's a lot. £ 19.000 for 160 hours means £118 labour per hour?????

A superb paint job should be under £ 10.000.

And it will take less the 160 hours to do it. It depends on the quality of the GRP body etc.

£75 per hr (inc VAT) for labour, given the tools, booth, storage needed between stages, would be rather cheap imho. £100/hr (incl VAT) seems to be a going rate from my own inquiries (and still cheaper than a premium car dealership).

Agreed: grp/gelcoat quality is key. Also depends if owner wants panels gapped and levelled.

[Migge]

Okay, so all painters must be rich as s...

[simonjrwinter]

As with everything, it’s all about the preparation. Almost anybody can learn to spray..(if I can, anybody can!) and get a half decent finish, however, getting a glassfibre body good and straight is a long and tiresome job….fill, sand, dust, fill, sand, dust over and over (no slight on the quality of the bodywork, it’s just the nature of glassfibre)

[peterc]

At time I had my FIA painted back in 2000 I was told that the Hawk FIA body needed less preparation than the slab side 289. I admit is was made by the painter who didn’t get the job so it might have been a sour grapes comment.
Peter C

[agnoraan]

For a professional to paint a Hawk properly, and I've done a few, they take on average 195 hrs from start to finish. That is for a car with no shallows along the sides ( yes Hawks do have them) and zero ripples in the bodywork, with an arrow straight finish. That also includes a finish that you can clearly read the reflection of newsprint in it, zero orange peel or texture in the paint. For paint and materials reckon on spending around the £800 mark

[KevinW]

In case it may be of interest, I have have just started my own DIY paint job. With kids at University, it was going to be out of the question paying for paint.

Costs so far:

3hp Compressor and ancillaries £550
Paint gun and 2 needles/tips: £150 (was actually a Christmas present)
Making a spray both at home £150 + £75 for extractor fan + £50 in booth filters
Various sanding blocks, and hose to go in the Henry for dustless sanding ~£250-300 - I probably dont need them all, but I like lots of toys.
Sandpaper/Abranet: £150, but not done yet, this will go up.
GRP Filler, UPol Dolphin filler, Dolphin glaze, Reface spray-on Primer filler, System 20 Urethane primer ~£180
Stirrers, Thinners, paint sieves/beakers, acetone, panel wipes .... £50... can;t remember, guessing
2k single stage Paint - £200-300? - haven't actually bought it yet. Used UPol 2k Black on hardtop: ~£50
Wheel covers £25 for 4 - because I don't want to risk any paint or primer on my precious Trigo wheels
Polythene, brown masking paper, plastic applicators etc £100? .....not done yet

Labour: free

No costs attached on use of electricity for compressor, lighting and vacuum

[phlip99]

Air fed mask?? Can't be too careful with Isocyanate!! £120?
Those disposable white paper like suits that the Forensics guys wear are pretty cheap and stop all the dust etc getting in places you'd never think it would!!

Phil.

[KevinW]

Yes, forgot to add: Gearson mark, I think it was about £50, been used a lot with 2Ks*, air-fed starts at £300. Hooded spray suit and box of gloves, about £30. Once the fan went on in the booth i built I literally watched the residual mist suck out in seconds, probably had too much cross flow.

*NB I am not recommending anything, just reporting on what I have done. The Gerson mask worked really well on the hardtop project once I had had a really close shave - totally ineffective with facial hair.