88Birdman

iTrader: (1)

before, some during, and comming soon after

these are the before

88Birdman

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These are during and today should be getting back next day or two and i will post better pics

Joe Tag

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Those look like stalker pix. I know the anxious feeling well.

Ron U.S.M.C.

You need a much better Zoom on that camera.

Did the painter kick you off his property or what....

Just kidding.

New paint, congratulations

88Birdman

iTrader: (1)

Indeed.

Haha my phone camera sucks at long distance! No, i just wanted to check on him without bothering him i talk to him daily and work next door had the chance to sneek so i did! Makes it so much more illegal feeling. Gotta get my kicks somehow

Citation X

That's hilarious. I know I probably annoyed the guy when my car was in paint. That anxious feeling is hard to suppress haha.

88Birdman

iTrader: (1)

So i am verry upset at the jackhole who painted my car i went and pulled the plug and have to do it again. There are runs and all kinds of messups that were not to my liking. Here are some pics of what he did do.

88Birdman

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More pics

88Birdman

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Even more pics

88Birdman

iTrader: (1)

Thoughts? feedback...he left quite a few runs, didn't do the trim painted over the pinstripes and keyholes....what a nightmare and really set me back on going to any shows.. I will just walk away and try again.

Citation X

That sucks man. I know from getting mine painted you have to be careful of who you have do it. There were some small flaws in mine but nothing real noticable unless you a paint and body guy or looking pretty hard. I also drive mine quite a bit so I knew it wouldn't stay pristine. That being said the first couple things that happen still upset you beyond belief. Bottom line is you have to be happy with the work being done.

Joe Tag

iTrader: (4)

Sorry to hear that. I absolutely agree you have to be careful who you choose. Go to the shop and look at some of the work they turn out before you pull the trigger. If you want the care taken to prep it as you would like, you have to do it yourself or pay huge coin. I stripped all the parts and trim from my car before it went in, sanded and primed all the jambs, painted the engine bay. I did all the assembly and fitting after. We have visions of perfection when we send our cars in. The only part I was 100% satisfied with was my own work.

Lurbie

iTrader: (3)

You work next door to him. So I would suspect you likely have seen his work before now and before you decided to let him paint yours. Maybe he hired a new guy and you should make him do it over. Granted he did a poor job regardless, but the few over-the-fence pics you posted would not have made me think this is a quality guy who cares about the little details. You might have gotten a better spray from Maaco. Sorry about your luck. Hopefully you can get him to either fix it or reimburse you.

88Birdman

iTrader: (1)

that is why i went and bought $100 worth of things to finish it myself.

that is the thing i have seen him paint a vette right b4 mine and it's pristine as well as his car and truck. Maybe he just thought he could get over on me. Fact is that the car is almost done few touch-ups and wet sand and buff and i think i may be ok so i will finish it myself. At most may have another clear put on it by a respectable business and not a private bs person.

ZsTransAm

Sorry to hear that it didn't turn out as well as you had hoped. It is pretty odd that he put out other work that seemed decent, a shame that yours wasn't quite as good. I don't know what you paid but unfortunately this is just the kind of work people should expect in the under $2000 range. Show quality paint will run you 5 to 10 grand.

88Birdman

iTrader: (1)

yeah the more i look the more i find. I think i could do a better job blindfolded. at least i have a clean surface to work from it needs redone just too much and i didn't loose a bunch.

Ron U.S.M.C.

Really, really, sorry to see this happen to you man.
Keep your head up. It will work out for you in the long run.

Ghettobird52

Hey man It doesnt look bad! Cant be worse than mine! I had about 85-90% of my body work done by a really good friends 'cousin'. Right at the end of the job he comes and asks me for an extra 300$ for final costs of paint supplies (total price was 1400$ with paint supplies and body work, i know super cheap), so i give it to him, then 2 weeks later i here from my friend he got deported back to mexico !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Was super upset had to get it finished at Maaco in modesto. Wtf can i say i was a 18year old kid trying to finish a paint job with $650 left, unfortunately no help from mommy&daddy.

