Thread: How much does it cost to get a series/defender painted

aww I reckon about $40 for fiddly bits spray packs ought to cover it...

how did you want to strip it?

I strongly suggest sand blasting it, then welding it then galving the steel bits.

Last time I looked at getting the front end for a series it was going to cost $1000 for the bonnet, wings and grill because of the process they had to do for ally, they had to send the parts out for blasting as they were not setup for blasting ally and werent going to clean up and swap out their gear from the heavy steel blasting stuff to ally for such a small quantity.

It depends on where you live, but over here they will sting you for at least $3-4000 ...do a T.A.F.E. corse and do it your self...then it will be about $500 in materials

I wouldn't go near a sandblaster with Aluminium panels, the heat generated and pressure against the panel will warp severely unless the operator is very experienced and there are not many about that can blast thin ally panels successfully, "Soda Ash" blasting is the way to go, I have seen this first hand and it is extremely forgiving in the right hands.


As to your question though it all depends on the quality you are looking for and the condition of the job to begin with, I have known several spray painters over the years, one of which has painted award winning cars and all say the same thing, you set your budget and that's the quality of the job.


IMHO if you were quoted around $1500 for a complete respray I would expect a finish that is equivalent of a new car finish, complete with some orange peel and a bit of overspray here and there behind blind panels, guard lips etc but for an off road vehicle you have to ask yourself what level of finish you want and are prepared to live with.


But hey, have a crack yourself, there is plenty of info on the net (You Tube) and once you know how to set up the gear and stay calm and don't rush you might just surprise yourself.

My mate owns a spray painting shop - if you do ALL the prep work, ready to mask and paint, then materials, booth and labour to mask and spray it would set you back between $1,200 and $1,500 if you could convince him to do this (He does for me) That's if they don't have to touch anything else, which rarely happens. A lot of shops won't let you do this, or take some convincing sometimes, as sub standard prep will lead to a sub standard paint job, which most businesses don't like having their names attached to.

If you want a drive in drive out deal, you would be looking at $4,000 to $6,000 for everything - unless there is heaps of bodywork, then the price will go north again - do yourself a favour and have a go at it yourself.

Prep is 95% of a spray job - as mentioned, do a course and learn how to spray - it isn't hard to grasp the basics, then it's just practice.