Paint job
Moderator
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 56,999
Likes: 2,747
From: Virginia
Good luck getting anyone to mess with it. And when you do, expect to pay thousands. All the body shops want to do now is wreck repair on newer vehicles(insurance work). They don't want to mess around with rust, and when they do, they don't want to warranty the repair.
Postmaster
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 2,658
Likes: 5
From: Out of here
Rust = $$$$ and good luck finding someone that will touch it.
New insurance crash parts are where the money is at. Nobody has time to fix rust any more.
You're better off buying a mig welder and doing it yourself.
New insurance crash parts are where the money is at. Nobody has time to fix rust any more.
You're better off buying a mig welder and doing it yourself.
Posting Guru
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 2,091
Likes: 3
From: Suffolk, VA USA
Can't help you out there....but I'm just finishing a business analysis for a body and repair shop in this area and the bottom line is business is down across the industry. While Dave and Stosh are right about the shops prefering collision repair, they all need work right now. It'll still cost you, in the thousands, but they need the money and you might be able to keep some cake in your pocket.
If you can't do this kind of work yourself, and are looking for a higher quality job, find a good shop and try to cut a deal on the labor rate. There's not a lot of wiggle room on materials on a repaint unless you're hanging body panels. But all the time is in the body work. A good two stage paint job only takes about 4 hours on a full size truck. Even with a three stage job with two colors my paint took only 8 hours. It took 7 weeks of body work before the paint went on.
Just stay on them and make sure they do it right the first time because you won't get a second.
If you can't do this kind of work yourself, and are looking for a higher quality job, find a good shop and try to cut a deal on the labor rate. There's not a lot of wiggle room on materials on a repaint unless you're hanging body panels. But all the time is in the body work. A good two stage paint job only takes about 4 hours on a full size truck. Even with a three stage job with two colors my paint took only 8 hours. It took 7 weeks of body work before the paint went on.
Just stay on them and make sure they do it right the first time because you won't get a second.
Thread Starter
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Senior User
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 105
Likes: 1
From: Issaquah, WA
The rust on the truck really is very minor. Just some surface stuff, not close to rust through. I could easily sand that out myself, but I am concerned how the paint would turn out with a DIY sand/prime on the rust. Could I expect a decent paint job if I sanded the rust out, primed, wet sanded myself? I am really not expecting a show quality paint job. Just something better than I could do in my own garage! :-)
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Posting Guru
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 2,091
Likes: 3
From: Suffolk, VA USA
I wouldn't put any money more than a Maaco job into the paint if you're going to do the body work that way. There will be hundreds of little waves and imperfections you'll never see with an untrained eye that will show in the paint. No point in putting money into paint if the body work isn't right. In fact, if you're not all that picky about the end product, you might as well paint it in the driveway. Painting really isn't that difficult.
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