Can you make a Maaco or Earl paint job nice

[Ed]

Paint experts.  Can you get a cheapie paint job from a chain job, without the clear, and buff (color sand) it out so it looks half way nice.  There's an Earl's right down the street, I've seen a bunch of their paint jobs and can spot them a mile away. Half the time it's bad body work or no body work.  Or it's a couple runs and a ton of orange peel.  So say they put on 5 coats, can it be done?  Wish I could build my own paint booth, but that's not going to happen any time soon.  Thx for any input.   

[DartKnight]

PREP PREP PREP..........then prep some more, because they won't.  They could put on 10 coats; it won't matter if they do a crappy sanding job.

[redeye dave]

paint is basically a magnifying glass of what's underneath.  take your time, prep the car right & spray it yourself if possible.  practice spraying on some old parts, to get a feel of it.  probably won't be perfect, but you''ll gain tons of experience.  you will also get alot of practice sanding & polishing out defects.

[jacks62440]

I 've wondered about this myself . # One I can't afford $ 3000-$7000  for a paint job. And I don't have room at home to paint it myself . Last I am Not sure what color I want to paint it .

[evstraus]

I went to a local body shop for a quote to paint my 70 Swinger.   Very little body work, a little surface rust here and there.   I told them I could deliver the car with all trim, bumper, door handles, grill, lights and such removed.   $7000 dollars!!!!!!   I about swallowed my tounge, and then walked out.    I will be attempting my first paint job myself.   Eric

[camcojb]

If you get the prep right you can actually end up with a decent looking job. They spray for a living so "usually" there's at least one painter at the shop that can put a nice paint job down. I'd get them to do at least 3 coats of clear (4 if you can get them to do it as you'll be sanding 1 or a bit more off). Then if you're willing to do that color-sanding and buffing it should turn out nice.

I'd just make it very clear up front that you don't want runs or a bunch of dirt in the paint. I've painted several of my own cars, and it's a ton of work. But the color sanding and buffing really makes the job, assuming the body is right and there's enough clear to pull it off.

Jody

[west]

i stripped all the paint off of my car and had a body shop do some minor rust repair and then cover the whole car in sandable primer sealer,i then used a d.a. to smooth it out  then took it to another body shop for 2 hrs of hand sanding and a single stage paint job,that was $700.It turned out pretty good,if i took my time it would be nicer but i was moving across the country the next week and just wanted to get some paint on the car.total cost was about $1200 including materials not including rust repair.oh,and the fenders and hood were not painted till later

[Ed]

So if you go to their site, which paint job is recommended?  I'm really bad with paint, I'm way behind the times.

http://www.maaco.com/auto-painting-service.aspx



A back yard paint both is out of the question, unless I can build something that has enuff filters to keep the smell down to nothing. 

[flyboy01]

Its all in the prep, I had a buddy that used to strip his cars down to nothing, remove all trim, get the body perfect and they can lay down a very nice paint job. His paint jobs always looked good and he usually only paid aboput $300. My Last Dakota had a very nice single stage enamel by Maaco that looked Damn good!

[NYrr496]

My last two cars were home paint jobs. I prepped them to death and then a buddy that paints came and shot them. Both looked way better than they should have based on the money spent.

[lowmopr]

something else, if you can mazk all the edges yourself, do it, cuase they miss a lot of them and sometimes paint on the window trim, some guy came and picked up a motor from us and was bragging about his maaco paintjob and we look at his truck and you could tell it was a maaco paint job, the long panels did look good, but all his trim was painted over and there was some paint on his windows, his rims had overspray on them. so take the other peoples advice and do as much prep work yourself as you can, you can get a cheap DA sander and sanding disc arnt that expensive if you buy them in larger packs, but good luck on your paintjob,
-Mike

[jamesdart]

dont count on doing much sanding to get any orange peel out, they dont lay down a lot of paint. i have seen good jobs, the one by me has a new owner and the new painter is really good. they still use cheaper products though. its really not a bad option if you can remove everything you dont want paint on and do all the prep. shoot it in some kind of primer sealer before to help eliminate any blotches. my bud had a chevelle painted by them, some bright yellow with black ss stripes. his lazy ass did the body work which sucked, he also didnt remove anything, not even the bumpers. the paint was very light anywhere there was aomething that should have been removed. you could see primer behind the bumpers on the fenders  if you looked. they also got overspray all over the motor and engine compartment.  it was a shame he was so lazy, the paint came out really good. i know of at least 20 cars done by macco.  it really isnt that bad of an option.

[bbscamp]

James...what location MAACO??   Mike

[flyboy01]

dont count on doing much sanding to get any orange peel out, they dont lay down a lot of paint. i have seen good jobs, the one by me has a new owner and the new painter is really good. they still use cheaper products though. its really not a bad option if you can remove everything you dont want paint on and do all the prep. shoot it in some kind of primer sealer before to help eliminate any blotches. my bud had a chevelle painted by them, some bright yellow with black ss stripes. his lazy ass did the body work which sucked, he also didnt remove anything, not even the bumpers. the paint was very light anywhere there was aomething that should have been removed. you could see primer behind the bumpers on the fenders  if you looked. they also got overspray all over the motor and engine compartment.  it was a shame he was so lazy, the paint came out really good. i know of at least 20 cars done by macco.  it really isnt that bad of an option.

