Who wants to talk to me about paint?

[Dorsai]

First...good news! After having been unemployed since late July, I just accepted a new job as a data scientist at Cox Enterprises, where I'll be applying machine learning and AI algorithms to problems around network reliability and performance. I'm super stoked about this one, it's just about the perfect job for me. Which means, it's time for repainting my truck to get back on the agenda. I'd been planning to have a friend of my brother do the work, but he's out of the painting business now, so I need to find someplace else. I've never had a vehicle painted before, how do I go about finding someone to do it? Some random thoughts as to what I'm looking for:

• I want it painted back as close to original as possible - Ford's Candy Apple Red, and I'd like the pinstriping re-applied as well
• I'm not looking for a show-quality paint job. But I do want it done correctly, with everything properly masked or removed as appropriate, no overspray, etc.
• I do need some bodywork. Nothing severe, but there are several significant dings that need fixing, as well as one moderate dent. I'm fine with modest use of filler, as long as it is done correctly.
• I also have a little bit of rust at the lower rear corners of the bed. It's not quite rusted through yet, but it's close - patches here are probably appropriate. I'd like this done correctly as well.
• I *may* be interested in color-matched bedliner. I'm still thinking my way through this one - your opinions/advice/horror stories on this are welcome.
• Time and cost are concerns, but they're not my biggest concerns. I don't have unlimited funds to throw at this, but I am willing to pay (within reason) to have the job done right. Likewise, this isn't a daily driver so it doesn't have to be turned around immediately, but neither do I want it sitting in the back lot of a shop somewhere for a year waiting for a lull in the endless flow of insurance repaints.

So, how do I go about this? Can I expect to find one place to do it all, or do I need to break the job up into smaller components, like getting the body work done at one place, the paint at another, and maybe the pinstriping somewhere else? Please advise!

[Gary Lewis]

Congrat's, Matthew!!!!!!!!!  Well done!  Sounds like a fun job.  

As for the paint job, I'd enquire via local car clubs.  They will know who is good and who isn't.  But have the same outfit do the body work as does the painting.  Otherwise the painters will find something the body man did "wrong".

[kramttocs]

Yes, congrats!

I agree in having it all done at the same place with the exception of the bedliner. Go to a dedicated installer for that.
My vote would be yes on the matched bedliner. Some colors I'd say no but I think red on a mainly solid red truck looks great. Never had a color matched one personally though aside from what is inside the cowl trough. Just my opinion.

On the removal/masking, my advice would be anything you want removed - do it yourself before hand.

[Dorsai]

Gary Lewis wrote

Congrat's, Matthew!!!!!!!!!  Well done!  Sounds like a fun job.  

Thanks!  It really should be - my professional background is almost all networking, and now I get to apply data science to that?  Yes, I think I will enjoy this one.

They will know who is good and who isn't.  But have the same outfit do the body work as does the painting.  Otherwise the painters will find something the body man did "wrong".

Hmmm, good point.

kramttocs wrote

My vote would be yes on the matched bedliner. Some colors I'd say no but I think red on a mainly solid red truck looks great.

I got the idea from a truck I saw when I was getting the exhaust on mine replaced not long after I got it.  There was a nice '62 F100 in a bright red with matching bedliner sitting outside and it just looked great.  

[1986F150Six]

Matthew, if you are going to have a sprayed in bedliner, check with the installer prior to having the truck painted. I was told by Rhino Liner that the liner would not be warranted if not sprayed on original paint as the heat involved is known to lift freshly painted surfaces.

This just means that the bed does not require painting. You will need to decide where you want the bedliner to begin and end.

[kramttocs]

Very good point!
LineX told me something like a 3 week cure time before they'd apply the bedliner. If you do under the rails on the bedliner, it's not much of an issue aside from the very back uprights and the tailgate where there will be some overlap.

[Rembrant]

Dorsai wrote

So, how do I go about this?  Can I expect to find one place to do it all, or do I need to break the job up into smaller components, like getting the body work done at one place, the paint at another, and maybe the pinstriping somewhere else?  Please advise!

I shopped around a little bit, but ended up going with a shop just down the street from my work. They were close...and I mean, like a few hundred feet away, and as luck would have it, the shop manager had had a couple of Bullnose Flaresides back in the day, so he knew the trucks very well.

I did as much work as I could on my own. I pulled the grill and headlights, bumpers, etc. If you are able to do any of this stuff in advance, it can save you some money. Windshield trim, emblems, mirrors, tailights, interior door panels, etc...anything you can do to save time for them means saving money.

Other than that, get one shop to do all of the work.

One issue I find with body shops and engine shops as that they can be brutally slow sometimes (if not all the time). Personally, I'd try to get some kind of commitment as to when they will start and when they will finish. They may say "Oh, we can do your truck in two weeks"....well, find out if that means an actual two weeks start to finish, or two weeks spread over 2 months...lol. Been there, done that, and know others that have as well. JMTCW.

Good luck. A freshly painted truck is something that is very exciting.

[Littlebeefy]

Hi Matthew,
I'm also in Atlanta, and have done similar work on my truck to what you're doing. I took it to Jake and Donnie at Bulldawg Collision in Gainesville and they did rust repair and paint. They also worked with Line-X of Lanier across the street from them) to bedline from firewall to tailgate. The interior was original paint before it was bedlined, but they also did a freshly painted rear bumper in Line-X (no curing period) and a fiberglass top.

When they did the paint and bodywork, they took off the fenders, doors, tailgate, hood, glass, rubber and all trim prior to masking and painting the whole car. At this point there is a small patch of the original color behind the drivers kick panel. Other than that it would not be possible to find out what color it was before. They did lots of rust repair on the original panels and that was extremely high quality metalwork. Their price was also extremely reasonable.

I will echo what others have already said: how long will it take? Bulldawg was not particularly fast. I'm embarrassed to tell you how long they took, but it was about an order of magnitude longer than they said they would. They did it for the quoted price but had no sense of urgency whatsoever.

[Dorsai]

1986F150Six wrote

Matthew, if you are going to have a sprayed in bedliner, check with the installer prior to having the truck painted. I was told by Rhino Liner that the liner would not be warranted if not sprayed on original paint as the heat involved is known to lift freshly painted surfaces.

Ah, that I did not know.  See why I ask questions here?

Rembrant wrote

I did as much work as I could on my own. I pulled the grill and headlights, bumpers, etc. If you are able to do any of this stuff in advance, it can save you some money. Windshield trim, emblems, mirrors, tailights, interior door panels, etc...anything you can do to save time for them means saving money.

Makes sense, and this is definitely something I can do.  I've been noodling replacing the bumpers anyway, this might be the time to do it.

Littlebeefy wrote

I'm also in Atlanta, and have done similar work on my truck to what you're doing. I took it to Jake and Donnie at Bulldawg Collision in Gainesville and they did rust repair and paint.

I will check them out.  I have an acquaintance with a Grand Wagoneer that received a nice repaint a few years ago, I'm going to find out where he got it done...and there's a chain body/paint shop near me that will be my third comparison, if they'll even quote me for a job like this.  But how many points should I dock Bulldawg for their questionable taste in college sports?

Also, any chance you'd be willing to PM me how much you paid for the job?  I recognize that we have different trucks and requirements, but I don't have even a vague clue what this kind of job will cost me.  

[Gary Lewis]

Matthew - You saw Big Blue.  My paint/body man, John, eyeballed it when I first got it and gave me a guesstimate of $6K.  The rust is showing through above the rear wheel wells and there's obviously Bondo in the cab corners.  Otherwise it is pretty solid.

And I'll second the "order of magnitude" statement of time to complete.  For some reason those guys have no sense of time nor urgency.  Maybe they are all artists?  We engineers have a hard time dealing with that.

[Machspeed]

The lengthy time in the shop is most likely due to the fact that Autobody shops make their money in collision. That is where the real money is and typically a quick fix. When a collision job comes in, the resto work is pushed to the back and the collision work taken on. Moreover, many shops today won't even touch a resto.

Keep us posted on what you end up doing?  

[Machspeed]

Gary Lewis wrote

Matthew - You saw Big Blue.  My paint/body man, John, eyeballed it when I first got it and gave me a guesstimate of $6K.  The rust is showing through above the rear wheel wells and there's obviously Bondo in the cab corners.  Otherwise it is pretty solid.

And I'll second the "order of magnitude" statement of time to complete.  For some reason those guys have no sense of time nor urgency.  Maybe they are all artists?  We engineers have a hard time dealing with that.

