Paint shop in Northern California

#1 01-13-2008, 12:03 PM

I'm looking for some paint shop recommendations/reviews in Northern California -- specifically within a 100 miles or so of San Francisco.

Does anyone know anything about American Aircraft Painting in Healdsburg? How about T&P Aero Refinishers in Salinas? Anywhere else?

I don't mind going farther (like to Flying Kolors in Riverside), but I figured I'd check out the more "local" places first.

Thanks.

638RS · #2 01-13-2008, 12:55 PM

A friend had a bad experience with American Aircraft Painting... Missed the completion date by months, although the work was OK.... may be an anomaly

There is a paint shop at Lincoln Airport (KLHN) does really nice
work but expensive...

Also Cardan Aircraft painting in Red Bluff.. does good work

After looking around in CA I ended up flying my plane to Grady's in TX. Great paint job, better paint, and even with the air fare and motels it was a lot cheaper than CA,

Plus I enjoyed the flight down and back

craigvince · #3 01-13-2008, 01:03 PM

Try the Flight Center, at Stockton Airport. They are doing my friend's RV-10 right now.

AMURRAY · #4 01-13-2008, 01:34 PM

Some of the nicest paint jobs I seen have been done by T&P. A plane that I fly now was painted by T&P. If you like to see, it is located at KRHV. They are not the cheapest but they do not cut corners.
Aaron

RV7Factory · #5 01-13-2008, 08:47 PM

I can't remember the name of the place, but a bunch our chapter members have had theirs done at a place in Salinas. I'm sorry I can't think of it right now, but I can get you a name and number if you are interested.

hyephil · #6 01-13-2008, 09:02 PM

Just got 10 out of T&P in Salinas and it came out excellent. They were great to work with. I took plane apart and back together after painted. They were there to help when I needed a extra hand. Would highly recommend.

kevinh · #7 01-13-2008, 09:42 PM

Hi Geoff,

I'm in SF also and considered lots of California paint shops. However, it was cheaper (by far) to fly my plane down to GLO. I got a spiffy checkered paint job for less than one color with an accent stripe in CA. I didn't even feel antsy not being there when the control surfaces go back on (though I did check work carefully) because they do a huge number of RVs.

Leland · #8 01-14-2008, 08:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RV7Factory

I can't remember the name of the place, but a bunch our chapter members have had theirs done at a place in Salinas. I'm sorry I can't think of it right now, but I can get you a name and number if you are interested.

The outfit in Salinas is T&P which is owned by Juan ((831) 422-6158). His work is excellent. Come by Livermore and I will show you some of the planes he has done. A friend just got a quote for a -9 for $8,500. I got mine in Yerington, Nevada but do not recommend them.

McFly · #9 01-14-2008, 09:05 AM

I had mine done by ?Have gun will Travel?. The will travel to you but they are based out of Red Bluff so it would be pretty much local for all practical purposes. They were one of the original founders of CarDan, which was mentioned in a previous post. They use PPG Delta (hope I got that right).

I had estimates from two Texas paint shops as well ?Have Gun Will Travel? and everybody came within $300 of each other. No surprises, fantastic people and they were on time and on budget. Here is a link to a few pics of my project.

http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLan...1_746058475207

#10 01-22-2008, 11:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 638RS

Cardan Aircraft painting in Red Bluff.. does good work

Cardan is giving me a ballpark quote that is significantly (like 30%) less than everyone else I have called. They're using DuPont Imron 5000 instead of the JetGlo that is used by the other shops I called, but the other aspects of the quotes are more or less the same.

The other paint shops are all within a $1000 of each other for the basic quote, so something seems funny to me when one is significantly less. I guess I'll have to fly up there and check out their facilities.