my friend is gonna paint my car for me.. only about $300 and thats ONLY for supplies, free labor (but ill probably end up paying him anyways).. will $300 buy alot for supplies (paint, clearcoat, things to remove paint etc)

also, he recomending mixing the clear coat with the pain, and using one coat, he said its cheaper, and we could always put on another coat of clear coat withen a few years. is all this true? and a good idea? i know this won't probably be a show quality paint job.. but alot better then macco i hope.. will mixing clear coat and paint give it much gloss??

 

It sounds like maaco to me! I have heard others mention mixing the clear in with the paint and I don't understand what good that will do. Clear coat is just that. It's a clear paint sprayed on top of the colored paint. The clear coat will take the beating and allow for minor wet sanding and touch up detailing. If it's mixed in the paint, you're just thinning the base color and leaving it exposed to the elements. He is looking for the least amount of time spent on your car. Get it done right the first time and you won't have to spray it again in a couple of years!

 

i completely agree with scott, you don't have to spend alot to have a nice job....but $300 is pushing it. you might have better luck at macco....if it's possible.

is your paint that bad that you would want to go this route?

here's a basic idea of what most paint jobs involve given wether its a single or multi-stage paintjob:

strippers, sander paper, degreasers: $10-$100
Bondo, fillers (1 gallon approx.): $15
Primers, solvents, thinners: $150
Single-stage color coat: $350
One-stage base/clear coat: $650
Three-stagge base/mid/clear coat: $1,000-$4,500
Consumables (masking tape, paper): $50
Polishes: $25-$50
Tools & equipment: $1,000+

now granted this a very basic breakdown, but understanding that most shops charge at least around 30+ an hour for labor you can see that if someone's only putting $300 or so your not going to get something to nice, more or less a "garage job" or something that most of us refer to as "good from far, but far from good"

save your money and do it the right way. you don't have to spend a fortune, but i would at least get into the 1200-1500 mark. you wouldn't buy a car that only ran half the time would you? why have a paint job that has half the necessary elements?

in most cases if it's factory paint you will be alright sanding and applying a color base at which you would then want to clear(more often then not factory primer bases are best left alone if possible). guessing that your obviously not going to primer for this price and your also mixing in the clear it will probably look ok for the first few months afterwhich is nothing more than a gamble. the best way is to apply a color layer base in which you would then apply your desired layer of clear. although, it is 300, if it goes wrong save up and do it right! whatever you choose good luck with it.

 

is paint really that expensive??

 

Paint isn't that expensive, it's the labour. Cost me $250 Canadian to paint my Talon with a professional job in acrylic enamel.

 

If your buddie was willing to put on a second coat within a few days, why not get him to do it right first time.

Applying base and clear together might sound good, but it aint!
Get the base coat on, then the clear coat.
You will notice the difference

It's all to do with layering not mixing

 

Many of the above reasons are good reasons to NOT do the paint job like your friend says. But another one is if you bang a fender a month or two from now and try to re-match that paint job it is very unlikely you will ever match. Good quality basic chemicals for a decent paint job run 600 to 800 bucks. Here are some examples:

1 gallon high build primer @ 150.00
1 gallon sealer @ 150.00
1 gallon basecoat @ 150.00 ( this is just an average some reds and greens can run 65 bucks a pint)
1 gallon clear @ 200.00

This is the middle price range of good quality paint. It's not even the high dollar stuff. In addition you will need various sand papers, buffing compounds, cleanup thinner, etc.

 

thats why he is doing it for me free.. he will be doing the painting at the tech center, so they should have all the right equipment.. will it be better then a macco paint job? I have one more year of school left.. and i DON"T wanna spend 1500+ on a paint job and be driving the car everyday and parking it in the school parking lot.. but i want something better then this... but then again i want something that is gonna look close to factory maybe.. thanks alot for your advice though guys.. ill discuss all this stuff with him..

 

wether or not it's better than macco, it's a tossup that you'll find out probably the hard way. it won't look better than factory if your considering a new factory job; however i'm sure it will look better than your car right now.

paint is that expensive as well as time consuming to do it right........right being at least factory, but more often then not it's always better than factory. you do get what you pay for!

 

I'd leave it the way it is until you can afford to have it done right. It sounds like your friend doesn't know what he's doing and it's going to make more work for the next painter to remove and repaint the car properly.

 

I did everything to my own car. All the paint cost me about 150.00, sanding paper 30.00,masking tape 5.00, amd flexing agent 27.00=approxitmaly 212.00 dollars for my own paint job.The paint I got was a one stage enamel paint no clear coat. Even though this isnt the finished product it looks bad azz in person. Friday I will paint the bumpers and gfx, and take my car home to wet sand a wax the paint.

