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:
View attachment 3944170
And this is now:
View attachment 3944172
