(PAINTING) Where to get my Cherokee 180 painted?

phillipny

phillipny

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phillipny
Hey guys,

I have a Cherokee 180 from 1964 that has been my baby for about 12 years now. Ive put about 1800 hours on it and flown it across the country almost 10 times, Bahamas and Mexico.

Her paint is real real bad. IFR flying and ice all over, being tied down outside, has turned the wings into spots of primer everywhere. Last paint was about 25 years ago and she is really really due for an update.

I have some pictures here attached below

I am based in NYC and can fly anywhere in country and take commercial home, but the local shops here in NYC said its about $18-$20k to paint planes now and waiting list 2 years.

My plane is only worth $30,000 so I have to spend less than that
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Thanks for any advice or any places you can think of
Phillip
p.s. I purchased about $2000 worth of material (primer, paint, hardener, etc) from high end auto-paint shop to do it... and then project abandoned because too much work to do the sanding. I still have the material if its possible to find anyone and pay for labor
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I'm guessing that while it might be worth only $30,000 now, a good paint job (i.e., complete strip, corrosion repairs, etc) would certainly increase it's value as well as protecting it from corrosion. fwiw - I would recommend avoiding trying to cheap out on the paint.

Years ago I was looking at an airplane. It looked like Mr Magoo used cans of spray paint. I ran away from that airplane... no telling what the owner cheaped out on.
 
Cliff Weaver. Circle W Restorations. 717 624 4248/717 476 8747. Just outside of York, PA. True artistry. Any graphic hand painted items you desire. He did the airplane in my avatar to the left.

Beautiful grass strip. Easy in and out. Easy to work with.
 
Whatever it costs to paint just remember to calculated the savings from extra speed and less annual hours you’ll fly (if commuting) after painting it. On the other hand, if you are even more proud of it after painting and you fly it more as a result, than disregard. Kidding aside, glad she has treated you to so many miles!
 
You get what you pay for. I've heard more than one horror story about "cheap" paint shops.
 
Rgbeard said:
Did anyone else have their attention drawn when he said sanding?
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I’m sure he means wet sanding. :dunno:

In any case, I’d bet that airplane is worth far more than $30k, even as it sits now. How long has it been since you priced its value?
 
Phillip, There was a guy in the Beacon\Fishkill area who has an auto body shop but he also paints planes, and was REALLY good at it. I'll see if he is still in business.
 
Rgbeard said:
Did anyone else have their attention drawn when he said sanding?
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Yes. Very little sanding in my job. It was a complete strip down to bare aluminum. I didn't do it, but I watched Cliff's crew.
 
My last two planes were painted in Mena Arkansas
 
Criders paint shop in Mena did beautiful work on mine a few months ago it was worth the trip out from California
 

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Thanks you guys, I appreciate it. No i havent seen what cherokee 180s are going for but i always thought something around 30k for a basic panel and high time motor.
Ill keep calling around. I think $15k+ is outside my budget for painting it.. But I could do $10-$12k if I found anyone that would do this job.
 
Too bad Earl Scheib is out of business. He would paint, "Any car, any color, for $99.95!" Not sure what he would get for a plane. His was the basic wash it with the garden hose and put some paint on it ... ALL of it! :rofl:
 
I'm taking my Cardinal to Brandis Aircraft this weekend for a paint job. I've heard good things about them.
 
Daleandee said:
Too bad Earl Scheib is out of business. He would paint, "Any car, any color, for $99.95!" Not sure what he would get for a plane. His was the basic wash it with the garden hose and put some paint on it ... ALL of it! :rofl:
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My brother had his 1966 Mustang panted at Earl Scheilb back in 1970. They painted over the bugs on the grille. A few years later the paint started pealing off in sheets.
 
Scott@KTYR said:
My brother had his 1966 Mustang panted at Earl Scheilb back in 1970. They painted over the bugs on the grille. A few years later the paint started pealing off in sheets.
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Why did a 4 year old mustang need paint?
 
Scott@KTYR said:
My brother had his 1966 Mustang panted at Earl Scheilb back in 1970. They painted over the bugs on the grille. A few years later the paint started pealing off in sheets.
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Prep is key and time consuming, it takes much longer to prep (disassemble, strip, tape, etc) than the painting itself.
 
You could get a great paint job at Earl Scheibe if you took the time to wet sand, fill, remove the trim and tape your car. Better still if they let you tack the car right before they shot it. If they painted over bugs, that tells me the car wasn't even washed before they painted it. What do you expect?
 
LesGawlik said:
You could get a great paint job at Earl Scheibe if you took the time to wet sand, fill, remove the trim and tape your car. Better still if they let you tack the car right before they shot it. If they painted over bugs, that tells me the car wasn't even washed before they painted it. What do you expect?
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He was 16 years old and had no knowledge about preparing a car. He also lived 100 mile away from the paint shop and picked up the bugs in route.
 
Fred at HWV. Might be pricey, but his work is great.
 
LesGawlik said:
You could get a great paint job at Earl Scheibe if you took the time to wet sand, fill, remove the trim and tape your car. Better still if they let you tack the car right before they shot it. If they painted over bugs, that tells me the car wasn't even washed before they painted it. What do you expect?
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I had a car painted at Maaco and it was great. I did all my prep that I could, and drove it there, barely (maybe) legal, taking my tail lights home with me.
 
Try Prestige located in Swanton Vermont. Call Walter (802) 868-3418 for current pricing. He did a nice job on my Archer. Commercial flights available from Burlington to NY.
 
Griggs Aircraft in Tunkhannock, PA 18657 - SkyHaven 76N
They do really really good work.
 
Did you talk to Ken Reese at KD Aviation at SWF? Pretty close to you and they do good work.
 
I have always heard that Reese does good work, and was probably the closest paint facility for me to use. Unfortunately, they have also had a reputation of one of the most expensive. Maybe things have changed, but as it’s convenient to many in the NY Metro area, I would be surprised.
 
Visited Circle W paint shop. They did a Navion. I didn't take these pictures, but I've seen it at Circle W and in Oshkosh.
 

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phillipny said:
Thanks you guys, I appreciate it. No i havent seen what cherokee 180s are going for but i always thought something around 30k for a basic panel and high time motor.
Ill keep calling around. I think $15k+ is outside my budget for painting it.. But I could do $10-$12k if I found anyone that would do this job.
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My 180, original paint,(hangared most of its life) 3600 on the engine, overhauled 12 yrs ago, new interior 12 yrs ago (while down for the overhaul) put the 175 GPS in a year ago. I’ve been offered $70K if I was interested in selling.

Go for the quality paint job, don’t go for crap.
 
Here's a Cherokee ready to be delivered.
 

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I have a contact of a guy in Monterrey Mexico (Hour south of Laredo). He is scheduled to do some touchup paint on my Cherokee next week. He told me a complete repaint on something similar would be $6-10k. Let me know if you want his contact info.
 
Glad to see so many paint shop referrals in this thread. Would like to know how the painting project went for the OP.
 
I'd love to hear pireps on these mexico paint shops. I'll be a colonialist if it saves 10 grand on the labor and the work is at least US-spec C grade or better. :D
 
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