 

I would get the clear coat seperate from the paint and give it a few layers. This way if/ when the clear coat peels like mine, the paint is still okay underneath the clear coat.
I am waiting to get car done though professionally like new to paint all the cracks and not overspray stuff like tires. I have a '91 Formula and it still has an awesome paint job, but time is getting to it and I am picky! Found a place here in South Miami, Colorin, guy does awesome work to imports, and did my bumper before when it was smacked, cant tell the difference. Will cost an estimated 3000.00 to get showroom import finish. andy

 

I didnt care about the overspray on the tires cause I'm getting a new set.The ones on there are dry rotted in some spots.

 

If he won't paint the clear separate and you really want him to do the paint. Just get some good quality single stage paint, instead of the basecoat clear coat stuff. If you take care of it, single stage paint will last a long, long time.

 

i only spent $335 for my paint/reducer/primer/sealer and thats from PPG but i only got black so the cost was down a bit more then like red or sumthing. but also it helps to go to a skool that has an autobody shop

 

Paint is like everything else: You get what you pay for.

You can go with a low cost single-stage crap, acrylic enamel, and a dozen other spray-can quality paints, or you can pay for a 2 stage urethane basecoat/clearcoat system. Acrylic enamel can look good, but it doesn't flow nearly as well as urethane, and it doesn't hold up as well. Single-stage paints require constant attention to stay shiny, and aren't as durable as a basecoat/clearcoat system.

The paint and related materials (hardner, reducer, clear, etc - no sand paper or any masking crap) cost me over $900 on the GTA, and that was at cost, not retail. Of course, the GTA was a 3-stage paint, so it was approximately 50% more than regular paint, but I would have needed the other crap regardless. Good paint isn't cheap.

 

exactly...........

if paint were that cheap, i sure as hell wouldn't have spent as much of my hard earned money on one.

it's all preference, it's like buying a new car; do you splurge an go for the v8 or stay with the 6 because it's cheaper? sure you can make a 6 go decent.......but in the long run it's better to get the 8!

 

I agree, base coat clear coat is the best. I spent a bunch of money on paint when I did mine 5+ years ago. I also used the high dollar tintable primer, tinted a dark red. But if the guy doing the painting is just going to mix the clear and base together(and won't do it separate), I would say no--and have him shoot a good single stage instead.

 

Paints vary greatly by color and type. Black or white paints are the cheapest. Enamels by far cheapest and it takes a good sprayman to shoot enamel. Black enamel and thinners for a complete job-less than 100.00. NOW RED OR MAROON$$$$ add clear coat and we are talking 300-500 bucks depending on brand. In my mind clear coats are the way to go, Takes a little more time money and care but you can not beat it when done. Good luck ether way. Remember one thing , if it sucks when your done the second time will cost alot more.

 

A couple more pointless points. Back in the good ol' days a good single stage paint job cost $600.00 complete. A show quality job would have cost $3000.00. Now days what "seems" more expensive really isn't. The average basecoat/clearcoat finish exceeds the show quality job of the old days and it's still about $3000.00.

A single coat of todays high tech clear coat equal 15 coats of old clear coats and most jobs put 2 or more coats on. You can buff it in a matter of hours and wax it in a few days. Can you imagine 20 years ago "Yes I like the red and please put 30 to 45 coats of clear on it for me", but that's the equivalent of what todays average basecoat/clearcoat are getting by old paint technology standards.

The price of paint is a great deal due to technology and to me it's worth it. Consider that every car manufacturer that I know of uses basecoat/clear. These are the same companies that now charge for a cigarette lighter in your car (option) and charge for every little add on and pin stripe you get. They could save a great deal of money using single stage paints, but they don't and there are good reasons.

Even though I am a base/clear fan I will say 85Sport your car looks good and you seem to have done a great job.

 

Thanks MikeInAZ,
I put my car outside of the shop monday morning before I went to school, the guy that owns the shop said 7 people came to look at my car and asked it I'd paint there cars that makes me feel so proud of myself.I worked on a few junk parts to get the mix of the paint just right for the great shine. Now if you look at the yellow truck that was done in the same shop, there is what a crappy painter can do.My car only has a few spots with orange peel, while his has it deep and everywhere. My paint came out shiney and his didnt"its a verydull looking in most spots and shiney in a few small areas.Yes I do know about the high matienence that a 1 stage paint will need, but I like to do my own dealtaling to my car at least once a month and its very fun to me to do that.