i posted this in the appearance section of the boards, but i like gettin yalls opinions on stuff i need to know, even stuff that doesn't necessarily pertain to v-6's


well i went and got a price quote from MAACO for my paint job today, and they said.........$1504! i was NOT expecting that. i'm definitely going to alot of other places to get different quotes. my body is completely straight, and needs no work, but they said it would be $705 before they even started painting to get everything ready, and then $799 for the paint. and this isn't even a top notch place. here's the rundown of how much it all cost. give me your thoughts, whether you agree with them or think i should definitely go somewhere else:

2 door jambs - $150
color change - $100 (i have red w/ black stripes, and i'm getting black w/ red stripes)
stripes - $350
reblack the headlight pockets - $30
machine the deck lid - $30
remove old stripes - $45

buying the paint - $799

grand total = $1504


the $350 they charged for the stripes wasn't for paint for the stripes, it's just a charge they issue because i'm getting stripes


so what do yall think. it seems like they're trying to charge me some crazy amounts of money for really doing nothing. wouldn't sanding the car INCLUDE taking off the stripes? and wouldn't painting the car INCLUDE reblacking the headlight pockets? and i dont think there should be the stripe charge should be anywhere near $350!

well tell me your thoughts....

edit: i know MAACO has a bad rep, i'm not getting it done there, but it was right on my way home from work, and i wanted to know some basic figures before i started looking around

 

WAY TO HIGH.

hell paint alone should only be a few hundered at best.

thats thats going 3 gallons!
2 base color, and 1 for the stripes.

 

Especially from Maaco. Christ. I hear nothing but bad things about Maaco. Not even kidding, man. My Stang has a Maaco paintjob. Wanna hear something funny? The paint is less than a year old and it's coming off. Not just the clear coat. The entire layer. It's stripping off the hood corners, the fender corners, and the top of the roof. And it's even funnier that they didn't sand or remove any of my old paint, so as the Maaco paint flakes off, the original paint is revealed underneath. Oh and I almost forgot the best part. They forgot to cover the windshield during the metal-flaking of the paint. My windshield has permanent glitter now. It's too bad I bought the car this way...I would've taken it right back to them with a very angry look on my face!

But do what you want..I realize paint is expensive and Maaco is usually the cheapest in town. Just my .02.

 

Maaco better not be the cheapest in town....$1504 is damn expensive! acutaly i'm out the door right now to get an estimate at 2 more places, i'll tell ya what i find

 

Just for a comparsion, had the bottom half of the drivers door done due to a rust bilster. Prep, Paint and yes the Decal was $352 and this is a first class shop. Been doing business there for over Twenty years. You get what you pay for.

 

I agree, $1500 is high. I had a car done there a couple years ago, a thirdgen in fact and the total price was $600, plus there was body work needed done. The paint is NOT durable. For about the same price, you can probably get a more quality paint job from a more reputable shop.

 

I must say I half-disagree with the "Maaco does a bad job" bit. They'll do a good job if you prep the car yourself. If you bring them a car and say "paint it", you'll get a poor job. If you bring them a car that just needs to be shot, you'll get a great job. That's what I did back in '97... did all my own body work, including filler and primer, and dropped the car off. The paint job came out great, I paid $380 for it all. If I could do something different, I would've paid for the full wet clear coat- I paid for the "integrated" (mixed in) clear coat. You should see all the rock chips in my hood that probably wouldn't have happened if I had an extra layer of clear on there.

Maaco prices shoot up if you want bodywork or special work done:

Skip the door jambs, do them yourself with a rattle can. Color change? They're probably going to do "extra" painting in areas that normally wouldn't be seen (like the curl-around edge of a door). If you want a color change, tell them you want no extra work, just paint the car as usual. You'll probably lose out on any warranty they give with the paint though. To avoid that, shoot the car yourself with a primer/sealer.

Sanding the car doesn't include taking off stripes. They're tape, I take it? If they just sanded them, they'd embed the tape and all it's gooey stuff into the paint. Painting the car wouldn't include re-blacking the headlight pockets- it would include painting the headlight pockets the color of the car.

Nixon's car is an example of poor prep work done by Maaco. They didn't finish-sand the car enough. They probably didn't use a cleaner on the paint (removes all road slime and bug crap and tar and etc), probably gave it a half-*** sanding, and shot it with paint.

