DIY paint??

[Stepside81]

I've taken this '81 Stepside to about 15+ body shops on my area and no one wants the job of painting the truck.
I've spent hours reading previous posts here and I understand it's not an easy job.
I got to thinking about trying it myself, but have no, zero, nada experience in auto painting. I do have reasonable mechanical and carpentry skills, built 2 homes pretty much by myself.
Is this something that realistically can be done by someone with no previous experience? I've never used a spray paint rig.
I got time, money, patience and enthusiasm, and now motivation.... ESPECIALLY after people here telling me that if,... IF, .. I could find anyone willing to do the work expect to pay $12,000 to $15,000.
I looked into the suggestions that some people made in other posts about contacting a local school, but none of the High Schools around here offer any sort of shop classes anymore, pretty much got laughed at when I would call. Still need to look into some of the Community Colleges to see if they have any Tech Programs.
I don't need or want a Show/Museum quality paint job but after 38+ years it needs paint. No body work involved, just paint.
Ideas/suggestions anybody?

 

[78C10BigTen]

Are there any vocational schools near by with a body class? I know a guy that had the vo-tech class repaint his 79 cougar xr7 and damn it came out nice.

 

[kenn]

Doing the same here, and I decided to do it my self

Figure it would be a good project, and I'm willing to live with my results
Lots of youtube vids on this stuff
I have spent 2000 so far on tools and supplies, so either way this is not a cheap project, but was quoted 8000 for a basic job
no body repair, no disassembly, no frills all that is "extra"

Plan B I can always raptor line over my crappy paint job LOL

 

[Stepside81]

Hey Ted,
Thanks for your reply. I found a Tech School reasonably close to me, Thaddius Stevens Tech in Lancaster, PA. I'm going to drive down there and talk to them. If nothing else they might have a suggestion or two as to what I might try. Sam

 

[4WDKC]

I've taken this '81 Stepside to about 15+ body shops on my area and no one wants the job of painting the truck.
I've spent hours reading previous posts here and I understand it's not an easy job.
I got to thinking about trying it myself, but have no, zero, nada experience in auto painting. I do have reasonable mechanical and carpentry skills, built 2 homes pretty much by myself.
Is this something that realistically can be done by someone with no previous experience? I've never used a spray paint rig.
I got time, money, patience and enthusiasm, and now motivation.... ESPECIALLY after people here telling me that if,... IF, .. I could find anyone willing to do the work expect to pay $12,000 to $15,000.
I looked into the suggestions that some people made in other posts about contacting a local school, but none of the High Schools around here offer any sort of shop classes anymore, pretty much got laughed at when I would call. Still need to look into some of the Community Colleges to see if they have any Tech Programs.
I don't need or want a Show/Museum quality paint job but after 38+ years it needs paint. No body work involved, just paint.
Ideas/suggestions anybody?

best way to do this is to sign up for night Collision repair classes at community college, they will teach you how to do the repairs and paint. Last I heard you can use your own car for repairs in the class as long as you pay for materials and follow their rules.

 

[Crispy]

Sorry to hear about whats going on? Did the body shops mention why they are turning away business? It sounds crazy to me.

 

[Mr. Gutwrench]

I worked as an auto tech for 45 years and never painted a car--going to give it a shot, though. No pain no gain. I've been watching youtube stuff, talked to diy painters as well as pros and am confident I can get it done.

If you have enough sense to build a house, you can figure out how to paint your square body.

 

[yevgenievich]

I did a local community college body class back when attending high school. Two classes were required before own work to be brought in. Fixed friends truck and painted a spoiler for my car at the time. They also did take outside work for students to fix, but it was a very slow turn around time

 

[CSFJ]

Sorry to hear about whats going on? Did the body shops mention why they are turning away business? It sounds crazy to me.

I would guess that it cuts into the insurance repair business. They don't want to get tied down with a full repaint when they have a steady stream of collision repair that they can move through the doors fairly quickly. It's the same up my way too. The only other way I could think to find a place to do it, would be to check with any parts stores that mix paint and deal with body work supplies. They would know if any of the independent guys in the area are taking in work. Maybe stop in to a few of the cruise nights in your area (if there are any) and pick the brains of the guys there.

 

[roundhouse]

It WILL need some body work and prep

You just can’t see it now
But there’s lots of dings and stuff that will really show up with new shiny paint on top of it

All the body shops make big money doing insurance collision repairs
They are fairly quick turnaround and a fat profit

To do a quality paint job on a 40 yr old vehicle is gonna take a lot of hours
Close to 100 maybe , did any of em give a ballpark for the hours ?

And a couple thousand in materials for the sandpaper , bondo , or whatever they call it now , primer , more sandpaper , more primer , more sandpaper , more primer , paint and clear , some cutting and buffing and polishing and waxing

Only way you might can get it done for less is finding someone who works on the side and does it at their home shop

Not at a retail shop with lots of overhead and lots of insurance repairs waiting to get done

The expense is in the prep work like any other job , 90% of the work is prep and cleanup , applying the actual paint doesn’t take long at all
And I’ve seen some novices do good work
But you gotta have a clean shop to do it in

 

[Craig 85]

I'm in the same boat too. Most shops won't do it or they want at least $10k. I recently found a local shop where the owner was willing to coach me through it. He would tell me what sanding grits, primer and paints. They even rent their booth out on weekends. He said materials alone would probably be about $2k.

I'll probably do some combination of me stripping it and them painting it.

 

[82sbshortbed]

Wow! I've never heard of such high paint prices. I took body shop in high school and that's the most expensive part and crucial too. Y'all don't have a macco type shop. If you do the prep work they paint it for $800. That's their cheapest job. But, the most expensive one is $4,000. Not near 20 or 12k tho. **** that if it's not a show truck.

 

[CSFJ]

Wow! I've never heard of such high paint prices. I took body shop in high school and that's the most expensive part and crucial too. Y'all don't have a macco type shop. If you do the prep work they paint it for $800. That's their cheapest job. But, the most expensive one is $4,000. Not near 20 or 12k tho. **** that if it's not a show truck.

This is a good point. Oneof the guys I work with inherited a low mile gmt400 work truck from a grand parent. The old guy had pretty much used it to feel his way around the yard, so they did all the bodywork and sanding, removed trim and taped, took it to maaco ready for spray, and it actually came out pretty nice.

 

[Frankenchevy]

I've heard from a few people that as far as sprayer guys go, that the maaco type guys are some of the best due to practice/volume. You'll get out what you put into the prep. i'm guessing you just do all the prep, drive there early, rub it down with an oil and wax remover, then mask right before rolling it in to the shop...

 

[KilgoreTrout]

I had zero experience when I painted my first one.
There's definitely a learning curve (and it's a ton of work), but I'm planning on painting my square in the driveway this summer.
It won't be perfect, but its not perfect now, either. Who says it has to be perfect?
It seems to me like a pickup might even be slightly easier? The last car I did was a hatch with a sunroof. It had quarter panel rust and a big dent that I fixed.
It turned out pretty decent. Not show quality, but decent.


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