Paint Options (3 Viewers)

[bdbuchan]

I need an all-over paint job.

Who are the best paint shops in America? I’m in Charlotte, NC but willing to drive.

I found one local guy who is supposedly great, wants $8-10k, and is ~5 months out… would love to find something cheaper and sooner.

 

[awesomeissquid]

For paint typically it is going to cost a bundle and a good shop will be booked out. If you are looking for something cheap and quick check out Maaco, but it will still be a few thousand and may not be the best product.

The previous owner of my LC had a Maaco paint job done about 8 years ago. When I bought it 5 years ago the paint looked pretty good. Since I do not have a garage, the clear coat has completely failed and it needs to be redone. It looks pretty bad.

 

[Super77]

Who are the best paint shops in America? I’m in Charlotte, NC but willing to drive…

…I found one local guy who is supposedly great, wants $8-10k, and is ~5 months out… would love to find something cheaper and sooner.

Your question suggests 1) you have unlimited budget and high standards 2) you want it cheap and quick. Which is it? As they say: cheap, quick, quality - pick any 2.

For “the best,” focus on shops that do restoration and customization, not collision repairs or insurance jobs. Any cities with a big customs scene (Atlanta, Miami, NYC, Detroit, LA) will have these shops. They do top-tier finishing but can be picky about what they work on. Expect to pay $12-$20k, more for premium paint or if you’re changing color and need to hit the jambs, engine bay, etc.

For “cheaper and sooner,” <$8k will get you a collision-grade finish, close to factory. You can save a little labor by pre-removing any thing that would otherwise need masking, like trim. Materials are a variable: paint has different grades and the best paints cost 2-3x the cheapest.

 

[Trunk Monkey]

Said he wants cheaper than $8k, so . . .

Paint is one of those things with quality/time/cost, you can't have all of them.

 

[delz05]

If you want cheap... wrap it or do it yourself...
If you want the "best" be prepared to wait and pay for it...
You will want to see a shop's work in person, not "online" photos...
You will want to strip down as much of the truck on your own to prep for the re-spray...
All mouldings, bumper covers, lights, mirrors, wipers, weather strip, emblems and such will need to be removed, why not do that work yourself? And take pictures every step of the way...
Having done both collision and restoration work in delerships and independent shops, and being an owner of an 01LX, I
can safely estimate there is about 100 hours of prep work needed to get one of these LC/LX vehicles ready for an over-all 2 stage re-paint.
Then you need to figure re-assemble. Re-using all the "old" stuff? Buying all new emblems, mouldings and such? Add material cost plus 40 hours to re-assemble, wet sand and buff... and I am certain I am forgetting a few other labor/material needs.
What about color? Single paint code all over or 2-toned?
Easily looking at 15,000 for a high quality over-all, and you have not even addressed if there is needed panel repair or replacement.

You could pay a shop to wrap it, but I have no idea on that cost.

Good luck and let us know what you decide and then share images as the project moves along, up to final finish!

 

[jpneely]

My dad just had an old f150 repainted at maaco. Outside only, no jambs or inside of bed. It still cost him around 8k. That was in rock hill sc so close to you. I’m looking to the same thing and will probably do maaco unless I come into extra funds from somewhere. His looks pretty darn good but we will just have to wait and see how the paint holds up. He keeps it outside.

If you have a reputable shop quoting 8k, I’d go with it and just get on their schedule. The paints not going anywhere.

 

[bdbuchan]

My dad just had an old f150 repainted at maaco. Outside only, no jambs or inside of bed. It still cost him around 8k. That was in rock hill sc so close to you. I’m looking to the same thing and will probably do maaco unless I come into extra funds from somewhere. His looks pretty darn good but we will just have to wait and see how the paint holds up. He keeps it outside.

If you have a reputable shop quoting 8k, I’d go with it and just get on their schedule. The paints not going anywhere.

Helpful, thanks!

