Posted by Mark (IP: 161.160.61.44) on July 16, 1999 at 17:25:55:
In Reply to: needs advice & encouragement , hee hee posted by Lori D. on July 15, 1999 at 23:02:52:
Hey Lori, Don't make a mistake and think that a good job can't be done cheaply.. Mechanics, bodymen and auto painters all do side work out of their own garages at home. Don't mistake a inexpensive paint job for being a crappy one.
1. A painter working in a good shop must know his stuff, so pull one of the bodymen or helpers over and ask who is the best painter in the shop. Then pull him to the side and ask if he does side jobs, he will so get his number.
2. Don't pay him upfront. If he insits then, tell him to give you the recipt for the materials and you will pay him that much to start.
3. Tools needed to do bodywork and paint at home aren't very much if you have them at work. They only thing you really wouldn't want to carry home on a week end is the compressor.
4. A guy working on the side soesn't charge you for shop overhead, inflated labor costs, taxesand so forth.
Figure he charges you 250 for his labor and another 250 for materials.
Just get a few references or better yet stop buy his house and see one of the cars he is painting before and after.