Motivation dwindling on would be project!!!

[coletrain777]

Towcat - That's the way to do it, and yes the tri-stage paints are a small fortune to spray (they do look good though). Good for you for not being the cheapest, and not being afraid to say so. The good thing about that is pretty soon word gets out that you are good at what you do and demand a good wage, this in turn gets rid of all the people who want their vehicle sprayed for $500 If most people only knew what was entailed they wouldn't scoff at the price.

This is also the reason that I haven't sprayed my F350, I use it as a truck and there's no way I am going to put in the time to make it look that good only to scratch it. I would rather spend my time earning other people's money than spend my own

 

[94F350Fred]

Here are some pics I have from when I purchased the truck. I'll get an album started and add more pics soon.

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[Dsl_Dog_Treat]

That's a dang nice looking truck!
No rust very clean............ jealous!!!!

 

[coletrain777]

Very nice truck, I would make sure that it is mechanically sound and drive it.

 

[papastruck]

Nah, man, you don't want to rebuild that one. I'll PM you an address where you can leave it. You can thank me for saving you 30 grand later!!!

Seriously, I'd drive it, enjoy it, get to know it, and paint it as a last step once you've gotten everything else the way you want it. Great truck, and keep us posted.

 

[typ4]

I have 12k in mine with no body or paint although i do have all the windowfelts and door seals. I have rebuilt it front to back and did it all myself except for some machine work.
Just a baseline for you.

 

[NapaBavarian]

Is the clearcoat pealing, or is it just the photo? If the paint is just dull then a good 3 stage paint renewal would do wonders, as long as the paint isn't too thin.

1) Rubbing compound (don't overdo this, you are actually removing a thin layer of paint)

2) Polishing compound, Finesse it

3) High quality wax

Don't bother with all in one products, they do a little of everything, but nothing well. The pro's almost all swear by 3M products, Meguairs makes some good stuff too, but some is lower end too.

Get a good deep cleaning on that drivers seat, and if you can park it indoors or in a shady area if possible. Keeping the truck out of the sun is a better investment than new paint.

 

[94F350Fred]

Is the clearcoat pealing, or is it just the photo? If the paint is just dull then a good 3 stage paint renewal would do wonders, as long as the paint isn't too thin.

1) Rubbing compound (don't overdo this, you are actually removing a thin layer of paint)

2) Polishing compound, Finesse it

3) High quality wax

Don't bother with all in one products, they do a little of everything, but nothing well. The pro's almost all swear by 3M products, Meguairs makes some good stuff too, but some is lower end too.

Get a good deep cleaning on that drivers seat, and if you can park it indoors or in a shady area if possible. Keeping the truck out of the sun is a better investment than new paint.

I never thought about this... and yes primarily it is the clear coat that is pealing. Actually I could say 99% with very little areas where the paint is completely gone or just very very thin.

I'm going to look into this right now and read up on it. I may just do it this weekend if the weather is good. Thanks for such a great GREAT suggestion.

 

[Diesel_brad]

You got alot of truck there. What all does it need. Paint looks a lil chalky, but those single stage reds they used in 94 all do that. The body looks to be the least of your concerns

 

[NapaBavarian]

One more thing...if front and rear seats are the same put the fronts in the back and the rear seats up front, it'll give you a brand new drivers seat without spending a dollar

Think of your original price consideration like this, if you get a new truck you probably don't write a check for 30k, I know a few people who do, but most make a payment every month and spread it over a few years, so if you start with mechanical reliability and work up to cosmetics you can do the same thing with a restoration, and a full restoration on a truck with bad paint and a torn up interior (not a beat to H-E-double toothpicks) costs the same as full resto on a well kept truck, your's looks like an oilburners wet dream!

 

[Optikalillushun]

Just for a little reference, i had my 93 completly redone body wise about 6 years ago. I hit a tree wheelin and smashed the bedside in (that ended my wheelin days with it). to do a complete repaint on the outside (door jams, doors or bed inside were not done) and i also used pearl metallic factory ford colors. the total cost for a new bedside, labor for install, paint, labor for paint plus a few misc was close to $3500. That was removing everything (i did most myself and installed most myself). It turned out great and i was more than willing to pay that.

now my truck is a RCLB so its smaller than urs, plus i helped with some prep and the shop owner is a friend so my cost was cut down a little but its still expensive to do right but worth it.

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i also did a mild overhaul of another engine (gaskets, water pump, hi-po cam, headers, etc), rebuilt the transmission, swapped in a solid axle and a few more misc things...and i have close to 12-13 grand wrapped up including purchase price. was it worth it? definatly. i have an almost new truck but half the price of a new one and i know what was done and had it since i was 16 (now 25). Sadly, it needs more body work...the winters and ******* drivers took its toll so i figure another 3-4 grand to bring it back to where it was. Also going to have the door jams, and doors done this time so its right...i didnt have the cash last time around.

 

[NapaBavarian]

There is a huge difference in price tags on a paint job here locally, I can get a $400 job at Miracle (local paint only shop) or a $15,000 job at Byrons or Blackhawck, the difference in paint quality may not show up for years, cheaper will fade, for a basic car driven on the street you can't tell the difference, but when you get up close you might find a few specs of dirt and some fisheye in the cheap job, the pricey job will be better than factory, not a flaw, color sanded and polished, show quality.