 

[Exiled]

I went through this dilemma back in 2019 when I couldn't look at my buggered clearcoat anymore. I had one more condition: it needed to be a good paint job, but not such high quality that I'd be sweating it every time I hit the trails or (worse) started avoiding trails. I searched high and low in Austin and bigger Texas cities and couldn't find anything local under $10K (caveat: I wanted to change the color). Then a friend of mine in Idaho said he had a connection with a local shop to him, that could do the kind of paint job I wanted for the right price. I drove the truck from Austin to Idaho, left it there for three months, and then flew back out to pick it up. It's a great but not perfect paint job. They welded up the holes so I could delete the trim, painted door jambs (but not inside the engine compartment). This was six years ago and the paint job is holding up beautifully, despite the truck seeing regular trail use.

Unfortunately, this connection dried up before I could drop off my other 100 (which has very oxidized paint after a lifetime of Colorado and Texas sun) for the same treatment. I also understand that the price of painting supplies has increased significantly over the last ten years so maybe the $10K target is more reasonable now? I paid $6K back in 2019.

Personally, I would look for shops that regularly paint classic/project cars.

Bottom line, if you want quality without paying too much, be prepared to wait, do your research, leverage the broader Cruiserhead and MUD communities, and consider going longer distances (which you already are).

This is the week I picked it up:

And this is now:

 

[Zuberg]

some really good advice for the OP here. @delz05 @jpneely @Exiled sums up a lot of it above.

I had mine repainted last year. Took me 5 months just to find a paint shop I liked. Collision shops were not interested at all. Other shops were booked out 6 months and I had to force their hand just to get any sort of detailed estimates. Finally lucked out and found a guy word of mouth, stars aligned and we struck a deal. I did all the tear down, took all glass out, gutted the interior, etc and had it delivered to him on a rollback. He spent a month doing the re-paint solo. I'd guess he spent 100+ hours on it and the truck had ZERO corrosion or body damage to repair. Once it was done I had it hauled back and re-assembled.

Another thing to consider is cost of materials. All paints are not equal and some require expensive ingredients. My paint guy was shocked when he priced out the quantity AND quality of the metallic flake in the black garnet paint. He said it was some of the most expensive flake he's used and took way more of it than expected (and he does custom drag cars and off road buggies).

I'm in an expensive labor market (Northern VA). Every quote I got was in excess of $10k for a re-paint, no color change, no panel removal etc. Changing the color? doors off, glass out, pull hood and fenders?....price starts climbing and quickly. Really need to figure out your end goal for the paint job and then you can start shopping painters.

 

[bdbuchan]

I went through this dilemma back in 2019 when I couldn't look at my buggered clearcoat anymore. I had one more condition: it needed to be a good paint job, but not such high quality that I'd be sweating it every time I hit the trails or (worse) started avoiding trails. I searched high and low in Austin and bigger Texas cities and couldn't find anything local under $10K (caveat: I wanted to change the color). Then a friend of mine in Idaho said he had a connection with a local shop to him, that could do the kind of paint job I wanted for the right price. I drove the truck from Austin to Idaho, left it there for three months, and then flew back out to pick it up. It's a great but not perfect paint job. They welded up the holes so I could delete the trim, painted door jambs (but not inside the engine compartment). This was six years ago and the paint job is holding up beautifully, despite the truck seeing regular trail use.

Unfortunately, this connection dried up before I could drop off my other 100 (which has very oxidized paint after a lifetime of Colorado and Texas sun) for the same treatment. I also understand that the price of painting supplies has increased significantly over the last ten years so maybe the $10K target is more reasonable now? I paid $6K back in 2019.

Personally, I would look for shops that regularly paint classic/project cars.

Bottom line, if you want quality without paying too much, be prepared to wait, do your research, leverage the broader Cruiserhead and MUD communities, and consider going longer distances (which you already are).

This is the week I picked it up:

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And this is now:

View attachment 3944172

Thank you! Looks awesome!

