Repainting a Fiberglass Cobra?

[Clois Harlan]

Mike,

I am with you on the paint because I track my car and I don't want to think about what a piece of rubber or gravel would do to a high dollar paint job. I painted mine twice myself (over 10 years). My first paint job cost me in material alone over $1000.00 and HOURS AND HOURS of work. The second time the material alone had doubled for a high solids quality paint like Siikens. It is a lot of work and to change color is not a big deal if you take the time to do it right but it IS a lot of work. The going rate around here is about $4000.00 for a good paint job and it goes up from there depending on what you want. One of the guys here in Tulsa had his car in a custom painters shop for nearly a year and when he was finished he wrote him a check for $13,000.00 and his Cobra looked great. The problem is when he drives it and gets a few blemishes on it, then it doesn't look that much better than mine. These cars were never meant to be show cars!

Clois

[Ron61]

Mike,

When I had my Cobra, I never paid a high price for the paint either as I knew it was going to be driven a lot. I liked the white and red paint scheme so that is what I had it painted. Also the white was very easy to touch up and I had some pretty good chips in the front area, with one chunk broke off the edge of one of the air intakes by a flying wheel weight. I just sit down and over a period of time with the white paint I managed to fill it in and most people never even saw all of the rock picks. Also the white was great as it never showed this dust we have up here but you can see it on my red car for a block.

Ron

[bdeutsch]

When I looked in to having an ERA painted here in Northern California (trying to weigh the costs of a finished product versus a non-finished product), with shops recommended by local car guys, bottom end (non-show quality, but none the less a good paint job) varied between $5k to about $6.2k. If I wanted to pay for a concours level finish, estimates went from a low of $10k to a high of around $15k. Fiberglass did not seem to deter any of the shops I spoke with from giving an estimate, however, it may be reflected in the final cost.

As mentioned in an earlier response, these prices will vary from region to region but in the end, cost varies depending on what level of finish you want, reputation of the shop doing the work, etc.

Bob

[David Kirkham]

Ibr8k4vetts, Clois, Ron,

I couldn't agree more. I will post some of the most beautiful pictures of a Cobra I have ever seen--as soon as I can find the dang things.

Bob, I totally agree with your cost projections...though high end paint is moving past $15K now.

David

[David Kirkham]

[David Kirkham]

This is an original FIA car. I think the sandblasted look is really, really, cool. I even leave it on my brushed car. It shows the car has been truly loved.

[1ntCobra]

Dave,

Is that one of the Anglis rebodies that is used as the basis for the incorrect oil cooler openings found on most FIA replicas today (including current Shelby CSX FIA cars)?

Originally Posted by David Kirkham

This is an original FIA car. I think the sandblasted look is really, really, cool. I even leave it on my brushed car. It shows the car has been truly loved.

[SP01715]

Originally Posted by David Kirkham

Ibr8k4vetts, Clois, Ron,

I couldn't agree more. I will post some of the most beautiful pictures of a Cobra I have ever seen--as soon as I can find the dang things.

Bob, I totally agree with your cost projections...though high end paint is moving past $15K now.

David

Yep, For a complete body off paint job at a high end shop you are looking at 20k-25k.

[RodKnock]

Originally Posted by SP01715

Yep, For a complete body off paint job at a high end shop you are looking at 20k-25k.

I think that is the starting point (no body repair, only paint) for the high-end shops doing Pebble Beach-type jobs.