Bad pic i know, sorry only one i have. This is after 3 years.

88Birdman

iTrader: (1)

Wow i feel your pain. I hate to hear about your misfortune. Glad it eventually worked out

and UPDATE:

I finally went and spoke to him and he asured me that all i have given him has went in the car and he proved it by showing me the empty paint cans and clear he has went through a gallon and a quart of bright red ( not cheap $300 ) the molding ect. He said that he was having problems making the paint stick. I should have done the prep myself and took it all the way down. Since he has proven that he didn't waste the money i gave him, i gave him the go ahead to finish but only after what he has in his shop now so he can focus on mine. things are looking up. I just hope that it works out. So far i only have $550 invested in the paint. So it's not that big a loss.

855speed

I paint my car tomorrow, and i spent $300 for 1 gallon of prospray, and 274 for SPI clear coat. Been through 2 gallons + of epoxy, (first time body work in 20 years), and epoxy is 100/ gallon? , not to mention the other goodies. I am into mine for well over $1000. You're OK.

88Birdman

iTrader: (1)

yeah thats how i feel about it too

WTR388

I'm doing all my own prep, so some rust repairs, some bumper paint repair stuff (spider cracks/chips that I've sanded out, smoothed out bumpers etc), scuffing the entire car and EVERYTHING is off this car except for the windshield and rear glass.
Having Maaco shoot single stage for me and I'll be over $1000, not including my new rear wing.
Body work ain't cheap!

Termn8r

Seeing this makes me soooo glad I saved up and paid and got it done right! In the beginning knowing Maaco offers these $300-500 deals I thought I could get a real good paint job for $2k. That is not the case!!

A good paint job as someone else said runs $5k+ I have seen $25k paint jobs and they are pretty amazing, but the cost to wow factor has a really small curve after about $8-10k.

After my research and painting experience, anything under $5k would make me very suspicious.

WTR388

Even doing all the prep and paying what I'm paying I'm not expecting perfection... I'm just expecting something "average" looking. I'm basically paying for the $3-$400 in materials and the rest is for the experienced painter's skill.

Ron U.S.M.C.

Actually what I'm hearing about paying an experienced painter to do the final job is a nice change.

As long as you know what he expects of your prep. I can see where it could work.

My paint job cost $1,500.00 in materials alone.

I did a lot of the dismantling and reassembly (and cleaned the shop when he did not need or want my help).

This is not an attempt to crowd your post but shows what a high dollar paint job will look like. This is a $ 5,000.00 job for $ 3,000.00.

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/body...nt-photos.html

88Birdman

iTrader: (1)

That is amazing and you aren't cluttering the post. I welcome any input. I understand the cost now and the painter is a good painter and giving me a hell of a deal. I was just impatient i believe. Either way it goes back for the finishing on Monday and he said 2 days at most. I am thinking of no molding on the sides i think it clutters the body. Thoughts on that?

Ron U.S.M.C.

I prefer no side molding but it kind of depends on how **** you’re going to be with the cars paint.

Example = I was forced to park in a crowded parking lot at the DR. Office yesterday. A Cadillac with doors longer than mine pulled up next to me on the passenger side. As an older woman with a cane started to open her door I looked like FLASH GORDEN jetting around to catch her door politely saying "here let me help you with that".

I was so worried she would get back to her car before I did that I left the waiting room and moved the car to a better spot. Not much better but better.

Even with side molding I would be like that.
It’s just part of having really nice paint.

So if you think deleting the molding will work for you I say do it.

WTR388

I'm back to considering doing it myself again.
I worked in a collision shop for 18months 10 years ago, done a few small touch up jobs since then and worked with a buddy to get my street bike painted.
I can prep for sure, I'm double/triple checking all my steps.
I'm only considering painting it as a learning thing, because this won't be the only car I'll build, it's not even the final job for this car. And by the time I've asked maaco to do all the little things, it won't be so "budget friendly". But, at this point it's still up in the air, I have a few days yet to figure it all out. Been hitting some speed bumps in the process so far.

