$249 Paint job @ The Local Shop...Worth Doing?

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archlab

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I've gotten my B/Cuda prepped & sanded. Now I'm about ready to paint. I'm pretty decent @ spraying, but really haven't done enough to feel like I can do a great job, just a decent one.

So, in asking around to some friends, many of them tell me they've had good luck with the El Cheapo Paint shops like Maaco.
Since the paint & all the other chemicals like hardeners are gonna cost me about $350 (Urethane), and a local shop is said to mask & spray for $249 (& up, I'm sure). Maybe I should just go with them.

After all, I'd have to fab a makeshift paint 'tent' as well.
Anybody have any experiences to share, good or bad?
 
Up here in WI there used to be an Earl Schieb, paint any car $199.99, but they are now long gone, had a 79 Pontiac Sunbird done by them turned out pretty nice, there is a Macco up here too in Appleton, don't know if they are any good or not, anytime you try to save money you end up with not so happy ending, if you just want a 5 foot car, Macco's might do ok, I don't think it will be show quality, but that's up to you, I had a "Professional" do mine and it is nothing special, paid $3500.00, and it took him 3 years to do it. good luck with whatever you do lets see pics when it is done.
 

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Usually, the old saying "cheap you pay, cheap you get" holds true.
Ask yourself how nice you want it to look.....
 
I got a "one day" job on my garage queen and it still looks good 10 years later, course its only seen the sun for about a year of that. Its all in the prep so if you block sanded and primed and sanded again, it should be alright. Then color sand and seal when you get it home after a week or so. I like the single stage paints, that F'n clearcoat BS is for lazy people and ones that want to do the whole thing again in 10 years. I did have a run on the entire lower ridge on my '65 but hey, it was 179.00. Im cool with it.
 
I have a friend who had the 249 job on a honda civic. A year later it is faded and just doesn't look good at all. I've seen paint jobs from there come out looking O K , but I don't know how they look after time. I think when mine is ready I'll do it myself. If paint is only 100 more and you have done all the prep, why not do it. Then you can tell your friends you did it yourself.
 
I had maaco do my 77 Aspen wagon a few years ago and it turned out really nice.
Here are some pics. Had wheels painted at the same time.
 

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I've had several painted by Maaco.
I Strip the parts off, do the body work and tape it off.
They do the paint, several very nice jobs.
The only car I've seen lately that was painted by them
is a 4 year old job and it still looking good.
It was a color clear job.
 
I heard pretty good "daily driver" feedback from guys on the Maaco's of the world. Recommendation is always do the body and prep work first. Get it right and perfect and it will turn out pretty good.
 
like other said, if you do ALL the prep work yourself, go with the elcheapo at maaco. the paint quality is good, but their prep work is horrible. you tape it up and all. anything you do not want to get painted, you better take off the car.lol
 
I wouldn't recommend a single stage job. They fade quickly and don't buff out well. See how much their 2 stage clear coat jobs are and go with that. If you prep it yourself it should come out ok...but you still never know. Like these other guys said, you get what you pay for.
 
Myself ..
I would check out the work they are putting out and while there ask how long the painter has been there painter also see what paint they use.
Then tape it up and hand it over, and if you think about it -
for a few hundred bucks you get a booth and a good arm with the gun
If there is some problem they will have to fix it since it would be paint and there liability (at worst they re shoot a panel) and its no sweat off your back.
If you had a booth I would say why not go for the learning experience and give it a shot.
my .02
 
holmes said:
I had maaco do my 77 Aspen wagon a few years ago and it turned out really nice.
Here are some pics. Had wheels painted at the same time.
Click to expand...

I'm going for the same kind of look - spartan exterior trim with Cop Wheels the same color as the car.

My color is gonna be a pale yellow. I'd like to take it back to original, or maybe even a charcoal, flat black/blue, or something kinda mean looking. But, the current color is pale yellow & was a pretty good job...25 yrs ago. Not too bad to prep because of the quality.

If I could figure out an easy way to post photos, I'd do it.

So far, the FABO opinions are parallel to what I'm hearing 'on the street.' About 70 Y (ElCheap-O) / 30 N.

But, all the positive feedback seems to be from the Maaco jobs. I've got a local shop, been in business for +/-20yrs that seems to have a decent track record. But, more research to come.

BTW, I really, really wanna do it myself, but the wife's got a lil' future gearhead on the way, so that's a big
reason for looking at outsourcing this job.
 
