Where To Get Cladding Painted In Oregon?

First, let me say hello since this is my first post. I have really appreciated the wealth of knowledge available on this site.

I purchased a Z71 Light peuter metalic Avalanche with just about everything on it. I absolutely love it. You would all be proud that I installed over-wheel clading at all 4 corners. (Which took some moding, by the way.) I also just added 20" Boss 307 wheels with 285/50/20's.

I have read all of the posts about painting the cladding to color match the paint and have decided to do it. My plan is to have it sanded and painted.

The problem is that I have been to seven different paint and body shops and every one says either, "it can't be done," or "we wouldn't be able to do that for you."

The question is this, has anyone had an AV painted in Oregon that could recommend a shop? I would also be happy with any kind of recommendations.

I am open to suggestions.

Thanks in advance,
DeepSix

Pictures will be available soon.

Hey was goofing around on the net and found Dealershipdesigns. ?They offer painted cladding on an exchange basis. ?They are in Florida and have a couple of photos of a couple of Av's. ?The price on their site was $1650 exchange. ?Email them and see whats going on. ?I am considering this but want to wait to build up my checkbook for a while. ?Goodluck

Gxx - corrected URL

Well if you were in Alaska, I'd say bring her over but alas it's a long drive

Check my website, You'll find picks of my pewter Z-71 taken as I painted her. I sanded and all. It can be done.


It sounds like your on your way to a one of a kind, mod on


AlaskaAv

Welcome to the club DeepSix - there are lots of options - call all the dealers in your area - many of them are doing paint jobs for < 3K in their shops.

check out DealershipDesigns

fireout2002 said:

Hey was goofing around on the net and found Dealershipdesigns. ?They offer painted cladding on an exchange basis. ?They are in Florida and have a couple of photos of a couple of Av's. ?The price on their site was $1650 exchange. ?Email them and see whats going on. ?I am considering this but want to wait to build up my checkbook for a while. ?Goodluck

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GREAT FIND! I've been looking for something like this and that's a good price if it holds out. I've emailed them to see what the deal is and if they would be interested in a group discount. I'll post back here with the reply.

GOOD JOB!

Thanks quake, I was surprised at their price as well. I hope the discount thing works out. I feel like I should jump on it because of the lack of cladding on the '03. The latest figures I heard was an Av production of over 100K. If thats the case dealerdesigns will be busy for a while. Goodluck on the groups discount..

Thanks for the warm introduction.

Special thanks to Alaska_Av and his great website of mods. Seeing your truck was what pushed me ofer the edge. I am a huge fan of the peuter color, but I havn't seen another one with color matched cladding. Maybe I should send you a bill since it appears you have cost me several thousand dollars!

Also, big thanks to fireout2002! I think many people will be interested in this. I will keep you all posted on my progress.

DeepSix

DealershipDesigns reply-

We do Avalanches for the dealers all the time--on an exchange
basis--The texture is taken completely out and is smooth and glossy like the
truck. When we receive your panels, then we send the painted panels out.
Shipping depends on where you live. We can do any of the panels on the truck
and have done several overalls. We do not have any of the sail panels in
stock, so you would have to send them to us and we prep and paint them and
send them back. The Avalanche is so labor intensive that a group reduction
will not work for us. If you have any more questions, please e-mail or call
me--800-883-5487--thanks Bret

I replied and asked if there was any way to work this the opposite, othewise you're driving around in a nekid AV or not driving at all, which is no better than sending it to the dealer for paintwork. I also asked if they supplied the clips for applying the cladding. It's my understanding there are around 200 and they run around $3.00 each. Adding another $600 might not be that good a deal afterall.
Anyone know how much it would cost to just buy a new set of cladding to send to them? I was under the impression that it wasn't too expensive, plus I might like to have a spare set (for whenever I might need it). I think it would be pretty cool if you could figure out a way to keep the cladding on securely but switch it out whenever you needed, like switch back to the grey to go offroading or something. With a truck as versatile as this, it should be able to be done.
I'll keep on this.

Have you checked out where the Cadilla Escalade EXT dealers get their customers cladding repainted?

(shameless plug) Would love to see those rims & rubber on the coast during next month's Oregon Coastal run. (/shameless plug)

pdxkevin said:

Have you checked out where the Cadilla Escalade EXT dealers get their customers cladding repainted?

(shameless plug) Would love to see those rims & rubber on the coast during next month's Oregon Coastal run. (/shameless plug)

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Why would the EXT customers get their cladding painted when they ALREADY come painted?

(shameless plug) I tagged an EXT last week. ?I wonder if they are coming to my Canyon Lake, Texas cruise on the 19th ... sorry couldn't resist(shameless plug)

Dont forget these folks Valanca Cladding Replacement - really sweet - all fiberglass - you paint.

It's about time they put some better photos up on their website. That baby is screaming to be slammed

goo929 said:

Why would the EXT customers get their cladding painted when they ALREADY come painted?

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They will get scrapped and banged up. So they owner will go to the dealer looking for a touch up. Who ever does the touch up must also be able to paint other cladding since it is probably the same material.

pdxkevin said:

They will get scrapped and banged up. So they owner will go to the dealer looking for a touch up. Who ever does the touch up must also be able to paint other cladding since it is probably the same material.

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Not really.

The AV cladding is a different surface that should be sanded and smoothed before painting if you want it done correctly IMO.

The EXT's cladding doesn't have that issue since they already come smooth.

The body shop at Wentworth Chevytown in downtown Portland did all of the painted cladding for the in-stock units at Wilsonville Chevrolet. Their phone number is 503-232-2000. They did an excellent job on the red AV that I saw. Good luck!

does anyone know where to get the cladding painted in the san francisco bay area?

The dealership I work at here in La Grande, OR said they would paint the cladding, I would paint mine because I like the cladding

(Shamless plug) PDXKevin thanks for all your help promoting the Oregon Coast Cruise I can't wait tell Nov. 9-10 I am geting things ready to pack in the AV because I get back from TX then 2 weekends later I leave for the coast. DeepSix if you can get away on Nov. 9-10,2002 it would be great to have you on the cruise (Shamless plug)

following back up on the replacement cladding issue.

I asked if there would be clips included with the cladding, and if they would consider a core charge that would allow them to ship painted panels to you, you take yours off and ship yours back to them. Here is the reply:

Yes, We would do that--the core charge would be one thousand dollars{that is roughly what a lower panel and bumper cost}Refunded when we recieved your
panels back. There are 110 clips on the lower part of the truck. They are NOT included. They can break easy and are somewhat expensive. We break about 18-20 per truck. We use a somewhat converted panel tool to pull the clips.