If it doesn't need to be fancy drive it the way it is. I got out of the body and paint business 25 years ago and $4,000 wouldn't paint a car that old back then and do it right. Materials are through the roof. Abrasives, solvents, and decent paint are pricey. Shops have to make $150.00 to $200.00 an hour per employee plus materials to stay open and pay employees, insurance and benefits. At that rate how many hours can you work on it? 20? More like 10. One day after materials and overhead. Scratch it and shoot it. Paint and body guys are paid commission and not by the hour. Back in the day we got paid 50% of the shop rate. Now it's more like 25 to 30% at the most. So the body and paint guy get $50 an hour plus his tool bills. They own and replace their own. If they can't consistently hit the flat rate they get let go. The shop owner is in it to make money too and if a worker can't hit the flat rate he is packing his iron and looking for a job. It's a cold business. Whatever is under the paint job that is on it now needs to come off in most cases, but not always. Then bad body work needs corrected. If the last job was done with a product that is an un-catalyzed material such as Alkid enamel or lacquer the new coat will wrinkle everything underneath and look horrible. Everything on top is only as good as what is under it. If the coatings under it fail then you will not be happy no matter what. Problem with cars that old is they have been all been painted more than once most likely and then a home paint jobs is on top. I would bet that the last guy cut corners and used cheap paint. If he didn't have a compressor that would keep up he didn't buy good paint either would be my guess or he would have stopped and corrected the air problem. Just a guess. I could be all wrong. Painting is the easy part. The prep is what counts. If the prep is not up to snuff the topcoat you are looking at never will be. I used to get people bring in cars all the time that were ready to "shoot". "Just shoot it". They were never happy. Old body work showed up bad, Pin holes in filler, panels not straight, rust that wasn't there, that dent was not there before, what did you do to it, panel gaps were not nice and every time it was a bad paint job and not their bad body work, my fault. I finally learned not to even take those jobs. I referred them to to Maco or Earl Shibe. The days of the inexpensive paint jobs are gone. The last car I did for myself cost me almost $2,000 in paint materials alone. That didn't include body panels, suspension repairs, engine work, drive line work, parts of any kind or any labor. That was just paint materials. The hours were countless and my wife calls it my mistress. I spent way too much time and money on it. It's not worth what I have in it as a restoration. I realize you want a nice looking vintage car. If it isn't too bad now enjoy it and drive it. If you want it to look 5 years old or less be prepared for it to be expensive to achieve and that is just the paint. The suspension will need work, interior as well, and then there is the engine and trans. Cars back then did not go over 100K without a major overhaul of everything. They are not like today's cars that go 300K pretty easy with little care. They are called collector cars for a reason. They are never worth what you have tied up in them. You will take a hit on every one you sell. If you have the time and money, go for it. They are great fun to drive and heads turn wherever you go.
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Today's Featured Article - Restoration Story: Fordson Major - by Anthony West. George bought his Fordson Major from a an implement sale about 18 years ago for £200.00 (UK). There is no known history regarding its origins or what service it had done, but the following work was undertaken alone to bring it up to show standard. From the engine number, it was found that this Major was produced late 1946. It was almost complete but had various parts that would definitely need replacing.
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