Body off paint job 79 FJ40 gauging prices and getting quotes need some idea (1 Viewer)

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Aaron, any time you're asking them to do something out of the ordinary the price will increase. You might be better to strip it yourself and have them paint parts because they will not be as careful as you to save nuts and bolts or get things back together without scratching the hidden areas.
In any case it won't be cheap. We paid $1300 for the FJ55 two tone and it was without any stuff on it (no masking). Not a deluxe job but not lousy either. btw that included a high build and sand to get rid of scratches and that sort of thing as well as painting the grey stuff too.
 
Aaron;

My 1980 FJ40 had body on paint job in 1998. Only the out side paint and bodo work, no inside paint work. Plus complete CCOT rear quarter panels and sill replacement. They did a pretty fair job for a standard old time body shop. To the uneducated observer it looks like a new FJ40. Cost $4500. It will cost more today.

...
 
Looks fine the way it is...orig. paint
 
Yea- let's see some pics of what needs to be painted. From the one you posted, I wouldn't do a thing.
 
I did mine myself, but a body shop typically isn't going to put the time and effort do do a good job. Unless you want to spend upwards of 5 grand. About 10 years ago a friend of mine bought a mustard yellow 78. It was sweet, california truck, no rust, etc. But he hated the mustard yellow. He wanted it dune beige. So he had a local body shop repaint it inside and out. They did a very nice job, but didn't take anything apart. So if you ever took the top off, it would be mustard, fold the windshield, it's mustard, engine compartment, except the underside of the hood, mustard. Cost him 4 grand. I could have bought the truck 8 years ago for 8 grand, but didn't because of the paint job. Instead I bought a basket case half done resto for 5 and took it all apart and painted everything.
 
Body on Paint Job, mine cost around $4500 with about $1500 in body rust repair. I would expect quotes from 5-7,000 or higher. for a body off.

Based on the picture you have posted the paint looks good. Have you tried to restore the original paint yet? Not just a wax job, but a 1000 grit or higher wet sand and repolish.
 
If you can get it painted inside and out for $2000 that is a good deal. It should look pretty darned nice and if you are going to trail ride it you may not be too affraid of scratching it up... I had my '82 FJ40 painted inside and out and it cost me $3000. It looked to be in simlar shape to yours but mine had more dents in it. I also had to strip it apart myself and put it back together. You could probably save yourself some money by doing some of the stripping and putting it back together yourself. I had never done it before and it was not too hard. See the link below for some picks if interested in seeing what was done to mine. Then again, yours looks nice enough to just keep original!
 
pics

hi Otis- where is the link to the pics? I am interested in seeing the pics of your resto .

again thanks

Aaron
 
1982

OK i found the pics. I have seen this truck in the trails at surf in turf. At least I think I have.

Nice work. That thing is great. That tells me more about the repainting process.

again thanks

Aaron
 
OK, I just finished going through this about two months ago. I took off all body panels myself completely and took it to a painter that came highly recommended. My body was in very good shape with the exception of minor rust on the amb doors at the bottom of the windows. The ribs in the rear of the tub had some dents and he totally cleaned that up. I did have the inside of the tub rhino lined and then painted over with paint to match the exterior. The underside of the tub was rhino'd also. All in all I waould say he did an excellent job BUT it cost $7,800 AND he said he quoted it to me too low in the beginning. I had to agree that by the time I delivered all the individual hinges, grills, body parts, etc., etc. it was a LOT to paint and do body work on. I kept telling him the body was in really good shape and then he kept reminding me that everything looks good when the paint has faded (hides minor dents). I live in TX so that will affect rates.
 
your truck is a 1980 model

Aaron -

sorry I'm way off topic of your thread, but saw the pic of your truck and recognized it as a 1980 model rather than a 79 by the gas fill door. On 79 models the hinge for the gas door is at the rear of the opening, while on 80+ it is at the forward edge. I bet your production date on the vin tag is like dec 1979?

I know this only because I swapped a 12/79 tub onto my 2/79 truck and had to find a new gas door to fit the 12/79 1980 model tub.

I offer this trivia only because you or some other LC addicts (I resemble that remark) might find it interesting.

happy cruisin'
 
Aaron, you saw my '82. There was some repair needed to the rear ambulance doors bottoms other than that my tub was in good shape. Mine was rhino lined so the inside of the tub didn't need to be touched. I spent $6k on it. I would epxect to spend around $5k to get yours painted. They would much rather to insurance work than paint your rig, more $/hr in it for them. If you can get it done for $2k that is a good deal.

I agree with Phishtaco though, I wouldn't paint it. Mine looked great with the new paint but it was much softer than the original paint and scratched easily.
 
You're talking a lot of prep work. I haven't gotten to that point yet, but I know that when I did my pickup truck it cost me around $1,000 just to buy the paint. I had a friend paint it at the time so I wouldn't know what the total would have been.
 
RIDDLER said:
I am trying to gauge what kind of money I need to get a body off paint job back to OEM toyota standards...

A TON of money. After you spend the BIG bucks for what you want done, there will be a zillion other things to do. WHat about the frame? Rusted there too I bet. WHile you have the body off, why not replace your clutch? More $$$...

Don't want to put on those faded emblems back on... noooo way. More dollars.

All new rubber gaskets all around. Yours are prob cracked/missing or they will get damaged when they are taken off. Yep more $$$

Go look at TLC's website. See what they do for their work, call them and get an estimate.
 
I'd just get the areas that need fixed, repaired. The problem with having a $6k paint job is that you are afraid to drive it when you're done. That's why I'm not going to paint the troopie, or if I do it'll be a cheap paint job. I plan on wheeling it and enjoying it. I don't want to have to worry about scratches.
 
i agree completely with cruiser ken and trekker. i did just what you are talking about doing and it ended up costing way more than it was originally supposed to. my truck looks really good, but i wish i had spent more on functional than cosmetics. for instance, if you're not gonna be wheeling as much and more on the road-how about fuel injection or a 5 speed, or a/c or soundproofing the interior or a nice stereo.
 
hmmmm,
Go with fixing the damage if it bothers you, put some money into the machanics of the rig like posted......OME suspension, tires , exhaust

I have done several body on complete resto's before machanics....never again !!! Run out of money getting in machanically perfect...then, whoaaaa !! you will find yourself swerving around small branches while wheeling and power washing / buffing out small scratches etc..


Your cruiser looks great the way it is......fix a few dents , cut out the rust and be done on cosmetics. Keep the graphics on !
 
I emailed you a bit of info
that's a really nice Cruiser
We're just finishing up a rebuild on a 1980 and it was no where near as nice as that when it showed up

good score!
 

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