New to Forum. Fixing up my '03 Tahoe

[TahoeRestore]

2003 4WD 5.3L Tahoe w barn doors bought in '08 with 50K miles (153K now). Located in Stuart FL. Nearly trouble free and rides great. Can't part with it so fixing it up. I do most all my own work. Just repainted the pusher bar and had a new headliner installed. I installed a dashboard cap a couple of years ago. It's time for new paint. The top and hood look bad. Have $6K estimate from a shop that I've used before with me removing trim, bumpers, roof rack etc. $4k estimate from Maaco (their best paint option) with them taping off most stuff. Deciding between the options. 2 paint shops said they wouldn't do it or it would be $10K+. Advice?

Looking on this forum about removing badges & trim and need to decide about re-installing or not.

I haven't researched yet, but heard that removing the plastic louvered quarter panel trim on the back corners is risky because they break.

Thanks for all of your posts that I've been researching. I look forward to sharing progress pics.

 

[OR VietVet]

Welcome to the forum and love the barn door rigs. The rear corner louvers can be removed pretty easily and look even better if you get the solid painted ones from an Escalade, like on my 05. They really are not hard to remove and install.

 

[Fless]

Welcome to the forum and love the barn door rigs. The rear corner louvers can be removed pretty easily and look even better if you get the solid painted ones from an Escalade, like on my 05. They really are not hard to remove and install.

View attachment 357551

View attachment 357552

They are called (D-pillar) appliques; remove them while it's nice and warm out, maybe after they've been sitting in the sun for a while. Working on plastic in the cold is not a good idea.

 

[Joseph Garcia]

Welcome to the Forum from NH.

Lots of knowledgeable folks here who freely share their knowledge, experiences, and perspectives. Knowledge is power.

I hope that you will become a participating member in the Forum's discussions.

@MO VietVet has already chimed in, and he is an expert on these barn door trucks, and he will be a great resource to you, as you work on your truck.

 

[Miami-Dade]

Welcome from Miami Beach!

I can recommend a body shop but it is in Pompano Beach about 70 miles from your location.

 

[Rocket Man]

Welcome from Oregon! Looking forward to progress.

 

[TahoeRestore]

Update - I decided on the good paint job at $6K with me removing bumpers, roof rack and all trim. It goes in the shop on Jan 3rd. I'll post updates of the prep work and after the paint, of course.

Thanks for the input from all.

 

[Rocket Man]

That’s super cheap for a complete paint job. Did you check on any references to see what kind of quality to expect? $10-12k is what I was looking at here from a decent shop for my Silverado, with me removing everything.

 

[swathdiver]

2003 4WD 5.3L Tahoe w barn doors bought in '08 with 50K miles (153K now). Located in Stuart FL. Nearly trouble free and rides great. Can't part with it so fixing it up.

Welcome to the forum neighbor! I had Wallace Chevrolet paint my new bumper cover for me earlier this year, they were about the same price as everyone else with less wait time. Turned out great too. There are shops in Port Saint Lucie and Fort Pierce that do good work as well.

 

[TahoeRestore]

That’s super cheap for a complete paint job. Did you check on any references to see what kind of quality to expect? $10-12k is what I was looking at here from a decent shop for my Silverado, with me removing everything.

Thanks for the feedback. I am familiar with the paint shop. I have used them twice in the past. Once when garage cabinets fell off the wall onto my restored BMW 325 and again when my son's Corolla was hit in an accident. I was happy with both jobs and their customer service. I agree it seems low, but we went over the entire truck together and agreed on all the dings, dents and rust repair.

I'm removing roof rack, both bumpers, grill, front & rear lights, badges, side trim, door handle trim, d-panel trim, rear lights, and upper brake light (of course lights to be removed after arrival at the shop). Also i hope to coordinate with Safe-Lite to remove the windshield (small crack) at the shop before the paint job and return afterwards to install the new one.

Similar to what you found, 3 shops did not even bid the job saying it would be over $10K, Some of them said the biggest issue is it takes too much time (2-3 weeks) and shop space while they can make more $ by doing multiple insurance jobs instead.