Gary, if he fixed the rear wheel wells, cab corners, and fully painted your truck for $6k, you got a heck of a deal!  

[Gary Lewis]

I haven't taken him up on it.  Just wanted a ball park.  He said as dry as it is here to just drive it and enjoy it.  And that's what I plan to do.  Some day I'll have the paint and body work done.  Some day.

[kramttocs]

My 86 is another case of 'will be done in X, but took YYYY....'. John is exactly right about the collision work. Some of the delay on mine was due to collision jobs that came in but it was also due to it being a small, independent shop and in order to provide some job security the shop had a gentlemen's agreement with a couple local guys that did restorations where their jobs took priority even if something was already in progress. Good to know this stuff about a shop upfront to set expectations so neither party gets frustrated.

Around here I got quotes all over the place. Several shops wouldn't even consider it due to the size and time investment.

Are you having the pinstripes applied as tape or painted on?

[Rembrant]

Machspeed wrote

Gary, if he fixed the rear wheel wells, cab corners, and fully painted your truck for $6k, you got a heck of a deal!

According to the local shops here, it's $6000 to paint a car, and that is assuming that it needs little to no body repair work. That's Canadian mind you, so our pricing varies wildly from the US, but overall the general consensus these days is that $5000 gets you a backyard shop type of job (for a truck) and $6000-$8000 is a "good deal". Of course the quality of work varies wildly too. I spent around $8000 on mine, and that was with me doing a bunch of my own disassembly and assembly work. The shop that did mine only uses the water based base/clear paint, which I'm told is very expensive. Most of the bigger shops here do not use the single stage paints anymore.

I must say though, this shop did a lovely job, and went the extra mile on a lot of it. Some pieces, like my steps for example, were painted inside and out, which goes a long way in preventing rust from reoccurring.

[Dorsai]

kramttocs wrote

Are you having the pinstripes applied as tape or painted on?

Probably tape, given that the widest stripe isn't really what I think of as a 'pinstripe':



I believe I measured it once at 3/4" wide, that doesn't seem like something that would be painted by hand.  

I was hoping to get this done for closer to $5K, but it looks like I need to be prepared for more.  I'll have to think how to break the news to the wife...

[66gtk]

$5k won't get you much around here.  It certainly wouldn't get any body work that I wouldn't be ashamed of.

I bought my truck in non operational condition.  The interior was original but crispy from the sun and the whole truck was in original unmolested condition except for one thing.... It had been recently repainted, and done properly.  Add that the truck was drier than a popcorn fart with no rust or accident damage and it was a no brainier for me at the asking price.

Paint and body work are very expensive.  You get what you pay for and a very busy shop who can't get you in for months or even a year is a good thing!  That means they are likely good at what they do (assuming their work looks good to you and references are good).  Beware of over promising shops with low prices.  Worse case with these outfits is they will use your first payment to make payroll one last time and close the shop after they dismantle your truck.

And don't even think of having body work and paint done by separate shops.  You want your shop  to be able to stand fully behind their work and make things right start to finish and beyond.

[ArdWrknTrk]

I don't believe I've seen your truck with hubcaps Matthew.
I really like the look!

The pinstripe kicking up at the rear of the window is a nice touch too.

[1986F150Six]

Matthew, let me save you [and your wife] some money and stress... leave it like it is! It can only be original once and your truck has such nice patina and it has a great story to go with it.

Drive it "as is" and be proud that you have the only one like it. Anybody can have a truck painted, but how many have one so original as is yours?

[Dorsai]

1986F150Six wrote

Matthew, let me save you [and your wife] some money and stress... leave it like it is! It can only be original once and your truck has such nice patina and it has a great story to go with it.

In my heart of hearts, I am in complete agreement with you.  I have no problem myself with the appearance, and as you say, it's only original once.

But...there's the matter of rust.  Consider the progression over the years:

2002:


2010:


2020:


It's mostly surface rust at this point aside from the lower rear bed corners, but it won't remain that way indefinitely.  My goal is to keep the truck running until 2050 at least (my grandfather drove it until he was 80, and if I do the same that will be 2050...but if Dominic then wants to carry on until HE is 80, that will be 2085 and the truck will be 105...), and I don't think that will be possible without a protective repaint.  

Plus, there's the matter of that sweet eBay tailgate you helped me score a while back...it's been sitting in the basement here ever since, I'd really like to get it on someday.