Okay heres my opinion take it for what its worth. Its a lot of work to take paint off but you can always take paint off. Its not like having a panel welded on wrong and having to cut it out and replace it. Even if it is not perfect it will protect it for a while. For 250 bucks you can do that anytime and then save for a better job 2, 3 or 5 years later.
 
archlab said:
I've gotten my B/Cuda prepped & sanded. Now I'm about ready to paint. I'm pretty decent @ spraying, but really haven't done enough to feel like I can do a great job, just a decent one.

So, in asking around to some friends, many of them tell me they've had good luck with the El Cheapo Paint shops like Maaco.
Since the paint & all the other chemicals like hardeners are gonna cost me about $350 (Urethane), and a local shop is said to mask & spray for $249 (& up, I'm sure). Maybe I should just go with them.

After all, I'd have to fab a makeshift paint 'tent' as well.
Anybody have any experiences to share, good or bad?
Click to expand...

prep makes the paint job for the most part look at some of there paint jobs first and see what you think
 
67Signet said:
Myself ..
I would check out the work they are putting out and while there ask how long the painter has been there painter also see what paint they use.
Click to expand...

that's really the two keys right there- the painter and the paint.

If you have a guy who's good with the gun (and trying to do a good job, I should add) and using good paint, you should get a good paint job.

After I get my Duster prepped, I have a friend who owns a bodyshop who I'll get to spray it. He painted his truck in high school, and that was better than anything I've seen from a pro shop in the 20+ years since then, so I expect a good job:)
 
Id give it a shot yourself. We painted the Dart Sport in the garage(well my father in law did not me :) ) and it actually came out pretty decent for his first attempt in painting in 20+ years at least..its not perfect it wont win first place at a show, but its more than presentable for a driver/cruiser quality car. Ive gotten compliments on it before(the color/paint) but it came out pretty nice..there are a few sags and runs in areas but nothing thats just horrid looking and you gotta look pretty close to tell. Sometimes if you ask people will rent you a booth to paint in....just another idea..But as someone said..its all in the preparation.
 
Yeah, my "One Day" is not bad, but my wife's Lexus LS400 got a fender and contrasting lower body panel shot at Maaco (body shop across the street outsourced all the paint to those guys) and it looked perfect! Like glass, pearl white and color matched perfectly, and even harder was the match to the slightly faded silver on the bottom. I was pleasantly suprised. I would say "better get Maaco" to my next job. so another vote for El Cheapo Maaco, but NOT in CA, legal paint here sucks.
 
412 Stroker said:
Up here in WI there used to be an Earl Schieb, paint any car $199.99, but they are now long gone, had a 79 Pontiac Sunbird done by them turned out pretty nice, there is a Macco up here too in Appleton, don't know if they are any good or not, anytime you try to save money you end up with not so happy ending, if you just want a 5 foot car, Macco's might do ok, I don't think it will be show quality, but that's up to you, I had a "Professional" do mine and it is nothing special, paid $3500.00, and it took him 3 years to do it. good luck with whatever you do lets see pics when it is done.
Click to expand...

Hahaha! Earl Scheib. I forgot about him. When I was a kid it was "I paint any car, $39.99". They didn't mask anything. Shot the car and cleaned it later. My friend, you get what you pay for. That said, if you do all the prep work and all they have to do is mask and paint, it might not be too bad. I wouldn't count on it, but if it isn't that great, you are only out $250.
 
UPDATE: I took the B/Cuda to my local paint shop (Diamond Paint in Smyrna, GA), got the $299 PolyUrethane 1-Stage job . All I can say is WOW! The car looks like $999,000 bucks!
It misses the $1M mark because my body prep wasn't perfect in about 2 spots. They did have a couple of minor issues (minor masking, overspray onto my nicely detailed suspension, but no biggee, really).

I would say that this is probably one of the best expenditures for any of my cars, ever. If you can do body prep, I would say that this Poly 1-Stage is the way to go.

BTW, I need to figure out how to post photos, so please stand by.

archlab
 
The real test will be a how it looks a year down the road. Im doing the prep work on a members cars and so far we have $850 in materials with no color or clear
 
IMO, there are 3 things.....
A. Is your car going to spend all its life out in the sun and weather?....or garaged? If garaged, I'd say you could get away with lower-quality paint and it'll never bite you.
B. What kind of paint will they be using? Maaco has specials on their urethane jobs now and then. I'm no fan of clearcoats either.....give me single stage, if possible. Seen so many clearcoats go south and look like sh**. I mostly go with non-metallic colors anyway, black, reds or whites.
C. Do as much of the prep/disassembly as possible!.....which includes getting all the circular sanding scratches out of the primer.
 
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