How much does it cost to paint a VW T3 van?

As you may recall, the van underwent bodywork repairs and was left primed. It is now ready for the next stage: a return to the bodywork and paint shop in Valencia to complete the work that has already begun. All that remains now is to paint the VW T3 van.

Table of contents

• Back to the bodywork and paint shop
• Widening the wheel arches
• Choosing the colour and painting
• Final look after painting
• The finishing touches
• Cost of painting the VW T3 van

Back at the bodywork and paint shop

It’s been a long time since I finished the bodywork. During that time, I’ve been working on the van and saving up. Now I think I’m in a position to finish this part of the restoration. So I’ve phoned the workshop to see when they can take it on again. All that’s left is to call a recovery service and off it goes again.

Widening the wheel arches

But before having the van painted, I’ve asked them to carry out one final touch-up on the bodywork. The thing is, I realised that with the wheels and tyres I’d chosen, there was a chance that when the suspension compressed, the tyre might rub against the wheel arch. So, just to be on the safe side, it was the ideal time to sort out that potential problem.

Choosing the colour and painting

With the bodywork sorted and finished, it was time to tell the workshop what colour to paint it. Easy, eh? Well, one of the hardest things about a restoration is choosing the colour to paint the van. If you’ve ever done a restoration, you’ll know what I mean. It’s a decision you can only make once, and once it’s painted, there’s no going back.

The thing is, I was considering several colours for the van: white, green, sand and a shade of grey. Four colour options, and I’d been saving photos of them that I’d found online.

In the end, after going through loads and loads of photos, I decided to paint it grey.

But of course, there are loads of shades of grey. Which one would suit it best? A satin, gloss or matt finish? A pastel grey? A shade from the original VW T3 colour chart, or from another brand? What I knew was that I wanted a dark grey, but as you can see, there were still plenty of questions to sort out.

In the end, the choice was clear: I wanted to paint the van in Land Rover’s Corris Grey.

Final look after painting

My mind was made up; it was time to give them the paint code and let them get to work. This is the final result after it went through the paint booth.

The finishing touches

As well as painting the van grey, I wanted to finish it off with two things: firstly, I wanted the lower part of the van to be painted black using a more durable paint. I suppose you’ll be familiar with Raptor or Line-X paint. Apart from the fact that I like the look of that black section, this type of paint prevents small dents or scratches on the bodywork caused, for example, by stone chips or contact with branches.

Secondly, I wanted the underside of the van to be treated with underbody protection to safeguard that whole area.

Cost of painting the VW T3 van

How much did it cost to paint the VW T3 van? Well, definitely more than I expected, but you also have to bear in mind how things are. As I explained in another post on this blog, not many garages are willing to take on this sort of work. Most prefer to deal with jobs resulting from road traffic accidents. A typical dent in a wing: you take it to the garage, they repair or replace the part, it’s repainted, the insurance pays up, and that’s that. Mind you, I’m not saying that’s right or wrong; I simply understand that it’s more profitable. That’s the problem: nobody wants to take on these projects, which are much more labour-intensive and therefore more expensive.

That said, I have to point out that the hourly rate isn’t any higher than at other garages. It’s just that here, more hours will be clocked up and the bill will be higher.

Right, down to business: in the end, the total cost of bodywork and paintwork came to 7,000 euros, which could be broken down into 4,500 euros for bodywork and 2,500 euros for surface preparation and painting. And what do you think – is that expensive, cheap or just about right?