Now im pretty sure this has been posted already BUT here is a link to the, budget paintjob thanks to 69chargeryeehaa on the site, he was the originator of the 50 dollar paint job idea, the "poster" that posted this did a nice condensing (sp) off all the questions and answers that were brought up.... i am starting this job tomorrow on the spare door that i have just to see how well this works. it seems to have done WONDERS for a few of the other guys on the moparts forums. for 50 bucks to do a whole car??? who is going to flame on that! i mean arent all of us FC guys cheap? so long and the short of it is, you thin down the Rustoleum ENAMEL paint...(not latex) with mineral spirits so its a "little thicker than water" then paint it on very THIN, wait a few hours, then paint it on again....next morning wet sand it with 600 grit, then 2 more coats, wetsand with 800grit, then 2 more coats and wetsand with 1000 or 1500 grit. wipe with rag soaked in mineral spirits, then get the cheapo turtle wax white puck (3.00) POLISHING compound, after that wax. and your done!

so again im starting this tomorrow and ill let everyone know how it goes, and hopefully get a camera so i can do pics of each step


Zak

 

cool! good luck! i was gonna do this but i have everything to do a conventional paint job so im just gonna do it that way.

 

im going to maaco http://www.maaco.com/paint.aspx#

 

yeah, if i had all the spray **** i would do it too, but i dont see spending a few hundred at maaco for a shitty job where they get overspray on everything, and it looks like **** unless you pay at least like 500 bucks...**** that, i would rather try this first, if it doesnt work, since i only did it on one door i can just say **** it and go pay for a good one, but if it works as well as it seems to....**** man 50 bucks to do a whole car and have it look as good as some of the results i have seen...ill take it! taht extra 450 could get me an exhaust!

Zak

 

sweet get pics of everything, good luck.

 

The thing you have to worry about with MAACO, Earl Schieb, and other cheapo places is the paint frequently shows orange peel. Not to mention the overspray, and some of them dry the cars outside.

I know you expect lower standards from a ~$400 entire car paintjob, but still.

I've been considering risking the $50 job for a while now, so keep us updated with how is turns out.

 

Your worried about a MAACO paintjob and you are considering doing one for 50.00???

You get what you pay for

 

lol. The pictures I've seen of the $50 jobs actually look like they might be better quality than some MAACO/ES results I've seen.

 

+1 for pics, I've contemplated this, too and am VERY curious to how it comes out!!

 

this has been covered a few times already.
best of luck post pics

 

take your time, and do everything right
iv'e seen 2 differents car that tried it, got lazy and it came out like ****

 

To a point, paint is paint. How good a paintjob comes out depends majorly on the time put into it. Sure, more expensive paint is going to turn out better in the same situation. However, the most expensive paint in the world will still look like *** if put on crappy.

 

yep, thats what im screaming....although i had a dream last night that i started to do this paintjob...and i didnt thin the paint enough, it started to roll out the hunter green that i chose...but then started to change to purple, then red, and i started getting frantic and i tried to keep rolling it out but it would just get thicker and thicker...and AHHHHHH then i woke up lol. scary man! but yeah i will take my time, thin everything out, and this door is my spare so its my guinea pig. i hope i get as good results as the other guys who did it! besides that whole maaco thing...you REALLY think they care how your car comes out??? i mean really for 200-500 bucks they are just going to spray and get it out as fast as possible!


Zak

i just have to find a camera to use, besides my sister is getting married in 2 days, and i dont know if its such a great idea for me to start the process right this minute....which sucks...so i may have to wait till monday but dont you all fret, i will figure out a way to get the pics and a complete walkthrough as best as i can!

 

doesn't maaco offer warrantees on their clear coat?

 

If it's too thick, thin, whatever; all you gotta do is sand it down and start over.

For $20 a can, I wouldn't be too worried about "wasting" it.

 

yeah i know right....haha im not to worried, i just picked up a pint yesterday of the gloss hunter green, so im just waiting for this wedding **** to be done....

Zak

 

wow, that actually looks really nice. my car has been primer for far too long. I think I'll probably attempt this at some point over the summer. I'll deffinitly make a thread about it when I do.

but the real question is... flat, semi-gloss, or gloss black?

 

who cares just put paint over the primer, never leave your car primered

 

it was primer when I bought it, and then it broke

and I've just been telling myself "I'll paint it when it runs"

it should be done pretty soon though.

 

You get what you pay for.

The biggest variable in paints is longevity... Krylon and rustoleum or any of those are not gonna last more than a couple years in the sun, probably less.

So you might end up spending $50 and a lot of time every 2 years to keep it looking just mediocre, or you could spend $200 on a decent single stage urethane enamel that will look much better for about 5 years. You can even get metallics too.

The paint on my car is good base/clear and still looks good after 7 years.

Maaco will use a cheap single-stage urethane. The quality will vary from location to location but the local maaco here does crappy work. I have seen orange peel galore and even several cars with overspray on the mufflers. I have delivered paint to them before and seen guys spraying without wearing a respirator, or without properly masking off the car. I would not recomend maaco to anyone unless that was their only choice. At least locally there are shops that use similar products but use them right for around the same price.

 

the guy who wrote the post on the other forum said it color matched perfectly when he had to repaint one of the fenders 6 years later...

*shrug*

 

He probably keeps it in a garage and doesnt drive it often. He also probably doesnt live in very close to the equator. I work at a automotive paint store and i have seen what these kinds of jobs look like after time. Any un-eveness or striping gets 10x worse with age. I would also like to see what his definition of a "match" is. When doing touchup or partial painting even the highest end paint will never be a "perfect" match. You always have to do some blending.

Since these are flat generic colors it might be close if the original isnt too faded, but the "match" is very subjective, and personally i dont trust someone that paints with such a low-grade material to make that call for my car.

 

no offense syn since i see you said you work at an automotive paint store, but you should read his entire post before you make statements like that, he sometimes garages it, and he has put over 35,000 miles on it since the paintjob, also his color "matching" he said he would bet anyone 100 bucks if they could pick out the fender that was repainted....now im not saying that this is going to be a show quality paint job...as my topic stated it was "paintjob on a budget" so for us broke bastards that dont want to shell out even 200 bucks for the crappy maaco job, its another great alternative. the statement about the equator peeks my interest... how does that effect paint? he lives in canada, i live in CT. so im guessing his temps are a bit cooler than mine would be but by at most maybe 20 degrees...does that make much difference???

Zak

 

Yeah i'll admit i am kinda biased on this subject.

Being close to the equator means you are closer to the sun, therefore being exposed to more intense UV light. It's becoming less of a factor with new modern paints but with low-end you dont get as much UV protection. The UV exposure is what causes paints to fade or die-back. Basically more exposure to direct sunlight can make a dramatic difference on lifespan.

I know with the higher end paint, out of experience that here in the NW we get about 9-12 years out of a base/clear paintjob. Down in the SW they get 5-10 generally. The difference is most dramatic on cars that are parked outside or driven frequently.

 

righteous...thanks for the input syn...and i totally understand your being biased... i mean **** my family owns a bakery and my father was a career chef in all the top restaurants in NYC...so im very biased about foods... so i know your plight!

Zak