For about $1200 I can do all the body work myself and deliver the bare body to Miracale for a 2 color single stage paint job that with a light sand and buff will be close to factory, but if you pay someone else to disassemble the vehicle for you it isn't hard to spend $2000-3000 at the local labor rates of $100 an hour, paint is cheap, prep is expensive.

When I was younger I had some neighbors who owned a Jeep Cherokee that was a great car, but it was faded and pealing, so they were going to spend the money to buy a new car even though it wasn't a good time to buy, I sent them to get a $700 job from Miracle and they kept the Jeep for another 10 years, I could see it fade slightly over that time, but it was just a way to get to work for them, as long as it was presentable they were happy.

You get what you pay for, and location makes a huge difference, so the real question is what do you want?

 

[MIDNIGHT RIDER]

I pass a big sign on the side of a body-shop occasionally that says in HUGE letters "WE WILL PAINT ANY CAR ANY COLOR $100 INCLUDING PAINT"

Lately, the $100 has been whited over and changed to $200.

This sign and shop has been there for many years and their work looks as good as any factory job.

They get a ton of business from used car dealers.

 

[Worstenemy453]

Not tying to start a fight, but a couple of things...

1. WHAT! You're kidding me right? You don't know me or my character, but you feel the need to say that I am a robber??? I am sorry that you aren't up to date on what "quality" paint and body work cost, but that is no reason to attack my character.

2. When I am talking about a quality job I am not talking about how much you could do it yourself for, or what you buddy down the street quoted you. I see this all the time, people are shocked by the price of good work using top of the line materials, and they say "my friend said he would do it for X amount of dollars". What they don't tell you is that their friend is out of work and is OK with doing something for almost nothing. Their friend also doesn't have a portfolio showing his work, or dozens of references, or blah blah blah. Now I am not saying this specifically about me, I am saying this in a general sense. In life you pay for experience, warranty, and good work. Sure you can take it to MAACO and have it shot in Acrylic Enamel (they buy it in 55 gallon drums) which is identical in formulation to Van Sickle tractor paint. I am just saying you get what you pay for. If you want the truck to look like a work truck then why get it repainted at all, dents and rust make it look like what it is... A WORK TRUCK.

3. Lets look at this practically: A Crew Cab Long Bed truck is HUGE. If we just go off of general bodywork estimation criteria, to do a complete tear down, respray, cut and buff CORRECT job it will take around 160-180 hours to complete. This means that we are removing; bumpers, doors, all glass, all seals, all trim... you get the idea. This time estimate is also if the body work needed is minimal to average. If the truck is rusty than this time estimate is no where near what it will take.

IF the job took 165 hours, and the low average hourly rate for bodywork in Mid Missouri is $40 an hour, the cost for just labor alone would be $6600. This is if the truck is fairly straight, and there are no "hidden secrets". The materials for a quality respray of a vehicle this size just based on square footage alone would be around $2200. Now we are a $8800 and this is with everything going smoothly, and no replacement of seals, chrome, etc... It's not robbery, it's what it cost to do a job right. Now if we are respraying a Honda Civic, sure $3000 bucks would do it. But we are spraying a land yacht here, lots of long flat areas that have to be made "laser straight" and that takes lots of time with the long board.

It cost's good money to do good work. This is why people that do good work and don't do "cheapie" jobs stay in business, and people that cut corners to save a few bucks... usually don't. Good bodyshops don't do things on the cheap, and they aren't desperate for business. It's not wrong to earn a good wage for good work. Please don't call them robbers, it's just not right!

Please don't consider this a personal attack or "fighting words". I am not upset in the slightest by what you said, I just wanted to clarify my opinion so that others don't think it is "Robbery". You definitely have a right to your opinion, and I respect that, just please don't imply that I or anyone else is "robbing" someone because we are charging a price that they agree to.

Towcat - that's an $8000 job on a truck that's not the size of a small ship, I would have said that was around a $6500 job

I dont understand where you get me insulting your character by saying the the given price is highway robbery, i may be insulting your ego based on how much you think your time is worth but around here, a quality paint job on this truck would cost no where near that.

And i am a little up to date on paint prices and labor and what not. My brother owns a restoration shop, my father works at one of the biggest auto auctions on the east coast as a body man and painter and my uncle has owned his own shops around town for over 30 years, My grandfather owned the best shop in Virginia for 30+ plus years before he shut it down and started working tractor trailers after him and my grandma seperated, not to mention the fact that my stepdad has been doing it for 15+ years even though his profession is a HD mechanic.

To do a same color respray with wet sand and buff on this truck my brother would charge maybe $1500-$2500 plus materials, which would depend on what is chosen but those would range between $500-$1500 and maybe more depending on body work and such needed, the change the color then the price would jump to about $2000-$3000 plus the same materials cost. So for under $5,000 this truck would easily look perfect in this area. And this is in a shop. My dad would have this truck looking perfect out of a garage for between $1000-$2000 plus materials, wet sanded and buffed and what not.

Maybe the cost of materials and labor and what not, is drastically different in different areas but ther prices stated are robbery here.

 

[1994IDI]

94F350Fred: Several of the members here know I just lost my IDI, so I'm not kidding when I say, How much would you like to sell it for.


No really, PM me.