So lots of people are getting their mini's sprayed professionally at the moment, I am just wondering what the current ball park cost is? I have one that is not far off needing a spray!

lots. anywhere from 2k-20k. ring around is the only way you will get an estimate

I feel mine will be over 10k
But hopefully good.
I guess its the old moral " you get what you pay for"

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1969 Cooper "S"
1967 Mini Deluxe
1973 Clubman Van (the fleet spare)
1978 ex 1275 LS ("Wizard" Eaton Supercharged)
2015 HSV GenF GTS(occasional drive & tow car)
2019 MINI F55 Cooper S

The 850 shell I have cost the previous owner over $26,000 in paint and panel. For that he got:

A very straight exterior,
swinging panels hung and aligned well,
rust repairs to boot floor, a-panels, door bottoms, beaver, battery box, inner sills,
flawless paint (except for where the panel to flare gap was filled with flexible sealant and the paint has now cracked all round ,
no work to straighten the floor or driver's sill which is a little wiggly due to a long-ago 1/4 cut rear repair,
no paint on the underside (even though existing paint around the edges had been blasted off ,
not enough paint under the arches around the door hinges,
no paint on the interior un-seen surfaces (even though they were blasted),
leftover sand on the floors.

Apparently there was over 200 hours plus parts and paint involved.

Did he get a good deal? You decide... All I can say is:

Cars ALWAYS have more rust than you think they do.
Panel work and paint prep is extremely time consuming and nobody works for less than $80 per hour these days.
It REALLY pays to be very observant and inspect before paying or take someone who is observant and anal about detail with you.
You can't expect to pay heaps then just put the car on the road without it rusting in 5 minutes if you take it to a restorer who builds trailer queens.

I reckon the cars you see winning shows have had at least the 200 hours invested in their strip/panel/prep/pain/buff sequence. So if you are paying someone $80 per hour plus parts and paint for that you can expect it to cost $20k.

If you are un-skilled like me and don't have a bloke like Phat Kat in the family you need to do the skill-free work yourself to save $ but stop before the paint goes down because crap prep=crap paint.

as soon as body repairs etc are required yould be over 20k no worries, that is ofcourse if you want a proper job, if you want something ok, go and find a back yarder and get it done for 5 grand or do it yourself, its not overly difficult if u take your time

I am shocked given you guys have done so much yourself already!

Now you see why I bought the painted shell will parts. It was cheaper than sorting the matic shell I already had. It isn't perfect and I need to paint the underside and rust treat it but those are things that a ham-fisted desk jockey like me can do.

It really puts cars like this one:
http://www.miniownersclub.com.au/index. ... &Itemid=28

into the BARGAIN category! That car has a brilliant, first class, un-rivalled, never bettered, better than new etc body and paint job and you get an engine, interior and running gear thrown in for free!

M

Agreed! Much better to buy someone elses over capitalised car at a discounted rate.....but is it as rewarding?

But.... what are you buying? Look at my.work in progress . Dodgy repairs under layers of bog. . Rust holes covered up buy bog paint .My body work is at $6500 just in labour to put right a "restored" body. And allow $6500 for paint .

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I stripped my entire car back to essentially a shell. Stripped back all the paint. Went into the paintshop for a quote and was told 4-5k. Sourced new panels (front apron, wings, a panels, doors, rear valence and boot). Took the car into the shop where all the panels were fitted, rust cut out of some minor sections, sills rustproofed and sprayed. i then put the interior of the car back together before he reattached the doors, boot and bonnet. In the end he charged me 5k + GST because he wanted to stay true to his quote.

Needless to say, he told me he wont be doing any more minis for that price soon. i think he may have undercharged himself.

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To misquote an old saying: Fast, Cheap, Good - Choose any three.

The average panel shop these days is only interested in quick insurance work - fitting new bumpers for the Mum's Taxi and Sales Rep crash teams. So they will quote stupidly high just to get rid of you.

Then there is the well known restoration specialists that can charge what they like. If you are having half a million bucks worth of muscle car painted, spending $30k on painting is cheap.

I think the trick is to find the old school panel shops that enjoy restoration work and are prepared to take their time. But you wont get the car back in a couple of weeks and they are few and far between these days.

The guy who painted my Corona Coupe did a brilliant job for the money, because he wanted to do the job. Unfortunately he has since retired and shut up shop.

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Brett Nicholson
Greendale (near Ballan) VIC.
1971 Morris Mini Moke
1966 Austin Mini
1965 Morris Mini Traveller
1973 LR Series 3 88
2007 LR Freelander 2

Unfortunately what they say is true.
We have done a few re-sprays at work lately and they ranged from 8-12k without being full on bare metal jobs.
The problem is that they take time.... even for the professionals, so comparing that to the amount of small jobs that could be done in that time and out the door with money in your hand, it is not always profitable.
And this is thru the trade with some of the lowest wages around.

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Tim
Dusk Blue
1964 850

bare metal with almost no repair needed 8.5K

mind you it took 18 months

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'62 Morris 850 (Marion)
'65 Mini Delux - sleeper 1275/S discs (Ms Plum)
'69 Vanden Plas Princess 1300
'71 Wolseley 1300
'74 Austin 1300 Countryman
'94 XJ6 Sport 3.2
'04 Rover 75 CDTi

learn how to do it properly yourself. Concourse wining finish $700

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1970 Cooper S ex-Bathurst & ATCC
1964 Austin Cooper S ex-Group C race car
1967 Morris Cooper S ex-Group B
1962 Mini Speed sports sedan
1968-71 ex-Peter Manton Shell car

Better still, google painting with rollers, you would be suprised