The paint before....

[Jhacker1]

So my truck goes into the shop tomorrow for a much needed paint job. My truck is awesome but it brings a tear to my eye every time i look at the paint. So for about the past year, I have been pinching my pennies to save up for a paint job. Got quoted $1400, And the paint comes with a 5 year warranty. Most of the truck has to been sanded down deep due to the clear coat popping, or being non-existent. Should have it back within 5-7 business days. hopefully i can manage without wheels. But here are some before pics. I will be sure and post after pics when i get it back. Wish me luck!!

 

[KidVermicious]

What sort of place are you taking it? $1400 seems low to me?

 

[Bad_Vision]

i would say they are going to spot and blend it for 1400$
but you can tape and mako the hole truck for 500$ in a nice signal stage.

 

[Jhacker1]

Ill admit it is at a Maaco near by. They are sanding the whole thing and painting it. The spots where the clear is popping is what has to be sanded to bare metal. Which about 75% of the clear is popping so most of it will be sanded down. I wanted a maaco job because my money is extremely tight these days. I looked at that particular maacos previous jobs and they look really good. And i made it very clear that I would not take a crappy paint job. But we shall see how it turns out.

 

[Nervo19]

FWIW Maaco painted my mother's metallic gray Accord many years ago and I sold it to the kid across the street. He had it for five years and the paint still looked good when he totaled it. It depends on your local Maaco though. If you delivered it to them with wax all over it you might have problems but you say you did some sanding. I'd like to see pictures when it's finished!

Edit: I just realized you're in Bedford. The Maaco I used was in the west end of Richmond. Are you keeping the blue? I really like that color.

 

[Jhacker1]

FWIW Maaco painted my mother's metallic gray Accord many years ago and I sold it to the kid across the street. He had it for five years and the paint still looked good when he totaled it. It depends on your local Maaco though. If you delivered it to them with wax all over it you might have problems but you say you did some sanding. I'd like to see pictures when it's finished!

Edit: I just realized you're in Bedford. The Maaco I used was in the west end of Richmond. Are you keeping the blue? I really like that color.

When I got the estimate from them, they told me the paint would last up to 5 years but much longer if I take care of it properly. Thanks for telling me about your mothers car, it puts my nervousness to rest a bit, although i am still on edge a bit. I am keeping it blue. I asked them to put a little more flake in it thou so it sparkles a bit. I love the color too. I'll definitely post some pics once its back

 

[the_fornicator]

I'm taking my 4Runner to a maaco as well, however, I wouldn't trust them to prep the thing properly. I'm sort of at this stage with my project.

You can take a paint scraper and chip off the stuff that comes off super easily, then, with 160'ish sand paper, feather the edges down so you can't feel it with your finger nails. The bits of clear coat that are still on the thing as well as the exposed paint can be hit with a 200-300 grit sand paper just to give it some texture so things bond properly.

This is only under the assumption that you're not expecting a show-room finish. I'd do as much as I can (the small instricate areas) and leave the easy, big areas to them.

From there, you can just bring it to maaco and ask them to wipe it down, apply a sealant and single stage. I was quoted $800-$1000 if I did the prep work myself and all they had to do was wipe it down and starting giving 'er.

If you sand down to the metal, you have to apply some sort of etch primer or something, then filler, then sealant, and single stage. If no etch primer or equivalent it put on the metal first, the paint/sealant may not bond very well. I'd ask them if they do something of the sort if they're sanding down to bare metal.

 

[Lineman]

As stated in the thread numerous times Maaco.

Jhacker - please post after photos. Best wishes with it.

What sort of place are you taking it? $1400 seems low to me?

 

[Jhacker1]

As stated in the thread numerous times Maaco.

Jhacker - please post after photos. Best wishes with it.

I will.

 

[Jhacker1]

So an update, after 9 days I got my truck back today. And holy cow it looks awesome. So smooth no orange peel even fixed the rust on the tailgate. And d@mn does the whole thing look good. Super happy with the way it turned out. I would highly recommend that maaco to anyone near by. Unfortunately it has been overcast all day so pictures will be up asap tomorrow. Def glad to have it back thou. :cheers:

 

[Jhacker1]

And the paint now

So here are the pictures for you all. The truck already needs a wash due to rain here. and this is the first pretty day we have had.

 

[KidVermicious]

Not too shabby. I've heard horror stories about paint jobs from those budget places, glad you're happy with it!

 

[CodeButcher]

Almost looks like my truck. :wink2:

 

[Nervo19]

That looks great. Which Maaco did it? I'm sure they warned you not to wash it or polish it for about a month while paint hardens completely. Did you get basecoat/clearcoat?

 

[Jonny]

looks great!

 

[Jhacker1]

KidV- Thank you! I had heard the same but I went with my gut.

CodeButcher- I agree!

Nervo19- Thank you! I had the Lynchburg Maaco on Kemper Street. They made me feel good about my choice. And they did warn me. I did indeed get the base coat/clear coat. It was on sale for $700 instead of $800 and I got 10% off since I mentioned a buddy of mine had his truck painted there.

Jonny- Thank you!

 

[CodeButcher]

At least I will have an idea what my truck will look like if I ever get around to get it re-painted. Did you strip the side stickers or did the shop, before painting?

 

[Jhacker1]

At least I will have an idea what my truck will look like if I ever get around to get it re-painted. Did you strip the side stickers or did the shop, before painting?

I did it myself long before the paint job. I did it with a eraser wheel, which worked amazing. The paint had began to chip from where the decals were after I stripped them. And on the front fender the old decals had basically baked into the paint.

 

[CodeButcher]

I did it myself long before the paint job. I did it with a eraser wheel, which worked amazing. The paint had began to chip from where the decals were after I stripped them. And on the front fender the old decals had basically baked into the paint.

That's what I thought. My stripes are faded and baked on as well. Did the shop strip any original paint off before re-painting? I was thinking of putting a black base coat before spraying the blue, to give a deeper blue look.

 

[Jhacker1]

That's what I thought. My stripes are faded and baked on as well. Did the shop strip any original paint off before re-painting? I was thinking of putting a black base coat before spraying the blue, to give a deeper blue look.

They stripped all the places on my truck that had peeling clear coat. Stripped it to bare metal and primed it, then did the base coat/clear coat. they also sealed it.