My truck lives outside in the rain. I want it all one color. And I want it done cheap.

The body is mostly straight. But I don't know what lies beneath the existing paint.

Will a cheapo place like Maaco or Miracle be willing to paint over the existing paint job if the panel is straight?

If so, How do they do that? Do they seal it so it doesn't react with the new coat?

As long as you are willing to pay them, they will paint over anything you want. I would be concerned if the existing paint is cracked, peeling, checked, or anything like that anywhere and it is painted over (even with sealer), it will be only a matter of time before the problems re-surface.

....and yes they will probably seal the existing finish before painting the final color. That's just insurance for them so they don't have any problems with the new material reacting with the existing paint.

The last Maaco paint job I saw on my buddy's truck they painted over the leaves in the bed.:lol:

back in the day, my old man had our 87 jeep larado work horse painted for 300 bucks at earl schibe, they painted all the rubber and felts on the windows, the chrome on one side, and didnt bother to wipe it down. they said they wernt be that bad, but hey, for a plow truck, it was a pretty nice glossy single stage. oh they even went over the old stick on pin stripe. was a 50 yard job.

The last Maaco paint job I saw on my buddy's truck they painted over the leaves in the bed.:lol:

Im sorry krue, but that there's funny

Im sorry krue, but that there's funny

I have to agree, that was my first belly laugh of the day!

I have had a couple buddies have there truck painted by Maaco and they did a horrible job on both they were probably better of doing it themselves. But my friend in ID had his done 3 years ago and not one problem yet granted he did the bodywork and took it in primered already. I guess it just matters on the person painting or more so the shop manager.

my old man used to own a body shop, and when i was a kid the worst job was sanding someones car after they took it to maaco... that $*it was aweful it gummed up the sandpaper, i think it was latex :lol: and they must have thinned it out with water, because you could see right through it and it had runs everywhere. I would suggest getting some flat black spray paint, it will turn out much better

Bottom line on the "cheaper" paint places like Scheib, Maaco, Miracle, etc. is to do as much prep as you can. Take everything off that doesn't get painted that you can because they mask quick and sloppy, not to mention poor sanding next to trim, door handles etc.

I once needed a quicky paint job on an old full size Chevy van so I did all the bodywork and prep. Masked off potential problem areas like rubber around the windows and removed misc trim. I took it to Scheib and it actually turned out pretty nice.

Remember, typically where all these places lack is PREP WORK. The guys that paint do it all day every day and they are actually pretty good at doing it.

I will do some minor body work, then strip it down and mask it off myself. I just need them to shoot it. I know that any decent shop will not want to paint over somemone elses bodywork.

Thanks,

My dad always said they told you to roll the windows down if you didn't want them painted:lol: :lol: