Depends on what you are looking for. If you want a 1st class job expect to
pay top $$$$$. As far as I am concerned the best way to go is base coat
clear coat with a good primer and then a wet sand and buff of the clear coat
make it smooth as glass. Material for this runs $1,200 to $2,000 depending
on type of paint and number of coats of primer, base coat and clear.
Metallic, pearls and special colors cost more and are harder to spray.
Depending on the amount of work expect total to be $4,500 to $6,000 and up.
There is a place in Indiana that does a nice job, not great, and is priced
accordingly. I have seen some coaches that were painted there and they
looked good at 5 feet, but up close they were so-so. Fair price, fair paint
job.
Use a good shop, tell him exactly what you expect and check with a couple
places and look at some of their work. Material is important and make sure
you compare apples to apples and not oranges. Jim Bounds does a great job,
but others also do good work. If you want to put some sweat equity into the
process you can save some bucks. Sanding the original paint is not tough if
you know how or if some one shows you. Removing lights, molding etc. is
also easy, but leave the taping and body repair to the professional. Color
sanding is easy, but tough time consuming, pain in the arm and shoulder
work. But almost anybody can learn to be competent at it if they are shown
the right procedure. Leave the buffing to the pro unless you have done some
before. With today's buffers and foam wheels it can be done by the average
handy person without fear of burning through the paint.
The GMC is a big beast when it comes to prep, painting, color sanding and
buffing. I did mine and I thought I would loose an arm before I finished.
Take your time, approach it at the panel level and do one panel at a time
and you should have it done in 5 or 6 years, I mean weeks.
Marcus
> Could the group share their experiences regarding pricing and caveats of
> painting a 26' coach? Thanks in advance.