You don't need to remove all the old paint to shoot a car either, that's a common misconception. If the old paint has withstood the "test of time", then it's a good base. To paint a car, after using a cleaner (you don't want to sand a car and embedd road slime and bug crap and tar and etc into the finish!!), you scuff-sand it with 320 grit paper. The end result makes the paint look dull. This gives good "tooth" for the new paint. A primer/sealer should be shot over the old paint to prevent bleed-thru, and then that should be sanded again with 320.

You should also mask everything off that can't be removed, and remove anything from the car that can be removed. Maaco doesn't waste time masking the car off. It takes a lot of time to mask a car. When I brought them my car, I dropped it off with no taillights, no emblems, and no front headlights or bezels. They didn't get my front marker lights or blinkers either, AND I took off the radio antenna. I masked off the black "bumperettes" in the front and rear bumper, the rear marker lights, and wrapped tinfoil around the exhaust pipes. They still got me though; they didn't mask off the metal "trim" around the back window, and they only masked off the "fuel injection" sticker on my door handles. The edges of the handles and the door locks got shot with blue metallic.

Like QTA said though, they use cheap paint. In fact, they had better be using brand name paint for that $799. The Maaco brand of paint costs them next to nothing.

You should also look around at other Maaco shops. Inspect the freshly painted cars in their lots. I could've gone to a maaco shop close by me, but I went to one that was a far distance away because I heard they did good work. If I had only kept washing/waxing the car, the paint would probably still shine. The roof and hood are shot to hell; the sides still polish up though.

 

ok, a couple things:

first, you said after i sand the car, to shoot it with primer/sealer....so you mean using a spray gun. can it be done w/o a sprayer? i dont know anybody with one, and i'm not about to spend $50+ for something i'll use once

also, just to be sure, i sand the entire car, then cover it in primer/sealer, then sand again and it'll be fine? if i take the car there, should i mask off the windows myself in the parking lot, or will they do a good enough job doing that?

last question, and most important....about how much time do you think it took you to completely prep the car? did you use a power sander?

i guess that's all...but i just died on the road, so i'll tell yall real quick. i dont want this post to veer off into talking about my near-crash, i want it to stay on paint, but i'll tell yall real quick.


I was on my way to a paint shop, and I was in the left lane of traffic on a 4 lane road. The right lane was going slow, and they stopped to let somebody on a crossing road make a left onto my road. Well he pulled out across their lane, and across mine without looking to see if anybody was coming down my lane. So I'm going 45mph and slam on brakes, he sees I'm about to hit him and punches the gas, causing a truck going the other way to veer up on the curb.

All that to say, my car was fine, except my brakes are more shot than before, and the truck blew a tire from hitting the curb. The guy that caused it took off. He actually went to my HS, and I hated him, he was a punk A cop came by and took down the info, and I gave him that dude's name and address.

Well that's it, please yall stick to the paint topic cause I need to find out this stuff, but just wanted to share...

 

CamaroRS385hp, I have to ask you this: Is the car you want to paint the one in your sig? It looks pretty sweet from the pic. Are you just looking for a change?

It really depends on what kind of things need done to the vehicle. You had said that the body was straight, so take a power sander and go to town, you can make some good headway in a couple hours. I would be sure to ask Maaco if they are putting a flex additive in the paint for the bumpers. The paint will still look sharp if it doesn't, but a small "bump" in to anything, and you can bet it's going to crack. As for your sprayer question, did you consider renting one? I would recommend you use a sprayer, but you don't absolutely have to. You could go to your local parts store and get it in spray cans, but you will have more excess sanding, because in my opinion, the cans tend to have more overspray than an actual sprayer. Once you get the car fully coated, then it's time to sand again, because you don't want new paint to be layed (or laid? I forget) on "rough" primer, as it will cause headaches and can negatively affect the finish. If the primer is smooth, then the paint can go on smooth, and it's reflectivity is better.

 

yeah i'm painting the car in my sig for a couple reason. first i've always wanted a black car, but i like the bright red also, so i'm having bright red stripes. second, i'm getting a new hood so i'd need paint anyway, and the front bumper is a little different shade of red than the rest of the car cause i guess it got repainted in the past. and third, the paints starting to fade in a couple places. i'll put up some pics in a couple minutes just so you can see. the places where the paint isn't messed up looks great, but up close i just get tired of seeing all the defects.

so with the total sanding, primer/sealer, sanding process, it could be completed in an afternoon? i dont want to drive around town for a week with a sanded car, i hate when i see other people like that.

i'll have the pics up in a minute..

