[S10Neil]

Hi, I’m hiring my truck out to get restored to factory with a couple mods. Yes, I know I could do it myself but I have neither the time nor the expertise. I llove that damn truck. I would like to make it my daily driver when restored to give perspective.
As I was talking through the detail with the owner of a really reputable restore shop, he said that I could save money with a good “body shop” style paint job that they would do that returns it to factory essentially. I know that there’s Macco body shop, which I don’t think he meant and can be crap. But what is he talking about exactly? What are the options above that?
thanks for any guidance!
Neil

 

[Tex Star]

Hi, I’m hiring my truck out to get restored to factory with a couple mods. Yes, I know I could do it myself but I have neither the time nor the expertise. I llove that damn truck. I would like to make it my daily driver when restored to give perspective.
As I was talking through the detail with the owner of a really reputable restore shop, he said that I could save money with a good “body shop” style paint job that they would do that returns it to factory essentially. I know that there’s Macco body shop, which I don’t think he meant and can be crap. But what is he talking about exactly? What are the options above that?
thanks for any guidance!
Neil

He probably is talking about a cheap MAACO paint job. I’d spend more and get a reputable shop to paint it.

 

[S10Neil]

Good point, but this guy does restores for shows. So they’re good. Thx. Don’t know if he was just trying to save me money.

 

[Tex Star]

Remember, you always get what you pay for. I’m sure he’s not cheap if he does show car quality. Mine in in the shop right now and estimating $8500-ish

 

[S10Neil]

Right, he estimated $10k. $1500 polishing, $3000 prep, rest painting and materials. I had always heard body shop work sucked, but I know he’s good that’s why it kinda caught me off guard. He laid out the number of hours too, and it seemed pretty in-depth (can’t find quite at the moment).

 

[S10Neil]

He said they could always spend more time, but lead with that for some reason. Maybe to keep me from being concerned about cost of higher end paint job? Thanks again man.

 

[bk2life]

I painted this for $8500 about 5 or 6 years ago. With the increases in pricing on everything, i would be at $12k today.

 

[Innate]

I knew one guy who ended up with a good job from MAACO, in the Quad Cities IA side, like 1993. It was totally as nice as the original new factory, though not show, and it was white, so easier anyway. The key was that he did all the body work himself, got it perfect and to a good primer, pulled all the emblems, bumpers, wipers, trim, and I believe he jambed it himself. That left MAACO to just sand a little, then prime and paint it. I understood that the price goes way up and QC goes way down if you leave the body work to them, and they tape around everything. He just didn't have a spray booth nor climate control nor the experience painting; they did that part fine and for whatever they advertised.

 

[aitch]

I'd take a pass on a MAACO or Earl Schieb (if they even still exist) shops. I haven't personally used either, but have heard of plenty of anecdotal stories about them; none of which were good.

 

[Rhotpursuit]

I've got a friend that had the bed of his 2500 HD Denali painted at Macco...it turned out great. I think it depends who actually paints it. With the number of cars they paint, the paint jobs turn out pretty good...it's the prep that stinks.

 

[aitch]

I've got a friend that had the bed of his 2500 HD Denali painted at Macco...it turned out great. I think it depends who actually paints it. With the number of cars they paint, the paint jobs turn out pretty good...it's the prep that stinks.

Yeah, it can be (and usually is) totally dependent on the individual shop's staff, and in bodywork, the real work (for good results) is all of the prep work. Paint "hides" nothing - it only accentuates characteristics of the substrate/ base.

 

[Salty Crusty]

I don't have a vehicle worth 10K, so spending even half that on a paint job doesn't work for me.
Back to the big honkin' Marks-A-Lot...

 

[PeteD]

I've got a friend that had the bed of his 2500 HD Denali painted at Macco...it turned out great. I think it depends who actually paints it. With the number of cars they paint, the paint jobs turn out pretty good...it's the prep that stinks.

It's the prep time that costs the most.

 

[2.2s101995]

You guys are nuts. I spend $5 on a can of spray paint to hit the rust spots every few months. When I see $8500 on a paint job it makes me feel a lot better about dropping $300 on parts to keep it on the road. I will say some guys on this forum got some really nice looking tucks though, not rusty old beaters like mine.

 

[S10Neil]

You guys are nuts. I spend $5 on a can of spray paint to hit the rust spots every few months. When I see $8500 on a paint job it makes me feel a lot better about dropping $300 on parts to keep it on the road. I will say some guys on this forum got some really nice looking tucks though, not rusty old beaters like mine.

I get that totally. I’ve spent some time saving up and want it to last for a while. I also don’t have the time right now with my work schedule to do the work. I’d love to and probably will again when it needs work in the future, just not right now.

 

[bk2life]

You guys are nuts. When I see $8500 on a paint job .

that particular truck is a real syclone, in very good condition. It had its engine and trans rebuilt along with the turbo, i got it, painted it while the engine was out, and his final bill was nearly $40k with everything they did.
He flew down from san Francisco to pick it up, and drove it all the way back. Which is awesome, most sy/ty owners would never do that..

 

[S10Neil]

I painted this for $8500 about 5 or 6 years ago. With the increases in pricing on everything, i would be at $12k today.

View attachment 369299

It’s just an awesome truck. Great job man.

 

[Tranzman]

Good point, but this guy does restores for shows. So they’re good. Thx. Don’t know if he was just trying to save me money.

If he does show quality work. I think he's trying to say use a reputable body shop. they would probably fall in between his quality and Macco's.
For example I got three estimates for my cab corners & rockers.
1) was $1700.00 plus, they said that they would cut it higher on the cab corner than they actually make cab corners. That meant 1 of 2 things. 1 he was going to custom make the cab corner or 2 it was a lie to justify the $$
2) Was $900.00 if I bought the parts. he supplied labor to install them. I did end up going with this guy, because 3 friends said he did excellent work. He had to custom build inner rockers, because they were rotted too and nobody made inner panels to buy. because he didn't paint (only primed) he didn't even charge more.
3) quoted $500 and was going to have me get bond on panels. So he was going to have to use Bondo to smooth out the lines. not really how I wanted to go.

When I wanted some rust repair done on a 2000 Blazer. I stopped at a local automotive paint store and asked for somebody that may want to do it. Guy did excellent paint matching and hiding his sloppy work. The rust was comming back through in about 4 month's.
Our local Macco has a very good reputation for work, they do offer a couple of grades of work though. Light sand and adhesion promoter for the base coat. A full on remove most trim, wet sand, block panels, prime and re-finish. or remove all trim, glass, cut out any rust, weld in proper panels, 2K prime & seal, block panels, re-prime, wet sand, re-finish with a base coat/clear coat.
Keep in mind most body shops don't want to do rust repair