My truck had masking problems and overspray on the door and tailgate handles, and they missed the underside of the rockers and behinf the bumper, It could have been avoider had the trim been stripped off. You are right, paint is a magnifier of what is underneath, there were some sanding scrtatches on the hood that popped up later, overall it looked good to the untrained eye, but it bothered me. That is why if you can strip everything off that needs to be masked, you will get a great paintjob, also tell them ahead of time that you expect the wheel well lips and under the rockers to be painted.

For my next paint job, I found a shop that does repaints for a used BMW dealer, he does very good paint jobs for $1k-$2K, he uses the paint and materials I ask him to, and came recommended by my local English Color Paint supply. Also, the fact that he is Mexican and hires any other hispanic that has some talent helps him crank out good paint jobs cheap.

[Crazy68Dart]

Buddy in high school had a 73' Nova (Blue) painted by Maaco.  He and his Dad did the prep, which was excellent, and the car came out awesome.  He would take it to car shows and guys would about drop over dead after he told them it was a 150.00 paint job (this was 11-12 years ago).  Same buddy's Dad re-did a late 80's F-250 (Red), did the prep, and Maaco shot it again.  It turned out ok, there was a lot of orange peel, but the body was straight.  My sis had her 86 Celebrity (Maroon) painted AND prepped by Maaco, bad idea!  It didn't look terrible for a beater car, but you could tell it was a rush job.  Anything looked better than it did before.  You don't want them doing the prep.

So if you can get the prep good and ask for the best painter they have, you might get a decent job.  Orange peel, fish eyes, and runs would worry me the most.  All the cars I listed were single stage enamel.

I cannot find a shop that I like.  I have looked at 4 so far.  The cheapest I got was 4500.00 and that was with me shooting the hood.  Average 6 grand.  I am way to picky.  If I could find a car done by a shop that was worth the cost, I would jump on it, but I have yet to do so.  I honestly think most customers are blind when it comes to a REALLY nice paint job.  I am now leaning towards having my buddy (above) help me out, as he is now awesome at body work.  We'll see.

[Joe-Dokes]

Just out of high school I had a car painted by a place like Maaco, I did two things that made it turn out cool.  First I supplied my own paint.  I spent over two hundred dollars on centari acrylic enamel, Vitamin-C Orange.  And I did all the prep work myself, and I mean everything, they only had to mix and shoot the paint.  Turned out good, after a color sand it looked like a million bucks.

A friend went an even better route.  He took and auto-body class at night at the local community college.  The best part is the material fee covered all the prep materials.  He didn't have to buy any masking tape, primer, bondo, or metal prep.  Once all the body work was done, his instructor helped him paint it in the schools booth, he has since painted half a dozen cars, but that first one was one of the best. 

Regards

Joe

[slantvaliant]

If you're REALLY on a budget ... Cheap Paint Thread

[CARNUT]

hay a good posable solution if there is a body work school in your area you can sometimes get the car done by students with a teacher overlooking the work for just the cost of the materials just a thought i met some one who did that and got a dam nice paint job for like 300 bucks

[jacks62440]

As stated, Do All the Prep. Then go Talk to the Manager and tell him that You want to go to a lot of "Car Shows" and tell people     that you have a "Maaco Paint Job"      Then ask to see His Best Painter and Slip him a Extra $50      to Do a "Good Job"  I Bet You Will Be "Pleased"         What are some Forgiving Colors       I Believe White is Good.  What about "Siver"   

[Ed]

I like paying the shooter a couple extra bucks for a good job.  I have a feeling the chain shops have a lot of turn-over.  If I found a good painter, I'd follow them around to where ever they landed. 

Going to see what colors maaco has, looking for a close B5/viper blue

[flyboy01]

Buddy in high school had a 73' Nova (Blue) painted by Maaco.  He and his Dad did the prep, which was excellent, and the car came out awesome.  He would take it to car shows and guys would about drop over dead after he told them it was a 150.00 paint job (this was 11-12 years ago).  Same buddy's Dad re-did a late 80's F-250 (Red), did the prep, and Maaco shot it again.  It turned out ok, there was a lot of orange peel, but the body was straight.  My sis had her 86 Celebrity (Maroon) painted AND prepped by Maaco, bad idea!  It didn't look terrible for a beater car, but you could tell it was a rush job.  Anything looked better than it did before.  You don't want them doing the prep.

So if you can get the prep good and ask for the best painter they have, you might get a decent job.  Orange peel, fish eyes, and runs would worry me the most.  All the cars I listed were single stage enamel.

