It made me an Alcoholic........ Well, very nearly so, I had to give it up professionally or I would have been one.

 

Don't forget the heath issue...Even with the best safety uniforms...Some how these chemicals still make it in a guys system..I would never want to do it for a living...I just restore my own...

 

Yep, I am reactive to Isocyanates now. I turn white as a sheet and am sick for a day or so after I spray anything with hardener, doesn't matter if I have a full suit on and the best respirator ( don't have supplied air ), enough gets in/on me to cause me grief. Wish i could still spray Lacquer, but don't miss the endless sanding/spraying/sanding/buffing........ Back in the early days we shot even Imron with not much more than a T-shirt and a glorified dust mask.

 

Ok, I got a quote from the Maaco in Dayton. Going all white with Urethane paint, a little body work and labor came to 1654.22 tax included. I looked at 3 cars they had done. They looked nice, not show quality but very good for my needs. It is set to go in on monday. I will post the results.

 

When you consider the cost to cover rent for a decent facilty where you can paint, depreciation on the equipment, labor for a skilled worker (and factor in the hours it takes), and the cost of decent paint and other disposables; the true cost of a decent paint job becomes fairly evident, and it ain't that cheap. You can ***** about it and wish it was cheaper, but the costs are real and usually nobody is putting it too you for a $3,000+ paint job.

The biggest cost is labor. The more prep work you can do yourself should save you some sizable $$$.

Shop around too, as the relationship between price and quality can vary in ways that are not always proportional (that to me is the most frustrating part, spending more deosn't always guarantee better quality. Conversely spending less doesn't automatically mean you will get a lousey paint job). The high school body shop is a good idea on something less than a show truck, knowing that the there will be a risk in the quality of work. The variablity in quality of labor is also pretty high at Maaco from store to store. So shopping around is mostly all about knowing the work history of whomever is painting your rig factored in with the price.

 

Lucky for my I have a black truck, my paint fell off my hood and top and sides of the cab. I went and got gloss black rust stop from ace hardware and put 2 coats on then wet sanded and put the 3rd coat on and used clear coat in a spray can from napa. $15 and looks great at a distance
its rattle can from the door handles up and the entire hood.. again, from a distance it looks "ok"
Hey its my hunting truck