Good place to get car painted?

[1984rampage]

My parents just told me that they are getting my car painted for my 18th birthday. The original person that was going to do it quoted them $2500 and my mom decided she didnt want to spend that much because she figures it will get dinged up at college... Are there any chains that are good? Or should I try and find someone local through word of mouth?

[1984rampage]

And Im kinda on the wall about the paint scheme... Im thinking of trying something a little different but dont know what... I REALLY like Alans black and red charger but Im pretty sure he wouldnt want anyone copying it loll.. Any ideas/recomendations?

[GLHS592]

Go to a cruise-in or car show or even your local performance car message forum and talk to people. If you see a paint job you like, talk to the owner. The shop that painted it may be out of your budget, but they might be able to steer you toward a shop that can do a good budget paint job. A shop also may make a deal with you where you do some of the work to cut costs.

Chain paint shops aren't usually that good. However, Maaco put a VERY decent paint job on my father-in-law's Cadillac. Some very good body men/painters have started out at Maaco.

[overboostmotorsports]

maaco offers a good paint job IF 1) you sand and prep the body 2) YOU need to tape it off REAL good


Norm

[ctown2ctown]

good place to get your car painted-your garage. all kidding aside do 100% of the prep work and you eliminate 90% of the cost. my integra i did all the prep work, i had access to a body shop, but still. paint job ended up costing $100 results were beautiful.


http://b6.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/01127/67/67/1127697676_l.jpg

[1984rampage]

I have absolutely NO idea how to do any of the prep work lol.. Im only 17 and I have no experience in body work

[overboostmotorsports]

no better time to learn......find books,buddy up to a bodyguy,get ready to sand until it feels like your arms are going to fall off.

[JohnnyIroc]

my dad took an acclaim to maaco many years ago turned out better then when new from factory
he did all the prep work himself
and now were going to do it to my tona this spring

[contraption22]

The paint job on my horizon is a 10yr old Maaco job. Yes it's flaking off now, but for what I pad for it, lasting this long, i cannot complain. I never woulda thought I would still have the car this long.

[jl93sundance]

I would try to avoid small body shops unless you have seen a car they have painted and talked with the customer to see how the service was. There's a place near me that the cars seem to sit out 2-3 months before they ever get touched....

[1966 dart wagon]

I have absolutely NO idea how to do any of the prep work lol.. Im only 17 and I have no experience in body work

Either Learn, or take some somewhere, perhaps even go to your local school and learn it, If you have any work to do and want it done quick and fast i suggest take it somewhere(money pending).

I work in a shop and there are a number of times people try and do it themselves or 'pound out dents' and say well i did half the work, no you made it more difficult actually. Just a though, Good luck, i vote do it yourself or at least the scuffing and prep

[1966 dart wagon]

I have absolutely NO idea how to do any of the prep work lol.. Im only 17 and I have no experience in body work

Either Learn, or take some somewhere, perhaps even go to your local school and learn it, If you have any work to do and want it done quick and fast i suggest take it somewhere(money pending).

I work in a shop and there are a number of times people try and do it themselves or 'pound out dents' and say well i did half the work, no you made it more difficult actually. Just a thought, Good luck, i vote do it yourself or at least the scuffing and prep

[bfarroo]

If you visit a local car spot you may be able to find someone that does work on the side. My brother has done it for a few years now and there's nothing like word of mouth advertisement. Typically if they do a good job for a good price people are going to recommend him. Chances are you may be able to see the work in some of the cars around the area. My brother had to turn people away in the past because he just doesn't have enough time.

[Polygon]

maaco offers a good paint job IF 1) you sand and prep the body 2) YOU need to tape it off REAL good


Norm

Nah, I've got to call you on that. I've seen cars they've painted with runs in the paint. Don't ever paint any car you care about at Maaco.

[Anonymous_User]

Best paintjobs I've seen or had done are done by individuals. My Falcon I had painted by my neice's boyfriend. He did an AMAZING job. At the same time, buddy of mine had his Malibu painted at a local shop. He had to do a LOT of work afterwards to even compare.

There's a guy I know up the street from my parents place that does the most amazing custom paintjobs. He's into the low rider scene. He's disabled, unemployed, and kind of a mental case. But his work is simply gorgeous.

The best locally is a guy that does extreme custom work. He's in his late 60's. Never had any education. Can't read or write. All he has ever done is custom body work. There's always been a line 2-3 years long to get work done by him and he won't touch your car unless it is going to be a 100% show worthy custom job.

Long story short, ask around, hang around, find out where the artists are. They are all over but they don't advertise. Word of mouth is enough.

[135sohc]

Nah, I've got to call you on that. I've seen cars they've painted with runs in the paint. Don't ever paint any car you care about at Maaco.

Maaco does alright. its all about how much your willing to spend.

I've seen crap work put out by the 'good' local shops also. our 02 Ram is a glaring example of shoddy worksmanship on the part of the local 'good' shop.

