paint cost

[slickmainer]

what would one expect to pay at a body shop to have a full truck exterior painted? little to no body work needed. Simple marlin blue with a white cap?

$3000-

granted buying a compressor, having a place to paine and learning to paint would be cheaper.

[Max]

Paint varies soooo much but just based on what you've said, no less than $1,500 - $2,000 depending on materials cost and exactly what condition the truck is in. Even if it's in great shape, the surface has to be prepped prior to additional paint - sanded, primed, skim coat, sealer, paint.

Unless it's just one helluva deal, you get what you pay for.

[Effie]

Unless it's just one helluva deal, you get what you pay for.

Exactly. My brother nit-picks the paint on mine to death, I said, its not a $10,000 paint job. Its a driver! Geez.

I think 2500-3000 is reasonable. Ask around and see if you can find somebody that does paint jobs on the side.

When I took mine to a couple body shops, I kept getting, "we don't do restorations." Ok, I didn't ask you to restore it, I asked you to pull two dents and paint it.

So be prepared to tell them you can pull all the trim, headlights, have everything off the truck so all they have to do is sand, prep, tape and paint. It might save ya some money.

[ezernut9mm]

about seven years ago i was told about 2k just in materials to paint a 93 short bed reg. cab with ppg products. actual paint job cost almost 7k. they pulled a couple of dents and took everything apart-bed off the frame to get the back of cab and bed front, etc.

[Uncle Skip]

Max.
What are you using for a sealer?
We missed you at Hooters today.
But we didn't talk bad about you.
Trust me.
U@ss

[Max]

I used two different primers on my truck:

PPG DPLF Epoxy Primer and Southern Polyurethanes Epoxy Primer. Both of them allow you to reduce them down further for use as a sealer prior to your basecoat or single-stage paint topcoat.

Not all epoxy primers allow you to do that! The one's that don't usually have a separate sealer for that purpose.

[ronk16]

i paint for a living and the major amount of your loot will go to labor, pull it apart your self and do all the sanding and bondo work. buy all your own paint and clear. minimal grand for refinish that way. it really does matter how far you want to go with it, show paint or nice 10 footer with a deep shine or macco special......

[grump]

around here in NW Ohio an all over paint job at a reputable body shop is going to be around 4-5000 dollars, if they will do it. Most will tell you they make more money on collision work. Ezers real close if they pull the bed.

[Greg D]

Just a little picture of painting cost;
I took the Jeep to Macco yesterday (I'm clean out of painting weather at home) and asked them what it would cost to shoot the left side fender, front door, and quarter - just 3 panels!
I told them it would be as apart as it needed be, no moldings to remove or put back on etc. I just need it taped and shot - period.
$596.87
Yes I did say Macco.

[Uncle Skip]

Greg.
Laying down the paint isn't the problem with shops like Maaco. They have some good "painters".
Its the body work and prep. Angel told me that body work is the art of making big scratches into very small ones.
That's why I'm doing my own prep and body work on the the truck and the small components before it all goes to the paint shop.
I'm going to do the header panel, splash pan, grill, bumper, inner fenders and the tailgate.
I'm also going to paint the top of the bed so I can spray in the bed liner before it goes to the paint shop.
I'll let Urethane Tim's Mexican do the rest of it. He can lay down some paint.
Besides, I love a challenge. I think...........
U@ss

[Greg D]

I hear you Skip.
Precisely why I was a little thrown by basically $600 to blow 3 panels. And it's an XJ for crying out loud - the panels are pretty small!
A little more than scratches on this one though, look at the front door, and the fender - the quarter was pushed in even worse before I straightened it, clear up in front & behind the glass too (pretty tough to get in behind it too on this thing).

[ezernut9mm]

around here in NW Ohio an all over paint job at a reputable body shop is going to be around 4-5000 dollars, if they will do it. Most will tell you they make more money on collision work. Ezers real close if they pull the bed.

i could have spent more. lol. but we agreed on smoothing the hood, upper doors and upper bed sides. left everything below the belt line about factory. maybe a touch better than.
he told me the smoother i wanted it the more it would cost.

these are the guys that painted my lightning.

http://www.tallantsauto.net/

[F7BIGJOB]

Gregg, sent you a pm

[Max]

This also needs to be thought through well before starting mainly because a lot of paint shops do not really like putting color on top of someone else's prep work. They don't know what you used or how you used it and if it starts peeling down the road, they don't want someone telling them they #&@*'d up their paint job.

[nolabama]

you were saying "buying a compressor and learning to paint would be cheaper"

let me speak from experience on that one -

I bought a used compressor in great shape for $400 retails for about $800, hoses another $50, air drier from the harbor $60, assorted fittings $20 ,silicone remover $30, bug and tar remover $20, paint guns $ 150+- ,sandpaper $50, bondo $25, da sander $60, assorted sanding and prep stuff like body hammer and cheese grater $25

..........then you get into the actual paint - i bought duplicolor from the auto houses trying to beat the paint shops price of $500 for sealer, base coat, clear coat .... came in at about $360 without clear

... did not read all of the fine print on every single can and shot two coats of primer when i should have only used one and then paint - super orange peal .... almost avacodo

...so do you really think $3000 is a lot of money - by the way evenings and weekends were tied up for 2 weeks prepping the van and i still ended up with a $hitty job

...... but i did it myself and $hitty as it is i learned a lot and wont make those same mistakes again the next one will be much better and the one after that will be even better - all depends on what you want to do and what you can get away with living where you do

[nolabama]

oh and lets not forget the "paint your car on a budget" book from the bookstore that started this fiasco for $25 + $4 latte crapachino

[ezernut9mm]

lol. nice

[Greg D]

There is a "recurring" article in the car magazines about painting on budget. Goes through body work, prep and then having it sprayed by Macco. The "cheap" paint job at Macco is basically they tape the glass and blow a coat of enamel on it - period. Now to be fair most of these places have pretty good painters (they have to be able to handle quality repairs too) and like Skip said a nice paint job is 90% or more prep (he didn't word it like that but....). The color choice is probably limited to some in stock colors, they will match a color for not alot more money. You really about can't do it much cheaper yourself either. I for one am not huge fan of enamel - tough to touch up nicely. I am a huge fan of Lacquer - pretty hard to find nowadays though. There is one place online that has it, and the Duplicolor Paint Shop paints that I know of (the 64 will likely be done with the latter). Kind of depends on what you want.
I would like to have somebody spray the Jeep because I don't know squat about the new paints and I don't want to spray it 5 times trying to match the color to my satisfaction. Having it sprayed keeps it in my comfort zone so to speak.
If you can find someone who does some painting on the side that maybe the best bet - if I can find a pro that works on the side I'll have my Jeep painter.

[slickmainer]

thank you all for the words of advice and past experiences.

[ezernut9mm]

see what you started gregg? lol