As of June 19th, when I finally finished the body prep and bright red custom paint job on my 1965 Mustang coupe, I gained a whole new respect for why a show-quality paint job can cost $20,000 or more. I’m not a professional, but even with my limited experience and basic tools, I spent several hundred hours on the prep work alone.

The actual painting process took less than three hours after the final cleaning and taping. But if you want that deep, glass-like shine, you need to follow it with wet sanding and buffing. I put in many hours wet sanding, which initially makes the paint look dull and flat. Then I hired a professional buffing crew to bring out the final shine.

This Mustang marks the second full prep and paint job I’ve done in the last 15 months. The first was a 1970 Camaro that I’d rate a 6 out of 10. I learned a lot from that car—it looked decent, but definitely not great. This time, the Mustang turned out much better. After all the sanding and buffing, it came out smooth and shiny. I’d give it a solid 7.5 to maybe even an 8. While I’m proud of the work I put into it, it’s not show-car level. Standing back, I can see small flaws I missed—flaws that my friend and professional painter, Lucky Luciano, would’ve caught and corrected before spraying.

My plan is to sell the Mustang and feel confident that the next owner is getting a great car. As a driver-quality muscle car, it looks sharp and runs fantastic. I owe a big thank-you to Lucky for all the guidance he gave me along the way. It feels good to say I moved from a 6 to a 7.5 paint job—and yes, it’s the same bright red color as the Camaro.

For the record, I also painted a giant 2007 Chevrolet crew cab pickup between these two projects. I used white Rust-Oleum, and it laid down so well that I didn’t even need to wet sand. For an 18-year-old truck, it looked really good.

So next time you wonder why a show-quality paint job costs $20,000 or more, remember—you’re not just paying for paint. You’re paying for hundreds of hours, a high level of skill, and years of experience it takes to make it perfect.