Fred the Van. The More We Explore's Adventure Van Build Thread

[tgreening]

I'm 99% sure I do not want to run any kind of bedliner on the top.

$7000 sounds like somebody that didn't really want to do the job. I took my Ambo to Maaco and they started off at $3,000 for base white for the whole thing. When it was all said and done they went down to $1,700 but by then I was already ticked off by the used car dealer style price negotiations and bailed.

The point though is if you have one around they should get it done orders of magnitude cheaper than $7k even shooting decent paint, and especially if there isn't a boat load of prep work.

 

[philos]

If you're hanging in AZ for a while, I'd keep it white.


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[screwball48]

I say keep the top white but apply a removable graphic to it. This way you can have your advertising, but many people will simply neglect to look up at it.


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[sixstringsteve]

it's not awful white, but I'd much prefer a solid color. I'm going to look into the marine paint.

 

[villageidiot327]

maybe paint the sides of it body color (whatever color that may be) but leave the very top white so the sun beating down has a fighting chance to reflect away

 

[k9lestat]

what about a solid color wrap?

 

[villageidiot327]

also, do check out maaco.

i had a truck painted there 5 years ago or so, i pulled all the stuff i wanted removed (saves money and i know its right) and had them do the prep and paint, but made them let me check out the prep before prime/paint.

truck still looks good 5 years later, i see it around town from time to time.

 

[snowaddict91]

I would say 7k was a "go away" price. As in, we don't really want to do that job. I would think you could find a competent shop to do it for 2-3k. The person that said to find a big rig shop is on the right track, they could have a big booth.

 

[mk216v]

I would say 7k was a "go away" price. As in, we don't really want to do that job. I would think you could find a competent shop to do it for 2-3k. The person that said to find a big rig shop is on the right track, they could have a big booth.

Agreed. I just recv'd a quote of ~$8-12k for a VERY professional body/paint shop (they do Mopar restorations, Barrett Jackson level) to fully repaint an RB including jambs....so $7k for an external top seems like quite the premium.

 

[luthj]

Agreed, 7k was intended to price themselves out of your business. A good gelcoat requires minimal prep.

Of course there is always the chance of a miscommunication, and the shop thought they were painting the whole van? 7k is still a bit steep.

 

[sixstringsteve]

I drove the van there so they could see it, and here's how the conversation went:

"I'd like to get a quote to paint the top of my van."

"we don't have a bay big enough, we can't do it, sorry."

if you DID have a bay big enough to do it, what would I be looking to pay for you to paint the top?

"well, that's a lot of square footage and a lot of paint. I'd say $7,000 at least for just the top.

see ya.




It's weird because they already told me they wouldn't do it, but they still gave me a crazy price. The good news is that every quote after that should feel cheaper.

 

[sixstringsteve]

Due to contracts from our upfitter, they requested that we didn't video the install. We respect them, and they were great to us, so they're not in this video. Sorry guys.

 

[sixstringsteve]

Here's the interior:

 

[Jsweezy]

Love the high top! Looks so good.

If it's cool to post on here prices I'd love to know how much it costed for the top and installation at fiberine.

 

[sixstringsteve]

Short answer: Expect prices to be equal with pop-top prices.

Long answer:
You can always call the manufacturer and get a quote. Even though Fiberine makes fantastic tops, they are not set up to sell to the public. They don't really want to. It's a pain for everyone (including them) when someone like me tries to order diretly from them. They don't even accept credit cards. They only accept cash or a check. In fact, they wouldn't even start building our top 'till they received our check and it cleared.

99.9% of their sales are to upfitter companies, and they want to keep it that way. It was a pain ordering my top from them. It'd be WAY easier to order a fiberine top from an upfitter rather than directly from Fiberine. I'm sure they can get you a list of companies that can install and sell their tops. In fact, they don't advertise prices because they're not wanting to distribute directly to the public.

Our installer asked that we didn't provide details like where we had it installed, how much it cost, etc. Price will really be determined by the top you get, the options you get, the level of trim you get it built out with, and the prices/quality of the upfitter.

For a ballpark number, I'd expect to pay $6000-10,000+ for various levels of "installed" from an upfitter. A lot depends on which model you get, whether you get features like windows, wood reinforcement, fantastic fans, solar panels, etc. and whether you want it upholstered, or left raw.

A lot of people assumed we'd spend maybe $2k total. It was WELL over that just for the top (and then we paid install later too). It's not a cheap upgrade, but for how we use the van, it's a very worthwhile upgrade.