 

front fender is chipped and warped (i'm getting a new front gfx):

 

hood pic...the whole hood looks like this but i had to chop the edges so it would fit on here...this is probably the biggest reason i'm getting a paint job:

 

passenger door side molding is VERY faded on the top side:

 

and last but not least, number 1 is a different shade from number 2 (it's noticeable a little here, but a whole lot more noticeable when it's sunny):

 

I am a professional painter (I do industrial equip. now but have done cars before). i would not recomend trying to do the work yourself unless you really know what you are doing. its not as easy as it seems. and, no, you cannot do it in one afternoon. it will take some time even with prior experience. i definately would not pay macco $1500 for it! my parents got a macco paint job on their car a few monthes ago and the paint is flaking off already. for a color change and stripes, you will pay a pretty penny but get it done by a real shop and make sure they paint the stripes on (do the stripes first), thats the only real way to do it. any questions on it, let me know....i should be able to help you out.

 

If you have the facilities to paint a car your self then I say go for it. Painting a car is a great skill to learn and its fun too I did mine myself, zero experiance in painting and body work. Try and talk to some body men and soak up all the info you can.
If you cant at least prep the car that way it wont be done half azzed in a hurry. Take your time and make it the best prep job you can.

 

nah i'm not gonna paint it myself....don't have the tool, facilities, time, or experience for that. but if sanding and priming it myself can knock off $700, i'm all for that. i'll only have to spend $30 on tool rentals and a few supplies, plus some time, and it'll be ready to go. i know TomP gave some instructions earlier about how to do it, but could anybody post more in-depth instructions? i have ZERO experience with this and dont want to screw anything up. i know he said to use 320 grit paper..any recomendation on primer/sealer brand and how much i'd need?

also, how do i remove the stripes? the hood will be sold so i dont need to mess with that, but the rear deck lid stripes need to come off. anybody know how to do it?

 

oh, i forgot about this...

i went to 2 other paint shops today besides maaco to get an estimate. they were both top end shops that deal mostly with insurance repairs. well once place wanted $2700 and the other wanted $3400. so that's WAY too much, but they take off every piece that's getting painted and paint it off the car. also, there's a lifetime warranty on their work and the paint. but i'm not gonna spend that much, i'll check out some local shops tommorow (not chain stores) and see what their estimates are.

 

You really get what you pay for and paint is one of those jobs that need s the right facilities and tools to get that jaw dropping effect. I spent 5500 dollars at a top end joing to have my car repainted its original color, but after two years I can still buff out scratches and the paint still looks wet. If your going to keep the car and your not looking for a return. You may want to save your pennies. If your just looking to keep it frm looking like a beater and it not really a project, then yea I would shop around for a one shot wonder job. It took a week alone to wetsand my car after it was painted, but then again I hardly have to dry it because the paint is so smooth the water rolls off.

 

Allow me to elaborate. When I had said you can make some good headway, I didn't mean get the car done in one afternoon, although I wish that was possible! If you are doing this properly (and I'm sure you want to), you can get the first stage (sanding the original) done in a couple hours, or at least be close. The car then has to be wiped down, checked for spots/errors, and cleaned with a tack cloth. Once it's perfect, you can then begin the primer process, which will take another hour or so to do. Once that is done, walk away from the car for a day, give the primer time to dry out before you begin sanding. You should be able to get that far in a weekend.

$2700 and $3400 is rather expensive, but you get what you pay for. I'd be willing to bet the finish on that car will last a very long time for those prices.

 

sanding it all properly will take more than a couple of hours. i don't know how you plan on getting it done in that time frame. you gotta figure time for masking the windows and all that stuff too.

 

I had figured on doing the masking after the sanding, and sanding with a power sander.

 

You can use a spray can if you don't spray runs/sags into it. Remember to always use a cleaner on the paint (like MarHyde's "Total Prep" at Pep Boys) before doing any sanding. Use tack rags (very sticky pieces of cheese cloth that pick up residual sanding dust, $0.99 a rag, pep boys) between sanding and painting. Don't forget if you buy a spray gun, chances are you need an air compressor, too.

Yep, as long as you follow the "prep cleaner, 320 grit, tack rag, primer/sealer, 320 grit, tack rag, primer/sealer, etc" route. They should mask the windows off themselves good enough, but even if they do get paint on 'em, you could scrape it off with a razor blade. You might want to tape over your side view mirrors. Looks like they scratched mine when they were doing their final sand before paint.

Back then, I had no air tools. All I had was an electric hand sander (meant for wood), and an 8" orbital polisher/buffer. I stuck the 320 grit to the polisher/buffer's foam pad (without using any polishing foam/cotton bonnet) with rubber cement. Including all the bodywork I had to do, it took me about a month. I took that month out of my social life... it consisted of "get up, go to work, go immediately home, do more bodywork, go to sleep, repeat". Air tools and less bodywork would move it along much faster.

