funny how the value of a thing always lies in perception ...

Yep. My dad is fond of saying "something is worth whatever someone is willing to pay for it." I'm sure nobody is willing to pay enough for me to feel adequately compensated so I don't know if that makes the truck worthless, or priceless. I'm going to go with priceless.

I have a new found respect for people who do this professionally. I'm sure it doesn't take them near as long as it took me because they know what they're doing and have a process, but still. I can't believe it's possible for Maaco to do a $1500 paint job. The materials alone (assuming they use proper 2k automotive paint and not Rustoleum from Tractor Supply) would cost that much.

 

funny how the value of a thing always lies in perception ...

...and how perceptions lie.

 

Yep. My dad is fond of saying "something is worth whatever someone is willing to pay for it." I'm sure nobody is willing to pay enough for me to feel adequately compensated so I don't know if that makes the truck worthless, or priceless. I'm going to go with priceless.

I have a new found respect for people who do this professionally. I'm sure it doesn't take them near as long as it took me because they know what they're doing and have a process, but still. I can't believe it's possible for Maaco to do a $1500 paint job. The materials alone (assuming they use proper 2k automotive paint and not Rustoleum from Tractor Supply) would cost that much.

1500? Wow. I haven't heard of Maaco on a long time. I didn't know they were still in business. Maaco offered $79 and $99 paint jobs about the time I got my first calculator.

 

1500? Wow. I haven't heard of Maaco on a long time. I didn't know they were still in business. Maaco offered $79 and $99 paint jobs about the time I got my first calculator.

Are you remembering Earl Scheib? That's the name that usually comes up when people reminisce about $99 paint jobs. I haven't heard of Maaco doing $99 paint jobs, but I'm probably not as old as your calculator.

I got a truck painted by maaco in 2010 and it still looks OK. My step-dad owns it now and I just saw it last month. It hasn't peeled or faded much. Looks about like 12 y/o OEM paint job. That paint job cost me $1500. I googled it just now to see if the price has gone up, and the results indicate that Maaco paint jobs are typically under $1k. I might have had them fill dents or something. Maybe I paid for better paint. I'm not sure. They probably charged me extra for painting the camper that was on it.

 

Are you remembering Earl Scheib? That's the name that usually comes up when people reminisce about $99 paint jobs. I haven't heard of Maaco doing $99 paint jobs, but I'm probably not as old as your calculator.

I got a truck painted by maaco in 2010 and it still looks OK. My step-dad owns it now and I just saw it last month. It hasn't peeled or faded much. Looks about like 12 y/o OEM paint job. That paint job cost me $1500. I googled it just now to see if the price has gone up, and the results indicate that Maaco paint jobs are typically under $1k. I might have had them fill dents or something. Maybe I paid for better paint. I'm not sure. They probably charged me extra for painting the camper that was on it.

The two paint franchises specked the country. Some franchisees owned dozens in a single state, then you could drive through three states and only see the other brand. My little neck of the woods had Maaco - about 1974. The admin had a small B&W Tv to listen for weather alerts when afternoon storms came up and it seemed like the local Maaco franchisee was the only person in the city willing to pay for afternoon advertising. His commercials would loop all afternoon.

 

So ("coincidentally") my wife got a new car and handed down her 2013 Mazda 5 to my daughter and all work on the truck stopped.

Well if I was the daughter I would still take the truck over the Mazda. All things considered I like how the truck came out.

Ron

 

Are you remembering Earl Scheib?

I'll paint any car for $29.95. That was the 60s Earl Scheib. Actually if you did all the prep they did an OK job for your $29.95.

Ron

 

I thought I lost all the pictures from the intermediate steps of the journey but I found that some key moments were still stored in my text conversations with my dad, so here is some of what I was able to recover:

Rebuilding the TBI:




Bondo magic:





Spraying Primer





Pre-sanding orange peel and entombed insects:



Various states of sanding/polishing: