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

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I'm a big fan of single stage urethane also. I've seen too many cars here with the clear coat baked right off from the sun.
The stuff I used has high uv protection for just that reason.
I've got about $450 total in my paint job and i'm happy.
 

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archlab said:
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
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I would like to see it. Posting pictures is as easy as 1,2,3. Just make sure you resize them so they fit properly. If you Microsoft Picture Manager use it to resize them and save them to a file on your PC. Then upload them directly from your file.
 
Like that 2Dr-Post!
Anyway, I want to stipulate this: Yellow isn't my favorite, but I went with yellow because the car had been painted yellow about 20-25yrs ago. So I kept it to simplify matters. However, I looked long & hard for the 'right yellow'. I finally found it ("Inspiration Yellow" from a 2002 Ford T'Bird palette).

I like the 'understated' look of this yellow, but again, the clouds didn't fdo the photos much justice. I'm 're-trimming' & doing my final clean-up this weekend. As such, I'll post some better pics (hopefully in the sun!)
 
Thats a nice "classic" looking yellow. Not bad for a cheapie paint job.

Now it's up to you to keep it looking good. I'd invest in an orbital waxer and wax that thing about 4 times a year. If you get a decent Makita orbital and liquid wax, take two microfiber cloths...one damp and one dry. Wax each panel with the orbital, use the damp cloth to wipe most of the wax off and then buff with the dry cloth. You can knock it out in a half hour easy.
 
Basecoat / Clearcoat paint is the way to go if it's within your budget. BC/CC paints give a deeper shine & have better UV & chemical protection. Clear coats can also be sanded if there are any runs or excess orange peel, single stages can't be color sanded if there are metalics in it. Most fleet paint jobs are done in single stage paint because they only really care if it's the same color as the rest of the vehicles or equipment(what's that tell ya?). So evaluate what you want the job to turn out like. What is your intended purpose for the project? Show car or driver or 20 footer? I would agree the better it's prepped the better the end result. Many cars have been painted in sigle stage paint & look fine. Preparation & skill have a lot to do with it regardless what paint is used.

As for being lazy, I'd have to think taking the additional steps to do a good BC/CC job is worth the effort in the end & doing a quicky job with less steps is probably the lazier way to go. JMHO!
 
I had my Newport painted at Maaco in 1996 and the paint still looks fine, after sitting outside in GA 5 yrs (uncovered) and 11 yrs in CA (covered), but waxed yearly. I paid twice the "winter special" price for their 2-part polyurethane, w/ clear coat. It has some stone dings and 3 section re-paints after accidents (rear qtr, 2 doors, 1 replaced). You will get damage in a daily driver, so unless yours is a trailer queen, you will never maintain perfection. Ditto above that you can't get good and cheap painting in CA anymore.

When I paint my Dart and Valiant, I will use single stage, and maybe the "roll & tip" method. I have seen too many cars with degraded clear coats, including some of mine. Single color is easier to repair future damage. I will also not use semi-metallic again. One door I repainted myself in the Newport (replacement), lying horizontal to avoid runs. The color looks different, depending on the sunlight angle, which I attribute to the metal flakes orienting differently under gravity. Pretty sure it wasn't due to the paint match since I painted another door at the same time on the car and it matches perfectly. I also read that the metal flakes (aluminum) can oxidize over time and degrade the paint.
 
Car looks fine [don't really need a 10,000$ job on a driver] if your happy thats all that counts, however i noticed that the jams and under hood areas are the orignal yellow,i personally would have done everything since i'm doing the prepwork [just seems half assed in my opinion but i'm anial and pickey]. Other than that your car looks good to me i like the body color wheels,she will look better once she's assembled.
 
Thats a nice color!
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Thanks! Maybe I did right for once. I fretted about the color for a long time...then one day at the bank, a T-Bird pulls up & I was sold.
 
ESP47 said:
Thats a nice "classic" looking yellow. Not bad for a cheapie paint job.

Now it's up to you to keep it looking good. I'd invest in an orbital waxer and wax that thing about 4 times a year. If you get a decent Makita orbital and liquid wax, take two microfiber cloths...one damp and one dry. Wax each panel with the orbital, use the damp cloth to wipe most of the wax off and then buff with the dry cloth. You can knock it out in a half hour easy.
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I've gotta remember to wax. New Yrs Resolution.
 
That looks mighty good to me. Were the wheels done at the same time? They appear to have a different shade, but it may be due to lighting. In any case, nice job. Hope you have it at Summit in May.:cheers:
C
 
clhyer said:
That looks mighty good to me. Were the wheels done at the same time? They appear to have a different shade, but it may be due to lighting. In any case, nice job. Hope you have it at Summit in May.:cheers:
C
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You are correct about the different shades. I'm gonna get the wheels done to match. Those along w/ the Jambs. The Jambs should've been done beforehand, but that was my mistake. Also, I just finished the Engine Compartment to match - it looks really good & blends well w/ the exterior. If I could, I would've done a true disassembly & just done everything at once. I am, however, not taking any shortcuts on getting the 'secondary' areas (like the Jambs) to blend. I erred once, but don't wanna compound it by rushing though. Live & Learn...fortunately, it's working out nicely.
 
Thats great she'll look great when thats all done good job, can't wait for mine to be done but other projects keep gettin ahead of it.
 
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