Hemmings breaks down how much a reasonable paint and bodywork job might cost on a classic car.

The bottom line is high-quality paint jobs and the supporting bodywork can be had for much less than the cost of a concours-level restoration, but time is the factor in all projects…

At a labor rate of, say, $90 an hour, that’s $36,000 before the first drop of paint is applied…Total labor hours in the 400- to 500-hours range is reasonable for a non-concours job, which puts our friend Jeff’s estimate for his Mach 1 right in the ballpark.

My paint isn’t flaking off and the metal underneath is still in good shape. I guess I’m sticking with purple for the time being…