I cannot find a shop that I like.  I have looked at 4 so far.  The cheapest I got was 4500.00 and that was with me shooting the hood.  Average 6 grand.  I am way to picky.  If I could find a car done by a shop that was worth the cost, I would jump on it, but I have yet to do so.  I honestly think most customers are blind when it comes to a REALLY nice paint job.  I am now leaning towards having my buddy (above) help me out, as he is now awesome at body work.  We'll see.

Find a couple of local paint supply stores in your area, go in and ask them if you buy the paint through them, if they have any ideas who can shoot the paint for you. That is how I found these guys. All it took was some pestering.

[71 demon child]

One guy i know left are work after he got laid off.He ended up working at Maaco.He got paid by the car.You reallt need to turn over some cars to make money.It's hard to get quality when you have to turn them kind of numbers.The ironic part was they fired him.Turns out thet hired a x-convict and told him"why the hell we gonna pay you $25  a car to paint these cars when we can pay him 8.25 an hr. to do it.Man talk about a sour taste.

carl

[4spdfury]

id really like to know were you guys are at that are finding paint nice paint jobs for under 10,000. a good job and a little body work costs 10,000 or more.my buddy payed the local earl sciebs $400 extra to make sure there wasnt any runs or dirt in the paint and it had a massive run on the inside of the door were your arm goes and had alot of sand in it for some reason.

[elliskev2]

A friend went an even better route.  He took and auto-body class at night at the local community college.  The best part is the material fee covered all the prep materials.  He didn't have to buy any masking tape, primer, bondo, or metal prep.  Once all the body work was done, his instructor helped him paint it in the schools booth, he has since painted half a dozen cars, but that first one was one of the best.



This is a good idea .. maybe worth a try...

[MVRCorp]

I didn't even read the posts after the origanal question cause it depends on the shop. I saw cars coming out of Macco's, just north of my neighborhood, on flatbeds and sleds and I went in and talked to "Dan" . Well, Dan, is a little of a nut when it comes to restorations......It's like he won't give the car back till it's
"time" and it's not time till it's perfect. OK, my car isn't on the road "till spring 08" But my 528 is on  13 mo backorder so I'll settle for 11/07 delivery

[signet]

the best maaco paint i ever saw was being swept into a black trash bag.

just to do a refinish complete on a car is 15-20 hours at 100 beans an hour no surfacer no primer no filler,this includes the materials though.

add 5-10 hours for exterior trim handles seals ect and add another 60 bucks an hour.

add another 10-20 hours in labour at 60 an hour if you want to change the colour,then tack on 10 hours of paint time to do the inners at 100 an hour,again no filler surfacer or primer.

add a little rust and dents and 10 large is easy.

[GON_RACIN]

the best maaco paint i ever saw was being swept into a black trash bag.

just to do a refinish complete on a car is 15-20 hours at 100 beans an hour no surfacer no primer no filler,this includes the materials though.

add 5-10 hours for exterior trim handles seals ect and add another 60 bucks an hour.

add another 10-20 hours in labour at 60 an hour if you want to change the colour,then tack on 10 hours of paint time to do the inners at 100 an hour,again no filler surfacer or primer.

add a little rust and dents and 10 large is easy.

which is exactly why people are looking for a cheaper alternative.  Its hard for people to stomach spending 4 to 10 grand on a paint job, myself included.  Thats alot of money, especially when you're on a budget and only have a couple of grand invested in the car before paint.  I painted my polara back in 98 with leftover dupont centari paint my neighbor had laying around.  I did all the bodywork, prepped it, and shot it in the paintbooth at my highschool.  It really is hard, time consuming work, but the prices some of these paintshops demand are just unrealistic I think.  I know some of the shops around here overprice the paintjobs on old cars intentionally because they dont want to mess with them.  They can make money quicker by fixing fender benders that are covered under someones insurance policy.   All totalled, I might have between 200 and 300 bucks in my polara's paintjob.  It is by no means perfect, but with the several grand I saved I was able to build another motor, build another trans, builld another rear end, and install a new interior.  For me, settling for a mediocre paintjob was worth it in the end.

[flyboy01]

 
 

Amen brother! Can I get a "Hell Yeah!?"

 

[Ed]

100%, shops make more $ fixing new car fender benders

I don't think this was answered:  Do you clean up the base color, sand/buff, then get it clear coated.  Of just buff out the clear.  I think the major issue with cheapie paint jobs is the paint itself. 

[GLHS_440]

I've been a bodyman/painter for over 20 years myself. The Maaco where I live uses Dupont paint. Its a good product, but a paint job is once again only as good as its preped out. Including body work an so on. If the painter is good, meaning, takes his time an lays it out nice an flat, color sanding should be minimal for a close as you can get get/buy for a Maaco job without being able to tell where it wa painted as driven down the road like some cars you can tell. I'm certified through PPG many years over. I do side jobs once in a great while, my prices start at $8500.00. Not cheap, but when you see what goes into a body/paint job, the hours are endless. And the end result is priceless when the customer sees it for the first time.
Mark