 

[TahoeRestore]

Prepping For Paint Job - Removing Roof Rack

I was warned not to use too much force when breaking loose the 10 screws (Torx head M6 1.0 x 40mm) holding down the roof rack because you can spin the nuts that are embedded in the roof. I applied PB Blaster and let it sit overnight. A couple came loose, but it took repeating PB a few days before all broke loose. I used care not to put too much PB in the screws for fear of it leaking through to my new headliner.

Notice the condition of the roof metal around the nuts (pics). Some have a lot of rust around them. Only one was OK. I'm glad we're doing the paint job now before they rusted through.

I will be disassembling and painting the roof rack myself.

More to come....

 

[TahoeRestore]

Prepping For Paint Job - Removing Roof Rack

I was warned not to use too much force when breaking loose the 10 screws (Torx head M6 1.0 x 40mm) holding down the roof rack because you can spin the nuts that are embedded in the roof. I applied PB Blaster and let it sit overnight. A couple came loose, but it took repeating PB a few days before all broke loose. I used care not to put too much PB in the screws for fear of it leaking through to my new headliner.

Notice the condition of the roof metal around the nuts (pics). Some have a lot of rust around them. Only one was OK. I'm glad we're doing the paint job now before they rusted through.

I will be disassembling and painting the roof rack myself.

More to come....

When posting this I noticed the little hole in pic 3. Yep. After wire brushing the loose rust, there is a hole. I'll have to cover this because the truck is outside till the paint job on 1/3.

 

[OR VietVet]

That is one nasty lookin' rust/hole.

 

[Miami-Dade]

When posting this I noticed the little hole in pic 3. Yep. After wire brushing the loose rust, there is a hole. I'll have to cover this because the truck is outside till the paint job on 1/3.

If you want this thread moved over the Under Construction section or the 03 section just let me know.

You doing a excellent job!

 

[TahoeRestore]

When posting this I noticed the little hole in pic 3. Yep. After wire brushing the loose rust, there is a hole. I'll have to cover this because the truck is outside till the paint job on 1/3.

 

[TahoeRestore]

That is one nasty lookin' rust/hole.

Yeah and probably going to be bigger when I finish cleaning. I'm going to talk to the paint shop tomorrow and see if I should remove the headliner for them to make a good repair.

Do you know if there's only one layer of sheet metal on the roof. In other words, will I be looking at the bottom of this hole when I remove the headliner or does roof consist of two layers of sheet metal?

 

[OR VietVet]

I believe it is braced/gusseted single layer but I am not certain.

 

[Tonyrodz]

Yeah and probably going to be bigger when I finish cleaning. I'm going to talk to the paint shop tomorrow and see if I should remove the headliner for them to make a good repair.

Do you know if there's only one layer of sheet metal on the roof. In other words, will I be looking at the bottom of this hole when I remove the headliner or does roof consist of two layers of sheet metal?

I'd def take out the headliner.

 

[Rocket Man]

Yeah and probably going to be bigger when I finish cleaning. I'm going to talk to the paint shop tomorrow and see if I should remove the headliner for them to make a good repair.

Do you know if there's only one layer of sheet metal on the roof. In other words, will I be looking at the bottom of this hole when I remove the headliner or does roof consist of two layers of sheet metal?

It’s only one layer with bracing. I believe the rivnuts are blind though but that might depend on year and model.

 

[TahoeRestore]

Roof Rack Removal

Thanks for all the input. I probed through the rivnuts to see what was underneath. There was hard metal under some nuts, including the rusted one, and others felt like I was hitting the back side of the headliner. It seems like there are gussets/braces as vietvet said. I took the Tahoe to the paint shop to show the rust-through. He said they would repair that from above. He added that I should take out the headliner anyway to coat with some stuff (forgot the name) under the areas and others that might have rust on the inside.

BTW - I plugged the screw holes with plastic washers on the screws to make sure no rain gets in before Monday's trip to the shop.