The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Paint jobs

I want to get my pickup repainted. It needs some body work as well, but since it is so hard to explain what this entails, what should a good paint job cost, with no body work?

Have any of you had experience with Maaco? All of the body men around here say they are a joke, and I am sure they are if you expect a decent job for $250, but they do have higher levels of workmanship and materials for more money. I am thinking perhaps they may provide a better value than what the local, high priced body men would lead you to believe. They want $3000 for JUST a paint job, no body work.

A good rule of thumb,,especially with paint/body work......"you get what you pay for".
If you want it to still look nice a couple years from now,stay away from the "cheapies". Its better to only cry once and have it done right.
If youre gonna turn around and sell the truck,go ahead and have a 200.00 camouflage job put on it.
(just dont be surprised when you see theyve painted over dead bugs)

I don't have any experience with Maaco except what I've heard. I wouldn't shoot it for $250, nor would I choose to have someone who will do it for that amount.

I have experience (from 20 years ago) in bodywork and painting, and would have to consider myself a novice after so many years out of the body man loop, but, how long do you think it would take them?

Now that will depend on what they are really doing.

Are they going to prep the surface and paint a couple of coats of color?

Or, are they going to prep the surface, prime, sand and maybe spot repair, prep, prime, sand, prep, paint, paint, prep, paint, color sand and buff?

Are you shooting clear coats or candy colors?

$250 or $3000. You will get what you pay for.

I don't know what body work it needs, but if the rest of the paint is in good shape you can do the repairs and use one of the new auto primers that you can roll on. The big manufacurers make them and, although you shouldn't do an entire car with them, they are good for spots. You could prime the repairs, then sand the old paint down a bit and get everything level. It doesn't sound to me like you're looking for a show truck, so if you get a good even surface out of the old paint maybe one of the slightly more expensive maaco services would suit your needs.

I know a guy that stripped his car of all the chrome, did his own body work, did 90% of the prep for Maaco and got a real respectable paint job.

I am of the opinion that if someone does nothing but paint cars all day he/she has got to get the hang of it after a while. It's not in the shooting that they come up short, it's in the prep work.

Just my two-cents worth.

My truck is in the process of paint right now. The basecoat, clear, additives, reducers, primers, etc. cost about $880. The painter has so far 35 hours in time (about $950). Probably still have another $400 or $500 to invest. But, this is Dupont paint in show condition. The EPA has the paint supply cost sky-high.

yrs ago I had a 66 mustang painted by maaco and also my 70 international pick up.. I was happy with both, and both held up well... I believe the truck was 300 and the mustang was 750 bucks

my current 52 was painted by a Maaco guy but not at his shop, has held up well,, this would have been 10 yrs or so ago, the truck has been out side in the Texas heat until about 2 yrs ago.. just now starting to show some wear.........there you have it..

Wow Jon, I wish I could of got those prices on paint. I'm just finishing up painting the exterior of mine,(colorsanding it now), and I'll have over $2000 just in paint. Epoxy primer and catalyst, about $225 a gallon, used about 2, surfacer about the same price, again about 2 gallons, Forester green single stage urethane, about $400 a gallon with hardener and reducer, wiil use about a gallon and a half, black ,again in urethane, about $300 a gallon, used about a gallon between running boards, wheels, inner fenders, etc., interior paint, steering wheel and column paint, a pint of white for the grill bars, flattener for the inner fenders,etc. Plus masking tape, reems of sandpaper, filler, etc., man, I don't even want to think about what I've dished out to the PPG jobber in the last few years.

Bob

Thanks for the replies. I should make it clear that I don't want a "cheapie" job, and never had any intention of the $250 job from Maaco. I have talked to two body men in the last few days, the one this morning told me 12-1500 just for the paint job, body work extra. He is going to give me a quote in a day or two.

I guess the main thing I was after is if it would even be worth getting an estimate from Maaco. I would have to drive roughly 85 miles for the estimate. From what some of you have said, I think I will get the estimate from Maaco. If I would be able to get by for $1700-2000 dollars and get a decent job (body work and paint) I believe I would do it. I don't need a show winning paint job on this pickup, but I want it to look nice. Thanks for your help.

Painting a vehicle is very labor intensive and the materials are not cheap. Prep work is extremely important as any imperfections will show thru the new paint. Also, rust will pop thru or paint will fall off if the surface isn't prepped just right.
After I brought my truck home and did a few things to it to make it run, I was embarrassed to drive it all beatered up. I thought I'd do all the body work, then take it to be painted. The regular auto body shops didn't want to be bothered. They just want to do collision work for insurance money. A couple of shops said they'd do it, but they'd want to do all the body work, take off the fenders and doors and really do it right. They couldn't give me a firm price without seeing the truck and offered a rough estimate of between $5,000 to $10,000 and they said they'd want to keep it for a few months. They refused to paint it after I did the body and prep work because they couldn't be sure that I wouldn't come back and sue them when the paint bubbled or fell off due to my inferior prep work. Told them I'd sign a waiver but they weren't interested.

Then there's the Maaco and 1-Day chains of paint shops. They were happy to do whatever I wanted with either poly or two-stage and had different price points depending on how much quality I wanted. They are production shops and do quantity, not quality. They don't buy paint from the local auto paint supplier like the body shops do. They cut a deal with the manufacturers to use a generic product which they buy by the train-load(1-Day uses Nason paint manufactured by Dupont)and do all the color mixing on the premises. Auto paint colors are achieved by placing the gallon of base paint on a scale and adding pigments by weight according to a formula. This cuts their material costs dramatically. Then they proceed to paint your vehicle by fogging it over twice. Not two coats with a 20 minute wait between coats but rather two quick passes done all at once, then placed in an oven for quick drying. They use as little material as possible, again trying to cut costs and they do it FAST!!! (el tiempo est dinero)

I decided to paint my truck myself even though I hadn't painted a car for some 30 years. The primers and paints have changed. They are now very expensive. I don't even know what I spent for primers, color and clear coat but I bet it was over $800 by the time I was done. After color sanding and buffing it came out pretty okay. Took doors and hood off but not fenders and did a decent job on the body work. Many hours went into it and it was very hard work. This is why good paint jobs are very expensive.

Almost had 1-Day do it. One cool thing is that they had all the formulas for the period colors in their data base. Even the high end auto paint stores didn't have that. Good luck and let us know how you come out.

my PPG paint alone cost me $700.00 to do almost all of my truck, inside and out.

i did the inner fenders, frame and running boards before this.
if you decide to go get a 'miracle-earl-waaco paint job know that they use their own paint brand and it/ they are the cheapest paints available .... period. and do not last.
so why go to all that work and use cheap paint.
my.02

Good paint will run more than $250. The paint macco uses is BAD.... after people make the mistake of having them paint it and go back to repaint it a year or so later it is twice as much work. When you go to sand the paint macco applys it gums up in your sand paper. It is kind of like trying to sand crayons and you have to get it all off. If you don't and try to spray a decent paint over it the macco paint will do what is refered to as a chemical reaction and wrinkle up.

just my 2 cents.

The last 2 vehicles I painted, I did all the body work and prep work, etch primer and primer myself
using PPG products and bought the PPG concept paint and took it to Macco to shoot it.They turned out great.
Prior to that I was doing it in my garage and having to sand out the bugs and whatever and do it over until it was acceptable, or I just got tired and said good enough. What has been said previously, the prep work and quality paint is the key.
31,31,33

Last truck I did, I painted myself: 1 gallon Rustoleum industrial enamel, foam roller, paint tray, mineral spirits. Probably spent $75 and 2-3 days. Good enough for a quasi-redneck like me. I'll never pay for a "good" paint job- for $3,000, I'll buy a few more old stovebolts to play with!

My neighbor, a car guy who drives a Snap-On tool truck, and is quite particular about his own collector cars told be to paint may truck with a roller. "That's what we used to do in the army." He's helped me out alot but I don't think he's ever been very impressed with my dump truck.

Today a good paint job is gonna cost at least $3000.And thats just prepping and painting.To do an old truck right it must be dissassembled and painted in pieces,including the interior.About 9 yrs. ago I took my 37 Chevy sedan to a paint shop that specializes in older cars and streetrods.Body was perfect,I just wanted to change the color.The guy told me $4000.plus tax and did not even bat an eye.He is busy all the time painting older cars and trucks.But he does quality work.Today his paintjobs start at $6000.

