My 86 TA needs to be painted. I'm thinking about going to Maaco to get a decent paint job to tide me over for about 2 years. I only have about $900 to spend and i have a few spots were there are some creases on the body and will need to be fixed. Will a $900 paint job from Maaco be good enough for 2 years? Anyone have some tips on what i should do and what to ask from Maaco? Thanks in advance!

 

Prep the car your self or get screwed...
i heard some ware ... at a maaco, of some one painting over a T-top't camaro so you get what you payd for id just paint it my self

 

If you get a badly done job it makes it harder to do a good job next time & you should not have too many layers of paint as this can cause problems. your best bet is too strip & prep the car as much as you can yourself.

 

I am doing some prep to my car in my spare time, and let me re-iterate what Jacko said If you get a badly done job it makes it harder to do a good job next time !!!!!!

Someone put a cheap paint job on right before I bought the car a year ago, and painted over rust and the old paint! Very **** poor job! It becomes a pain when there are too many layers of paint!

 

The only way you're gonna get a vaguely decent job at a place like Maaco is if you do all the prep work yourself. That means you do everything except shooting the paint.

Even then... you get what you pay for and $900 aint gonna go far.

I wince everytime I see their commercials - either that smug, smarmy corporate looking **** or more recently Burt Reynolds. You can bet your a$$ that Burt doesn't use crappy Maaco.

I think it's such bull**** the way they push their crappy stuff as if it's a 5000 dollar paintjob (e.g. the shiny Red mustang in their commercial).

IMO, I'd save $900 towards a real paintjob. If exposed bodywork, rust is bothering you now, just do what you can to address the trouble spots. Sure it won't look great, but a bit later on, you can get a quality paint job done by someone who actually cares about making your car look good.

 

I would listen to these guys! When i took my friend to my auto body shop that did my paint job, they wouldn't do his car! Do you want to know why? He had the car painted by Macco previously and my guy told us that he would not touch the car! He said they use a really cheap paint and unless he took the car down to sheet metal everywhere, it would still look like crap! Point being, save your money so you will be happier longer! I spent $2000 on mine and it was over 2 years ago. It still looks new because of the quality and the way i take care of it! I would say save your money and "patch up" the sore spots now. good luck and remember you do get what you pay for!

 

Every Macco shop varies with paint job quality. If you can, try to see some of the other cars that they painted. Some have had good experiences and some have had bad. I think the paint would last 2 years.

 

I agree...

I got a macco job... I did all the prep work, so it came out good

 

I dont know what to do to prep it besides i dont have a lot of time on my hands and its a daily driver. With going to school,work and doing homework i dont have much time at all to do any work. Maybe this summer i will do the prep work and then get a paint job. What do i need to do to prep it? Thanks!

 

DSLDude, that looks nice!

I'm thinking about Maaco-ing it too. I can't see the point in paying for a paintjob that's more than the car's worth... plus, I'd rather get a few-hundred-dollar Maaco job every couple of years than one $10k one...

 

I still payed $1200 at macco... I hope it lasts quite a few years... I dont know much about the cheap paint jobs, but I do know that if you want it to last anytime at all, then you will want a paint with some sort of clearcoat.

 

Yep, I'm probably gonna do about the same thing you did. I have to do some bodywork first though I think... little bits of rust creeping up. Eek.

 

Oh, by the way, it'd probably be cheaper for me too, cuz I wouldn't be doing a color-change.

 

I didnt do a color change either, but I did have all the jambs on the car painted... that cost quite a bit more

But It looks good

 

:hail:

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Project_1986_TA
[B]I dont know what to do to prep it besides i dont have a lot of time on my hands



Well If ya don't have much time & its your daily driver your in trouble. A good paint job comes from days of hard work.
I asume MAACO is wiz bang "rub & paint" type body shop, which would mean they rub your paint with scotch brite & spray it, thats OK so long as its done properly on a good base paint. Things to help with a good job: remove lights, door locks& handles, feather/sand back stone chips (use block with all sanding) & scratches, repair dints, totally wash/rub car down with Wax & Grease remover, Block sand all the car with 1200wet. Go out and buy a book on body prep so you know what & how to do all this prep work, sorry but it would take me all day to type it.
If you can't do it properly wait until you can!
GOOD LUCK

 

Depending on the painters at Macco, they are usually punk *** kids making 10 bucks an hour to paint your car! That's how it is around me. Definately not show quality. You should paint a car right the first time, bottom line! My paintjob was $2000. That included putting on the new bumper, hood, spoiler and new decals and emblems. They took the paint off down to the metal and also sprayed the trunk and door jambs! I feel i got a damn good deal and it still looks good today as it did 2 years ago. I don't know about you but i wouldn't tell people i got my car done at Macco because every job i see around me has come out like crap! Leave that place for the ricers! It is your car though and you can do what you want, but i wouldn't take it to Macco!