I want to keep mine the same color (black) so that helps. The OEM bumpers are the worst part of mine. I've debated just replacing as you did vs repainting the lower gray trim section. I like the deleted trim look w/ the bumpers... very clean. Which bumpers do you have?

So now debating repaint as is vs add bumpers and repaint vs add bumpers, delete trim and repaint. Decisions!

 

[Exiled]

My front bumper is from Vorfab, a now-defunct fabrication shop that built it to my design, the rear one is from 4x4Labs.

 

[DuckLN]

Camo it with redleg camo stencils.

 

[bdbuchan]

Camo it with redleg camo stencils.

Now we’re talking

 

[jfz80]

Have you contacted Rafael in town?
Great guy and long time mud member

South End Body Shop

Same convenient location under new management!

southendcollision.com

 

[bdbuchan]

Have you contacted Rafael in town?
Great guy and long time mud member

South End Body Shop

Same convenient location under new management!

southendcollision.com

No, thanks for the rec I definitely will!

 

[excessive]

You really can paint it yourself. I did my own paint job on my 4Runner a few months ago. I literally have never painted anything before in my life other than spray paint cans before this. For my first ever paint job and it came out pretty good. It was actually pretty fun to do as well.
I bought one of the better Harbor Freight paint guns, some tarps for the ground, and a decent base/clear OEM-match paint (Toyota Imperial Jade mica) from Tamco paints. The base and clear materials cost just short of $1k. The paint gun, primer, sandpaper, masking materials, etc was about another $400-$500ish. Lots and lots of prep work in sanding, masking, wiping, and more sanding. I watched a lot of YouTube videos, especially "paint society". All in the whole respray took me about 30-40 hours, and cost less than $1500. If I can do it, anyone can !

 

[bdbuchan]

You are a bold soul! Looks great!

 

[jpneely]

You really can paint it yourself. I did my own paint job on my 4Runner a few months ago. I literally have never painted anything before in my life other than spray paint cans before this. For my first ever paint job and it came out pretty good. It was actually pretty fun to do as well.
I bought one of the better Harbor Freight paint guns, some tarps for the ground, and a decent base/clear OEM-match paint (Toyota Imperial Jade mica) from Tamco paints. The base and clear materials cost just short of $1k. The paint gun, primer, sandpaper, masking materials, etc was about another $400-$500ish. Lots and lots of prep work in sanding, masking, wiping, and more sanding. I watched a lot of YouTube videos, especially "paint society". All in the whole respray took me about 30-40 hours, and cost less than $1500. If I can do it, anyone can !

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Did you have any trouble with paint contamination? Dust/bugs etc? That’s my biggest fear doing it in my driveway.

 

[excessive]

Did you have any trouble with paint contamination? Dust/bugs etc? That’s my biggest fear doing it in my driveway.

yes, i did get a few. I did this in February, so there were not a ton of bugs, pollen, etc. I waited until the perfect day with very low humidity , and I did get a few little things in the paint, but nothing major. I havent done so yet, but i do plan to wet send and buff it someday. its pretty shiny already

 

[Mdej3]

I need an all-over paint job.

Who are the best paint shops in America? I’m in Charlotte, NC but willing to drive.

I found one local guy who is supposedly great, wants $8-10k, and is ~5 months out… would love to find something cheaper and sooner.

Hey @bdbuchan, We're not close to say but not far either.

@TampaCruisers specializes in 80 and 100 series all over paint jobs. Those who have seen our rigs can attest on the quality to detail We put on them.
Having somebody that have actually repainted a couple of Cruisers is invaluable info on getting it done right.

Even if you decide to use another shop, feel free to reach out with any questions and We will be happy to guide you to the best outcome.
We facilitate vehicle transport as well. I'm always happy when somebody decides to bring their girl to 2025 looks with an all over paint job.

Manny @ Tampa Cruisers.