Paint Options (2 Viewers)

[jpneely]

Just got up to my parents house. This is the repaint job from maaco on the old f150. Not too bad!

 

[rexington14]

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

Even if you don't do the actual paint job you could still prep it up to that point - remove all trim, sand, wipe, repeat, etc.

At which point if doing a good job on the above then even taking it to someplace like Maaco for the actual painting would probably turn out pretty well (and save money on prep labor).

 

[jpneely]

Even if you don't do the actual paint job you could still prep it up to that point - remove all trim, sand, wipe, repeat, etc.

At which point if doing a good job on the above then even taking it to someplace like Maaco for the actual painting would probably turn out pretty well (and save money on prep labor).

That’s good advice. Thank you.

 

[Zuberg]

Even if you don't do the actual paint job you could still prep it up to that point - remove all trim, sand, wipe, repeat, etc.

At which point if doing a good job on the above then even taking it to someplace like Maaco for the actual painting would probably turn out pretty well (and save money on prep labor).

This is very sage advice. Pay the painter for their skills and equipment, not to remove trim. Do all the prep and reassembly yourself and save a bundle. I had my classic mustang painted by Maaco over 20 years ago. Did exactly what rexington14 suggested and they did a really nice job cuz all they had to do was paint it. Still get compliments on the paint today and it was only single stage paint!

Maaco has some good painters but not at every location so need to do your homework on each shop.

@excessive that's some nice work on the diy paint. Well done!

 

[bdbuchan]

Trying to glow up my cruiser. I considered painting the whole thing- that’s $11k.

While that’s the only way to truly make it perfect, that’s probably also overkill.

I really only have a few obvious issues- bumpers and rack being the main ones (pics below).

One idea is to pull wipers, rack off - repaint those myself. Not sure what to do with bumpers.

What would do if the goal is to glow this thing up?

 

[excessive]

pay $11K for someone else to do it, or DIY for 1/10th of the cost, and learn a lot along the way

 

[bdbuchan]

pay $11K for someone else to do it, or DIY for 1/10th of the cost, and learn a lot along the way

Yeah that's the decision.

 

[Super77]

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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Hot take (with respect to @excessive’s courage): I’ll never paint a whole car in my garage again. I know I can’t meet my own standards, having had access for years to a professional spray booth and chemistry. The problems for me were:

- containment: red paint dust all over the garage floor for months
- contamination: dust and bugs sticking to the paint, fisheyes from spraying with oily/wet air
- chemicals: I used DuPont paint, but a hodgepodge of reducer and solvent. Pays to stick within the system

It IS really amazing when you lay down a glossy coat of proper urethane paint, but if I’m spending $1000+ I want it perfect.

Not sure I’d commit to an all-over job with it, but SprayMax 2K eliminates a couple of these variables if you want to try with just your bumpers. It’s an 2-part urethane that ships in a unique rattle can, in any color you want. Their system has compatible cleaner, primer, adhesion promoter, clear coat, etc. No spray equipment required. I have a $40 paint tent (aka poor man’s spray booth) and just refinished my roof rack in satin black.

 

[GerLC100]

Not sure whether or not it's just me, but I'm missing pics of the whole car to serious give my opinion. On top I'm still not sure whether the OP wants to freshly clear coat or fully paint...

Seeing the last pictures:
- the black body seems ok to me, proper 3-step 3M Perfect It polish ($150-170) and a Harbor Freight Random Orbit Polisher (forced! ~$80) and the body looks ok to me... but perhaps I don't have the full picture
- plastic parts like bumper and trim: those can be taped off and painted/ treated separately
- metal parts like rack/ wipers: spray can yourself, I personally used bedliner spray for these things on multiple cars for friends. also bedlined my wiper arms.

I personally have a 2006 Ford E350 with the famous white paint chipping in large areas. Instead of patching it up I decided to take it down to bare metal, epoxy primer, thinned down Raptor liner. Was a hell of a job, got some 2x4's/ foil and build a "paint shop" in my driveway (also helps to keep the wind away ). Took me quite some evenings during the week plus 4 weekends with friends. Paint and beer was the most expensive.

Would I do it again? not voluntarily :-D
Did it turn out ok? Yes, for a lifted offroad van absolutely

 

[bdbuchan]

Not sure whether or not it's just me, but I'm missing pics of the whole car to serious give my opinion. On top I'm still not sure whether the OP wants to freshly clear coat or fully paint...

Seeing the last pictures:
- the black body seems ok to me, proper 3-step 3M Perfect It polish ($150-170) and a Harbor Freight Random Orbit Polisher (forced! ~$80) and the body looks ok to me... but perhaps I don't have the full picture
- plastic parts like bumper and trim: those can be taped off and painted/ treated separately
- metal parts like rack/ wipers: spray can yourself, I personally used bedliner spray for these things on multiple cars for friends. also bedlined my wiper arms.

I personally have a 2006 Ford E350 with the famous white paint chipping in large areas. Instead of patching it up I decided to take it down to bare metal, epoxy primer, thinned down Raptor liner. Was a hell of a job, got some 2x4's/ foil and build a "paint shop" in my driveway (also helps to keep the wind away ). Took me quite some evenings during the week plus 4 weekends with friends. Paint and beer was the most expensive.

Would I do it again? not voluntarily :-D
Did it turn out ok? Yes, for a lifted offroad van absolutely

Yes, sorry... I took pics and then dropped it at the shop. Will post pics of the whole thing later.