We have a production shop here in Seattle that specializes in taking retired police cars and turning them into yellow cabs. Maybe I'll just park in their lot and see what happens.

Try the local/trade schools. Some of those may be able to help you. Ask around a body shop. Maybe someone has a sideline who will do it more reasonable. I said reasonable not cheaper. You get what you pay for. Get what you want. The person in your shoes is the one you want happy. My opinion.

Dan

All good advice. I would have to say if your not going to invest in the body work which is the foundation you will not get good results. If you find someone who can lay good paint it doesn't matter where they work just request or buy a good paint for them to shoot. Personally I think a Chevy in black primer has a mean a$$ look to it and kind of sexy (I am a girl so I think I can get away with that one). If you are going to worry over the paint and spend hard earned money on it I wouldn't get in such a rush to put it on inferior body work. I always lay my priorities out, drive train first, then looks. If it don't run but its pretty then its just a big knick-knack.

over here in uk 2000 seems about the norm, depends a lot on a group of guys doing work or a guy on his own, they all can let slip a bit of quality control if not kept a eye on, times money, they can hit a motor with color in a morning, but prepping in stages can take 3-4 weeks, ive been happy with prices up to now, but its not unheard of paintwork costing 5-10k in london area, how deeps you pocket type of thing

Some of you will probably wince when I tell you that the final bucks will be 15K. And that's with me taking it ALL apart and handing every piece to the body and paint guy. But rust is a wonderous thing indeed. Getting rid of it - all of it and replacing with new metal cost $. And, as so many have mentioned above; prep prep and more prep over shadows the best paint job.
Go to a few car shows and ask those guys what they spent in time and money to achieve a desired result. Scared the S*#@ out of me, but I coughed up anyway. :p

I bought Sherwin WIlliams industrial paint. It is at least as good as the original stuff, 3 coats and you will have a respectable gloss, if you bodywork is decent, it will look nice. You just have to keep it waxed. A paint gun only costs 50 bucks, i have a 300 binks gun, but my grandads 40 year old devilbliss works just as good.
The worst that can happen is you have to let it dry and sand it down a bit, you get A LOT of satisfaction when you look at a decent paint job you did.

There is information on the net about using rustoleum if you want to go cheap-and with a roller brush no less!

But that being said i do want to be realistic-I want my paint job to look decent and last as well, so reading about Maaco and the other companies makes sense-thaks guys! You are right-pay for the quality work and cry only once. For my 46 as it is already disassembled-thats a plus-each pice will be sanded down primered and painted.

Everyone has an opinion and here's mine if you go to Maaco and tell them to paint your truck one or two steps up from their normal 'quicky" job for 200 bucks, you will get a cheap paint job done by guys who rush to get as many cars done as possible. If you strip the emblems, mirrors, etc off and learn a bit about "roughing up" the paint and tape off the areas you want taped off, then you can get more for your $$ at Maaco. I have actually seen some great paint jobs come from a Maaco here in Seattle (the guy did all the prep work first!)
another choice is to pay for everything from the professionals in your area. It takes time to strip a car/truck just to start doing body work. i saved money by doing it all myself and having a paint guy help me shoot it. (69 Camaro) Another alternative might be to get to know someone in the business and ask for them to paint your truck on the side. It's worth a shot anyway. Good luck with your decision!
Dano

Well heres my humble opinion.....I have the body off and stipped..rust repair being done....hope to try Macco..because my family has to eat too..sometimes....so far into the truck (62 BURB) for $11,000..so gotta watch the pennies. But I will go for the higher end job and had 9 gallons of high end paint donated!!!!! (any body men in new england?

One thing you need to do with getting quotes is to take pictures or show the guy who is doing the quoting what you want done. Some guys have all the work they want- they will quote high to get rid of you. Some guys don't have enough work, they will quote low to get you in the door and then charge you more as they do the work. Both of these guys won't really care about your story or what you want done. The guy you want will want to see your vehicle and go over with you exactly what you expect.