Ron U.S.M.C.

What I did do is have the painter paint two pieces of door edge protectors and we put them on after the paint had a decent amount of time to dry.

Its so incase the door touches/rests on the side of the house when I open it in the car port.

It has saved the edge of the doors paint many times.

Here he is painting them and installed on the car.

You cant even see them unless you look very hard.

Ghettobird52

Glad to hear that you know you got your moneys worth in the paint supplies and that he is going to finish it. From the looks so far it doesnt look that bad my friend! Be sure to update with pics when finished.

LOL! Thats too funny! Before i had my car painted the moldings came in handy MANY times with my brother in the driveway. Eventually i started parking on the street because he was so arrogant.

Honestly i would say just stay away from maaco doing any body work. Ive heard horrible stories of them doing work on a car and spraying it and 2-3years after it looks horrible. I got lucky and only had them 'spray' it. I honestly to this day regret that i had to have it painted at a maaco, as a 'car enthusiast' its one thing i keep to myself
VERY NICE! Your right ive seen a good handful of pics of your car and never noticed them! Beautiful

WTR388

This place isn't one of those places that opened as a Maaco. When I call them they answer it as "Hunt Club Nissan Collision Center". That's even what the sign on the shop says (there is a Maaco sign next to it). So it's a collision shop, and I've gone in and checked it out and checked out some of the cars sitting in the lot. I'd kind of find it funny if someone gave a compliment on the paint and I could say "yep, it's Maaco"... But, it could be gratifying to say I shot it myself in the garage.
No way would I let them do my body work.
Either way, I'm coming way under the $8000 quote I got from the local shop in town. I've got about 25 hours in to it so far, probably close to 60 hours of prep alone before I'm ready to paint.

88Birdman

iTrader: (1)

UPDATE New pics after paint fiasco. this is after barely cleaning up after he gave the car back. He obviously didnt use the tape i gave him....compound everywhere

88Birdman

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More pics

88Birdman

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Few more pics.

88Birdman

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repainted my rims today.

88Birdman

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Painted the pass side rims and blinkers on front where red overspray was everywhere. Still have some touch up left under the hood.















BFORE


AFTER


AFTER

stealtht/a

iTrader: (1)

Wow, what hack job. Your rims look nice now.
Who designed that stripe layout? Do they have stereoscopic vision?

88Birdman

iTrader: (1)

I asked for stripes and that's what he gave me. The second go around was hardly better but the stripes are straighter. Thanks on the rims. Seems with a little patience you can do anything yourself.

88Birdman

iTrader: (1)

Been a busy couple of days. Replaced my rear drum brakes ,Added some door trim, Painted my headlight covers and front blinkers ( all had red overspray from the moron painter) Also changed the fuel filter. Next is the damn locks the moron painted over.

Door trim




Before


After

88Birdman

iTrader: (1)

Few Update pics

DynoDave43

iTrader: (11)

Looking good! You've got to be having fun cruising around in it.

NowhereFast

Looks better than it did. The stripes not being centered on the rear of the car would annoy the hell out of me though.

ZsTransAm

Its looking decent, not a show winning paint job but it is looking better. What car are the rims off of? They look like GTA rims but without as much of a lip.

NowhereFast

They're most likely 15" cross-laces off a base Firebird.

Ron U.S.M.C.

88Birdman ,

So what's the grand total/price out the door ?

From what I can see its much better than it was before new paint and that's what you're shooting for with a lower budget paint job.

88Birdman

iTrader: (1)

i just painted them.
Not exact on this but with all the work i have done on it about $1,300 to $1,500 after the $1,800 i paid for it. I still have the exhaust to do and a few minor things. So I am ok with that. DynoDave43 It's a blast riding around in. Get tons of attention in this town of imports and mustangs!

ZsTransAm I wish i had chosen a better painter but that all in how much you have to spend. The guy i had do it is great at fixing and repainting fender benders and i think a whole car paint was just a little out of his skill.