Ok, I am not too big into the aesthetic look of a car but I have decided its time to black it out. I am going to get a cheap-o paint job from maaco or some similar shop here in houston but mainly I would like to fix my little rust spots and dents before I take it in.

Does anyone know how much a simple black paint job at maaco runs with maybe a tad bit of gloss?

I have a new fender and air dam coming but I have a few bad rust spots mainly near the hatch and where the doors shut, I think I can take car of those but what should I do about the little dings?

Anyone have any good links? Can I just sand off the paint and fill with bondo or something?

and last question , what all should I remove before taking it, I was thinking....

rear lights
that grey trim stuff on the side of the car

but is there anything else?

again of course all input is appreciated,
Thanks
Greg

 

The gray trim was glued on my FC at the doors so I never removed it, just painted over it. You can take off the rear hatch if you don't mind driving w/o it on the way to the paint shop, mirrors if you don't want them painted, ftp lenses, and when you get in the parking lot of the paint shop you can take out all the marker lights and tail lights / center brake light. If you are really ambitious you can remove the rear emblems and hatch lock cylinder (easier than it sounds).

For body work, it is good to rough up the paint where you are going to apply body filler when fixing a dent. Just please sand it down and blend it in to the shape of the body, so it doesn't look crappy. Rust spots are hard if they are through the metal, but if you have metal left after scouring or sanding off the rust, you can apply body filler over that. If there is a hole, you can patch it with fiberglass or that wire mesh that you can get at auto parts stores for repairing rust holes.

You can take a "scotch brite" and rough up the entire paint surface of the car before taking it to the paint shop, too.

I've seen Maaco advertising their base paint job for around 200 bucks when I lived in Phoenix. Some small local shops will do it within a couple hundred of that price. You get what you pay for. That's why I did mine myself - seven coats, full strip, acid wipe, etching primer, surfacer, bodywork, all for only $500 in materials and about a month of ~20 hours per week work.

 

I would do it myself but I am staying in an APt right now, I dont mind if it looks like trash really, it will look better than it does now..... my main thing, is i just want it straight.

Thanks for your tips on the body and rust,
Greg