rotor vs. piston

I need to get the ol' 7 painted, I've been doing some sanding and primering of some bad spots on the car and now the times a coming to squrit some paint on it. I'm going with forest green or a darker shade, I know I could do a decent job myself with duplie-color spray paint, but I want to know what you guys/gals paid for your paint jobs.

damon

I havn't done it yet but I payed 170 for grey primer (fully mixxed), base black (fully mixxed), metallic sapphire blue(fully mixxed) and clear coat and hardner from a local auto body paint store. Im just waiting until it warms up again so I can shoot it. All you need is a compressor, paint sprayer, filter and a steady hand.

peace

Fennix_sr

i have already sanded my car and fixed up a minor dent near the front wheel well , i plan to take it in to get painted but, im thinkin my dad can do just as good of a job and the professionals with a compressor and spray gun. but its way to cold to paint right now, all you will get is orange peal. The thing about doing it yourself is it aint gonna cost ya an arm and a leg and if you screw up you can always resand it again... no big deal.

pratch

I personally will speak up and state that Maaco does a great job - provided that you pay good money and don't get anything lower than their mid-range paintjob.

I got the 4th one up the list, with integrated clearcoat, and when I picked up the result today, I was very pleased with the results.

Here's some pics...




Word of advice: the Maaco down here was very specific about NOT fixing any dings I didn't point out to them. The difference in labor would've likely only been $60 but I have a few bumps that I can look at now - learn from my mistake

damon

Man, I think Im going to get seasick from those angle shots. It almost seems like yuor slipping off of a cliff. LOL. Nice paint car, I see what you mean about those dings.

peace

j9fd3s

iTrader: (3)

we are gonna do a group miracle job, sometime soon. they do an ok job, and basically i dont want to pay $2000 for a job that isnt any better than miracle/maaco. most body shops around here do really poor work, and i dont feel like spending 7k for a paint job

mike

JEC-31

my 2 cents:
After my new air compressor came with a tool pack including a cheap but sturdy spraygun, I re-structured my project budget. The money (which, BTW, I don't have yet anyway!) that I had intented to give to a local hot-rod shop for paint is now earmarked for a full ground control/g-force suspension, and I'm going to teach myself how to paint.
I figure that this is my fun car, not a show car, and I'm pouring my blood, sweat, and tears into it. I might as well breathe some paint fumes along with the gas fumes, the brake cleaner, etc. Then I can proudly point at it and say, "Here's where I messed up, and over here, and some orange peel over here...". Then like Fennix_sr said, I can grab the sandpaper (or the sandblaster, hopefully not!) and fix it. Meanwhile, I'll be cornering so fast people won't see the paint, let alone the defects.

But there's a lot to be said for the professionals - pratch, your car is gorgeous!

zookeeper

Well... just got my car painted professionally and I have to say this: I've painted cars myself before and they always looked good, but they always looked like I painted them myself! If you can live with that and have a dust free environment where you can paint the car, a compressor and spray gun - go for it. If, by dupli-color, you mean spray cans f'get about it!!!

With professional painting, you get what you pay for. If a company like Maaco has a $200 paint job and a $1500 paint job - I think you can guess which one will look better. Like pratch said.

BTW, pratch, your car looks beautiful. But those hills...! I sure hope you got good brakes

tubbymother

Here is my two-cents: professional painters are professionals for a reason!! If you want a warranty and have no interest in painting it yourself, then spend the money. However, if you are a true do-it-yourselfer and have some talent, then I suggest painting it yourself. Doing it yourself will require a 25 gallon+ compressor ($350.00+) and a gravity feed spray gun ($100.00+), not to mention, paint and misc. Also, a dust free environment is crucial for a professional look. Two advantages of doing yourself are: if you don't like something you come always start over; and a compressor is very useful piece of equipment.

Manntis

I've ranted about Maaco in other threads. The short version:

-they left ALL the shop dust in my interior

-their own technician stole my car stereo while the car was in their shop

-when I confronted them about the stereo, they tried to say it never existed. Then changed their story and tried to seize my car through the bailiff's office.

One legal battle later I got my car back and paid for the paint job minus the cost of my stereo.

You decide if you want to chance your Maaco experience being more like the one described by the other member above or like mine. If you can live with the possibility you'll go through what I did, go to Maaco for a cheap paint job. If not, go to a good shop.

rotor vs. piston

Thanks for the ideas. Does anyone live near maryland that has the equipment and want to "practice" on a car, hmm my car? I live in dorms so I have no way to really do it myself and really don't want to go the "magic in can" route.

thorin

holy crap manntis! I'd heard horror stories about maaco spraypainting someone's signal lights, but that takes the cake.

the maaco i wen to, here in vancouver, was the complete opposite. i crashed my firends car, and after i replaced the dented panels, i needed just one side of my car painted. they didn't have a "per panel" package, so i told them just to paint the thing with the 200$ crappy enamel(my friend didnt care).

the guy i talked to gave me a great deal on the good clearcoat job.

he said didn't want me going around with a bad paintjob because it would make them look bad!

I was impressed, and I'll be back to that place the next time i need a car painted.

zookeeper

Don't they have an auto hobby shop on base there? Or is that one of the things MWR dropped with the budget cuts? When I was in the USAF, they had nice ones with really nice paint bays. Just a thought...

rotor vs. piston

The shop here is down sizing alot, but I'm told aberdean still has a paint booth, but thats two hours away. I know it's sack religious but I think it's going to be dupli-color, to get macco to do what I want will cost me the one arm I have left. But I'm going to wait until next spring with what ever I do, maybe by then I'll have found some one or somewhere I can do a good job. I've turned every bolt on my car and really don't want just any Joe Blow "I don't care because it's not my car" to have his/her grubby hands on my baby. Make sure you read the post from Manntis, I've worried about that happening to me. I don't want to have to itemize my car before I hand it over to someone.

thorin

Spieder

I say MAACO. I just had mine painted there last year. Here's my advice.

Personally go to and walk all the perspective paint shops and inspect there work. I went to 2 MAACO's, a 1 Day Auto, an Earl Shibb and some independents. The 1 Day Auto had the best paint, they use Dupont. MAACO uses Western. 1 Day's painters are also very good from what I saw. However, they won't work with you. If you do any work yourself they won't guarantee any of the paint.

I sanded it all the way down to metal and did all the body work. I removed every piece of trim mold, handle and glass I could get off. The guys at MAACO gave me hints and inspected my work, prior to painting.

Now, don't think MAACO is a top notch facility and that you are going to get a Ferrari paint job. I paid 300 for my paint job itselff, an extra 40 for flex additive to the bumpers (so the paint doesnt crack), another 150 to have the car reprimered and hand sanded after I personally had primered and sanded it. Then I paid another 100 bucks for some body work I couldn't seem to get straight ( I managed to get the other 30 odd dents patched geeze).

From a score of 1 to 100 I'd give MAACO 85. There are no runs in the paint (my biggest concern). They forgot to remove my plate so I had to repaint under it in the back (I had it loose too for them). I have No fish eyes. I have a few foreign objects here and there but you have to search for them. I did get overspray on my windows. They forgot to tape off the bumper center trim and painted it one color. I painted it with bumper rubberizer and it looks pretty sweet though.

But for 300 bucks (actual painting) you can't beat it.

faye x7

Huh..I've always wonder how Maaco did as far as the paint goes. Seems like too much of a hassle.

Almost better to do it yourself and you learn something new too.

rotor vs. piston

I agree

pratch

Again, you get what you pay for. Not every Maaco is evil, not every one is good. I shelled out plenty and spoke with everyone there from the detailer to the painter. Yes, shop dust all over the interior, but everything else looks fantastic. YMMV

Manntis

The shop I took Pamela to after getting rear ended (not once, not twice, but thrice!) is restoring a Bugatti worth obscene amounts of money and has several 50's Chevys and other toys going through various stages of work @ any given time.

Even with simple things like removing emblems and welding in the holes they're meticulous about it, and their masking has been error-free.

Best of all, ZERO shop dust.

(Glenn Hoff Collision Repair, for anyone in mid-Saskatchewan)

JEC-31

You better not be talking Dupli-color rattle cans, bro.
Sounds like you have the same blood, sweat, & tears investement as me, so I totally understand your aversion to handing your car off to the possibility of hacks posing as professionals.
But don't be a hack yourself, rattlecan paintjobs are for dirt-track racecars that lose body panels every week, not your sweet 7. Beg & borrow a compressor & gun, a bunch of clear plastic sheeting, a garage spot, and get a how-to-book and a scrap fender to practice on, and finish your baby right.

Or if you elect to wait and save for a pro job, cruise the shops and look at their work. I noticed two kinds of shops in my area: places that serve the used-car lots and places with hotrods, musclecars, lowriders, and in Manntis's case exotic sportscars, out front. Needless to say, the latter group is a prime indicator of quality.

85RX7GS

iTrader: (1)

Mine went through some major body and structural work as well as a paint job and it looks like new! Anyone in the Northeast: I recommend the guy who did the work on my car. PM me for his number.

pratch

I think this will end up being a case of finding someone in your area that has had an excellent experience, and following their lead.

All of the advice here is excellent.

Rx7carl

pratch you show off!

pratch

nah, that's my car - I just have to follow her wishes to keep her happy