[Polygon]

Maaco does alright. its all about how much your willing to spend.

The last car I saw, he spent about $1,000 on a Maaco job and it had runs in the paint.

Inexcusable. Maaco is the Jiffy Lube of paint.

[Anonymous_User]

The last car I saw, he spent about $1,000 on a Maaco job and it had runs in the paint.

Inexcusable. Maaco is the Jiffy Lube of paint.

I almost fainted when I first saw my Falcon post paint. The clear had runs. But, this was before post-paint work. The clear laid down rather thick, but after the blemishes were taken care of and the car buffed, it is 100% beautiful.

Prep work is mandatory, but the job isn't done just because the paint is dry!!

[135sohc]

The Shadow has a maaco repaint on it. Its far from perfect but for $700 I thought it was money well spent to get more life out of a car and keep it looking ok and not an eyesore.

Maaco is far from perfect but better than nothing. Thats all I will say.

[Polygon]

Oh, I'm not saying don't ever use Maaco. I'm just saying don't use them for a car you really care about making look nice.

[JohnnyIroc]

even if you want the car to look real nice and care about the car
macco does it right if you set them up right by doing the prep work

[Darkapollo]

My first shadow had a macco paint job and it was 'decent' but you could tell that the prep work was shoddy. Over spray on the glass and the door jambs were the original teal color so its obvious that they didnt do them. but other then that it wasnt a bad paint job at all, just needed a bit of finish work on the outside.
Also, werent you the same guy who recomended me to not use DAS to get my car shipped? It arrived in 2 days, not the 10 they had quoted me. FYI.

[Polygon]

even if you want the car to look real nice and care about the car
macco does it right if you set them up right by doing the prep work

I suppose we can agree to disagree. I've seen more than one car come from them with runs which has absolutely nothing to do with prep.

[1966 dart wagon]

Macco if its a DD and you wanna freshen it up a lil, but don't expect much.

If you want it to look good, take it to a shop, have em block the car once and call it good, See what else the shop has done for cars, describe to them how good you want it to look, they should be able to get a feel for the 'let it go' and fix it, I would think. You said "good place to get a car painted' so Macco to me would be out of the question.

[JohnnyIroc]

yes we can agree to disagree
im going to take my car there this spring and ill tell everyone how it turns out

[1966 dart wagon]

yes we can agree to disagree
im going to take my car there this spring and ill tell everyone how it turns out


I suppose we can agree to disagree. I've seen more than one car come from them with runs which has absolutely nothing to do with prep.

but his is right? :confused:

My current auto teacher actually use to work at macco and paint the cars, Good luck with the paint job,

[1984rampage]

Also, werent you the same guy who recomended me to not use DAS to get my car shipped? It arrived in 2 days, not the 10 they had quoted me. FYI.

Nope wasnt me! lol

[bfarroo]

Laying down the paint is probably the easiest part of the paint job. The prep and finish work are the time consuming parts. If it was just laying down the paint and nothing else I'd gladly do it for 500 bucks. It all depends on what you want. Basic supplies are easily going to run 300 for primer, hardener, paint, reducer, and clear if your going with the comercial brand paints. I tend to use Omni. I think it's PPG's commercial brand. Now if you want to get into a higher end paint like dupont, PPG, Sickens ect. your easily going to spend 1000-1500 just on supplies. on the other end you can pick up some oil based enamel for 25-50 bucks a gallon plus some Naptha to reduce it and some hardener. With this you can have a paint job for 100 bucks. They all will have their pros and cons and really determine the cost of the paint job so it's just another thing to find out when your pricing a paint job.

Here's my shadow that I spent 35 bucks to paint.
http://www.extremepsi.org/gallery/albums/album19/DSC01250.jpg

and here's my daytona that I spent 1500 on
http://www.extremepsi.org/gallery/albums/Benji-91-Shelby/DSC00375.jpg

[BadAssPerformance]

So Benji... you paint cars for others? ;)

[bfarroo]

I probably would if I had the time. It's just hard getting my projects done let alone anything else. If I had enough time set aside to do it I probably would. Why you need a daytona painted :) I've done a few of those! Just with traveling for work all the time I never know when I'm going to be home. I've been messing around with that dakota I bought from Dave T's friend. Practicing my metal working replacing the rear wheel lips. That kind of work takes some practice. The second wheel well turned out much better than the first. I didn't get the contours how I wanted them on the first one so I'm going to have to use a little more filler to smooth it out on that side. I have both sides repaired and one replacement fender to install. Next are the rocker panels.

This is the first one I did
Cut out the rust
http://www.extremepsi.org/gallery/albums/Body-Work/DSC00902.jpg
Metal welded back in
http://www.extremepsi.org/gallery/albums/Body-Work/DSC00904.jpg

[BadAssPerformance]

I may just need a certain Daytona painted next winter ;)

Nice work on the Dak! :thumb: