I just picked up my 1992 F150 Custom yesterday, and I'm starting to plan out some of the things that will need to be done to her over the next few months. Among those things are paint... The previous owner rattle-canned her primer black because the factory paint was faded. Looks pretty terrible really. There's also some minor rust repair needed... A little over both rear wheel wells and at the bottom of the tailgate (very solid other than that!). So, I'd like to get her painted. However, doesn't need to be a high quality job because at the end of the day she's still going to be a work truck. So, my question to those of you who have done it is this... Where do recommend I look for a new paint job and minor rust repair? I'm in the Indianapolis area, so there are plenty of options. Should I look at someplace like Maaco? I know they're pretty affordable, but is it worth the price even for a low quality paint job? Should I just look at an independent shop of some sort?

Thank you for your recommendations!

 

Any shop will want to strip your truck down to bare metal since that rattle can paint job needs to go before any other paint can be applied. MAACO can do good work but the secret is in the prep work… and that isn't cheap.

If you can strip the truck down before you take it to a shop you'll save $$$.

 

Thank you for the tip Krooser! I'll do some research on body prep and see if it's something I can get into. I'm definitely interested in saving $$$$!!!!

 

Yes, from most (all?) accounts, paint is only as good as the prep beforehand.

Maaco can do a fine job laying on the color. It's what they lay it ONTO that matters.

I'd strip all the trim you can, and be very meticulous at masking what you can't remove and prep very well and you'll be happy with the $$$ and the results.

 

I had my Bronco repainted by Maaco. I got what I paid for, so I have no complaints, but go into it with your eyes open.

Maaco's pricing is ala carte, they will do only what you pay them for. At the lowest price point (their famous $199 paint job) they will mask off what they think shouldn't be painted and shoot pait over everything else, including whatever dirt is on it. They do absolutely no prep. So is that a horrible thing? No, it's perfect for someone who wants to do all of their own prep to save money but doesn't have a paint booth to be able to lay down paint without bugs and dust.

Maaco will do a decent job of prepping if you want them to, but you pay a lot more than $199 for that, as you should. I had them do the prep on my Bronco.

The other thing you don't get for $199 is very good paint. Maaco's base paint apparently is pretty soft, and it will scratch easily. But they also have better paint available. I let them up-sell me on the Bronco paint.

I think the final price on my Bronco's Maaco paint was around $2200, a lot more than the $199 someone might think Maaco will charge, but a lot less than the $7000 for instance that BigGreenF350 says he paid for his paint job (look up his build thread if you haven't seen it yet).

So is a Maaco paint job a good deal? It depends on what you are looking for. Below is a picture of my Bronco, shortly after it was painted. Overall it looks pretty good, but you can see some streaks of darker color on the doors. That's real, it's not just lighting in the photo. There are other, less noticeable flaws as well. A lot of people wouldn't be happy with that quality, but now that I've added "pinstriping" (scratches from fourwheeling on trails a little too narrow for it) I'm sure glad I didn't scratch up a $7000 paint job. As I said at the start, I got what I paid for, so I have no complaints. But make sure your expectations are realistic

 

Nothing Special, thank you very much for posting your experience with Maaco. I am also considering going the Maaco route when I am ready to paint (still working on mechanical and rust repairs).

 

i had my 88 painted by maaco because i did not have access to a spray booth.
i did all the body work and prep work myself, and taped/masked the truck before loading it on the trailer.
i paid $1200 for the paint and clearcoat.
when i got it back, it was commercial white.
when it went in, it was supposed to be painted the original color, eggshell white.
8 years later i started a full restoration on it, and this time i will be painting it myself in the garage with rustoleum industrial paint, and then covering it with rustoleum clear coat.

the last car i did cost me $120 for paint and clear coat compared to close to $2500 for paint and clear.
i have painted 4 trucks and 6 trailers so far with rustoleum, with one close to 10 years old now and it still looks like it was just painted yesterday.

so my recommendation for a work truck is to search "the $50 paint job" and do some practice on small pieces. you may be pleasantly surprised at how easy it is, and how it turns out.

 

I live in Middle Tennessee, so prices will vary....my dad has used maaco with good results. The truck was clean, just faded. They upsold him to a higher quality urethane paint and painting inside the bed was extra. All said and done, the $199 paint job ended up around $700 for a stock red. I looked really good, but it started fading a little where the back sticks out of his carport after 4-5 years.

He routinely gets things painted at a small shop and a complete repaint costs him $700-800. He ends up with a good 10-foot paint job. Sometimes he has it buffed out and it looks great. He has a shop that does it for about $125. Still under a grand total.

All that said, $1000 is low for a paint job and it isn't perfect. Several patches of sanding scratches here and there. It's not too noticeable on lighter/brighter colors, but it really shows on black, dark blues and greens.

If you're handy...I've done a few paint jobs for about $250 with custom mixed auto paint that looked nice. I've done a few for <$100 using tractor paint or rustoleum. I even mix up my own colors out of what is available stock. Some have turned out better than high-end shops. It's not fair for me to comment on longevity. Most of my $100 jobs are either garage kept or not kept long! I did do some touchup on my bedside about 15 years ago and it still looks shiny. I never wax it and I only wash it once a year or so, so maybe it IS pretty durable.

 

Macco is one of the bottom line paint shops.

I had a 90 chevy mason dump.

I put cab comers a door, fender, fixed and dents, primed what needed to be and sandblasted the dump body. I took EVERYTHING off other than the front and rear window. they just had to tape the door window openings and the front and rear windows. Red was what I had them do(since door jams were red) and they did a GREAT single stage paint job. It costed me $450. At the time, 2 gallons of single stage red was over 400 a gallon my cost.

Was it perfect? NO, was it worth the $450? ABSOLUTELY. But like others said, PREP is 90% of a paint job and macco likes to skimp on the prep

 

This question comes up often on the many forums I frequent. I concur with what others have posted. Maaco is probably going to be okay for the OP's truck if he spends closer to $1000 minimum.

There's a mental dance one has to do as to what they think they want, and living with the results. We all say "I just want shiny paint on it" but after it's done and it's got runs, streaks, sanding marks, etc that we have to live with, it's normal for us to get annoyed with the "****ty" paint job we paid for. You really have to set your expectations in your head to be realistic.

So, that said...if it's just a work truck, and all you want is for it to be one color and have some shine to it...you can easily achieve good results for under $150 by adopting the "$50 Rustoleum paint job" method. Now, it is labor intensive, and won't be done in a weekend, but the giggle factor of telling people you painted it yourself with a roller may be worth the effort. I still get a kick from the incredulous jaw-drops when guys see my race car:



The two tone added to the complexity and time it took me to finish, but that shine is straight out of the can (Interlux Brightside boat paint, not Rustoleum) and has never been sanded/buffed. Needs about 6 coats to get full coverage, so I spent a little over a week doing it, but Maaco wanted $1200 to do the same thing to it and it probably wouldn't have looked as good.