Remember too that primer's aren't waterproof. If you have any areas of the paint that are checked or crazed (cracked), you'll have to take those spots down to bare metal, because the paint hasn't withstood the "test of time". So you don't want those spots getting wet at all.

Here's somethign else to think about. I paid $380 for that Maaco job. Last fall I bought a Devilbiss Finishline II HVLP paint gun for $100. I can now spend $280 on paint, and take the time to do an awesome job on the car myself. I picked up a House of Kolor paint chart a few months ago, and man, those paints are beautiful. I almost feel bad for going with just a blue. I think glow-in-the-dark green would be pretty damn cool.

Oh and as to taking each panel off the car and painting it separately; that's not always a good idea. That's total bad for metallics or pearls. Regular paint it -might- be okay, but the idea is to get a consistant color and spray pattern across a whole side of the car. You wouldn't want something happening that already happened- the color difference between your front bumper and fender. But, if that shop is a pro shop, they'll know what they're doing- after all, if they mess up, it's their problem, not yours.

 

Oh and yeah QTA, it takes quite a while to sand. Sanding in a few hours is the Maaco way to sand. Had a friend that worked there; he's a car nut like I am, and he was taking his time prepping the cars. The owner would always yell at him that he was spending too much time on sanding. That's why he left; he hated the guy. Incidentally, that's the Maaco shop (the one nearest my house) that I avoided, years before he worked there.

Plus, the worst is, and it happened to me on my fenders/hood, is when the 320 grit paper completely strips the paint off, and leaves you with bare metal. That's another sign of paint that hasn't withstood the test of time, and would NOT make a good base for a paint job. If that happens, you've gotta take it down to bare metal, and prime it, and then sand the primer, and prime it again, etc...

OH and one last warning!! GM fills the area of the roof that's between the top of the side windows and the hatchback window with LEAD. If you think you've hit Bondo there, you're wrong, it's factory LEAD. Don't sand it!!! Yep, you guessed it, I thought it was bondo, and kept sanding and sanding, all the while, being a tough guy with no face mask. Man I regret that. Talk about lead poisoning. That area's a body seam; that's why so many of our f-bodies get cracks in the roof at the back top of the door windows. Only way to fix those cracks is to weld 'em shut, by the way.

Prep or paint doesn't just take a few hours or a few days. Remember the point of doing it yourself is to do it best. Keep saying to yourself "Man, if I prep this car half assed, and get it shot by maaco, and it comes out like crap, not only am I going to feel like a jerk, I'm going to get laughed at by everyone." It worked for me.

 

Lead?? Why would they use LEAD?

 

one of my best buds just finished getting his car finished at Maaco, the cars a 1968 Dodge charger. The job ended up costing him $3000 with everything done, but it was much more than paint. The car had some rust on the rear 1/4s so they had to replace them with new 1/4's, then he had the rest of the car cut and welded on the rocker panels and some on the front fenders, they shot the car with a dull yellow paint, added his skull and crossbone-piston decal to the trunk and integrated it with a black bumble bee strip to give it a custom look. They later painted the bumpers yellow to match the body color of the car also, to finish things they layered it w/ a clear coat which sealed the deal...all in all the car looks good, but for 3 grand i'd sure hope it does, and after 4 or 5 years i'm sure it still will since that car sits in a garage for just about everyday but 2 days in the month.

My best friend however is on the custom car route, and just finished by himself a sata-jet gun and a different gun for a primer. After rattlecanning my front end, and my ground fx, we're finally gonna shoot another base layer and then a clear over them with the sata jet which'll make for a beautiful car. prob is the rest of the car is still in need of being shot, so we'll probably end up doing that either this summer or the one following depending on how time works out. I had a quote from maaco on my car actually, and it was pretty cheap, $750 with the body work they'd have to do. Cut and weld on the rear quarter panels right before the rear wheel well where some rust is coming in, pull a small dent on the front end of the car, pull a ding out of the hood and then repaint the car in black. lady guarenteed me that it could go to car shows and take prizes with the paint, i wouldn't doubt it since the cars got maaco paint on it now, and still took 3rd at a local show here in town.

 

Lead was used before plastic filler (Bondo) was invented. You can still buy leading tools from http://www.eastwoodcompany.com . Leading is still viewed by resto places as the "proper" way to fill dents. Leading had the same "bad reputation" that Bondo has now. As I said regarding paint, it all depends on your preparation. You cant apply a 1/2 thick slab of Bondo (or lead) to a dent and expect it to stick. You'd have to work the metal out to make the dent 1/16th or even 1/8th deep, properly prep the surface, and Then apply the bondo (or lead).

 

Just another word on Maaco. I know someone who had a '67 Firebird. He spent a lot of time prepping it himself, and then got a spectacular $350 paint job at Maaco. On the other hand, my brother got his '83 Jimmy done at Maaco, and I think for $1000 it looks like sh**. There's no clear coat, so some of the paint has come off, and they made a mess. They got paint all over his tires. Like, what does it take to throw a sheet of newspaper on the tires? For a $1000 they sure as hell should.

I guess my point is, do your research. Talk to people who have had their car painted. Ask them if they did anything before sending it to the shop. Get details on the particular shops.

 

well, continuing on my quest for the best paint shop...

i stopped by a local place today on my way home from work, and they quoted $2000. this is with no door-jamb work or anything, jsut the body with stripes, but it seems pretty good. they use diamont (sp?) paint and some other kind thats "glass-something" i think. the guy said he its a little better quality than dupont paint. there's a lifetime gaurentee on their paint and work. he said if in 30 years the paint is wearing off, they'll repaint it. so it seems pretty good. i checked out some recent cars they had painted, and they have an awesome paint shop, so as of now i'll probably end up going with them. i just still dont feel like dishin out $2000. but i'll keep ya posted, i'm checkin out a couple other local places later this afternoon.

 

I saw about 5 guys above sum it all up in 6 words.."you get what you pay for". To me, 1400 is way too cheap for a color change. 2700 and 3400 is more inline with what I'd expect.
I understand what its like to have limited funds, but to me, I'd rather have a worn original paint job than a sh*t repaint. When I did mine last year, we disassembled the whole car....took everything off....stripped it to bare metal...primed, sanded...then shot it with 2 coats of red (at $90 a quart ) and 5 of clear. Granted, this was a little more than most people might do...and with a new fender, door skin, painting the wheels to hold me til I get new ones, and of course the flames, which were a lot of time and material just on their own, the total job cost me $5500...but the paint is flawless...far better than when it was new, and is gonna look as good 10 years from now as it does today. Painting is more an art than a science...anyone can master the mechanics of it, but it takes a special eye to really do a stand out job. Don't go just by price alone. If you do it right, its not something you'll have to do again for a long time. Good luck.

 

I agree with Deemax 1500 is cheap your gonna get a crappy paint job. My buddy got his CRX repainted for about a grand, and about a month later the enitire car started to chip and peel, don't know if it was crappy paint or bad preparation. Then on the other end of things, my other buddy got a 4000 paint job on his redone 71 camaro. It was worth it. like Deemax said 10 even 20 years from now it will still look good. Go some where else and don't be surprised to pay upwards of 3 grand + for a quality job.

 

Keep in mind when you eventually get around to doing the prep work on your car that you will be painting the majority of the car black. Black is the most revealing color anyone can shoot on a car. Any ripple, wave, shopping cart ding, poor bodywork, missed spot, etc. will be incredibly obvious. It won't be any fault of the paint, just the prep work. If you think your red body is relatively straight and no major dings or dents, wait til you lay down the first clear coat on the black base. Its possible to get it right. I've seen black cars that were nearly perfect. It seemed as if the car was liquid.

We're painting our own projects here. Neither I nor my son can afford bodyshops. His '86 Camaro is probably first as I have a bit more body work to do on my '71 Charger than he does his car. He wants a dark color like a Midnight Cherry or Midnight Purple. It'll look great, I just hope he's ready to sand,fill,sand,guide coat,repeat for what'll seem like an eternity to him. The reward will be a beautiful paint job that he can be proud of.

I guess I could have kept this short by just saying that prep-work makes or breaks a paintjob way before the color is poured into the gun.

Good luck, I hope to see the finished work someday soon.

 

u got raped dude,i redid my car last month myself,cost me 400 for supplies,paint included.

 

YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR.

no joke. i went to some place in cornielius to get my jeep painted. cost me 600$ for a "7 coat" (more like three) paint job. wealding my door back on. and dent filling.

one month later the door started to hang again, it's been six months so far and i can see primer on my fenders. the dent , witch is covered by big plastick trim, was hammered on with a ballpine, there are two drip marks an the hatchback. and they painted my radio antena.

Notes: this was on an 88` charokee. the drivers door hinges are not bolt on but wealded on, thanks chrysler! also. i wanted to go to a reputable place, but since the paint job was a birthday present.....