tunercrazed

I thought the local maaco was bought out? guess not....

mikeyg323

I heard Maaco was cheap and sucky and that they only use 1 layer of paint. I think my friend took his car in there and they didnt get all the jams and stuff.

92civicb18b1

I painted my car for way less then 300 bucks, it was more like 80 bucks.

As for maaco, their cheapest job is only one layer, obviously you can pay extra and they'll shoot extra layers and do the job how ever you want.

get_nick

i've had two paintjobs done at maaco on civic coupes. they did a phenomenal job for what i paid. if they missed the jambs, then you tell them they missed it and they will re-do it. they oversprayed on mine and left some pieces looking pink instead of milano red. told them it wouldn't cut it and they manager was happy to take it back. he even fired the guy who painted it because it was his third shitty job in a row.

big companies care about reputation, even if it is cheap. i took the car to my import shop and he told me that the same exact paint job would cost him $2500 to do and that it looked great.

go in with the expectation of quality, and don't pay for bottom of the line and maaco will treat you right.

YBLEGAL

thanks get_nick. you changed my mind about them some. i've always had a bad image of them since when I bought my car, the front bumper had a macco paint job done. it was a red bumper some dude got from the junkyard, and had it painted black over top. but your right, it wasnt macco's fault. that dude that owned the car before me was just a cheap ass. it looked OK at first when i bought it, only a few little little specks of red here and there, but ya as time goes on and rocks chip away at the black, it's looking horrible.

1 gallon for the whole car? like 1 gallon primer, 1 gallon color, 1 gallon clear coat?

opinions on House of Colors paints? just looking for a pearl black (maybe).

thanks for a good discussion fellas!

get_nick

i don't know what all you need, but both times i spent about $800 and couldn't tell the difference from a $3000 paint job. if you can deal with a little overspray, you'll be fine. it gets bad when they just shoot over factory stuff for $249.

autox 89 dx

just make sure you wet the floor were your gonna spray it that will keep the dust down and it traps the overspray from sticking to the floor

svaby

ya just try it your self ask some painters... me and my freinds made a paint booth with drains and a vent system and it's pretty good for us the jobs we did out of there came out pretty good just we had alot of wet sanding cause the clear is a little tricky to spray. just make a closed in spot before you shoot your paint and clear as for where you do body work anywhere that you can as long as you keep it clean you'll almost wanna take soapy water like dish soap ( and wash it good right before )after you get your body work done with primer on and ready for paint of course

and one last thing if you wanna save money use an off brand paint like lemmco or somthing in that sort you don't have to go with top of line dupont and stuff

neonmike

way to bring back a thread from the dead dude

sleeper1.6

Maaco isn't always the best either. My friend got a paint job their and it sucked hard. If you want to do it right DIY. That is what I am doing, but I work in a paint shop where I get use the paint booth, sand paper, and tools. Looks good from the pics, next step wet sand and buff!

sleeper1.6

Dead thread... lol... happens to every one sometime...

95EGciv

DO NOT USE MAACO>> 2 coats of silver will not cover anything. ... you will see right through it. you need to use 3 or 4. take it to a real body shop or custom shop. a good paint job will run from $2000-4000..but your car is completely taken apart and painted properly, not with door handles, mouldings and lights in like maaco... the edges will peel in less than a year.. maaco is garbage. you are better off trying yourself.... I paint and work at a 5 star collision shop that is Lexus Certified. if i can get some pictures of my eg on here i will show you..

95EGciv

here are a few pics of my car when i first painted it about a year ago... it is RX-8 Velocity red pearl.. I've got new wheels and headlights since..
I took it completely apart and painted all the jambs etc.( haven't painted engine bay yet, but will with swap!)
try it yourself... its the only way to learn. you can read all you want but it doesn't mean a damn thing untill you do it and get the experience..
a gallon of each primer, base and clear, with all the reducers and hardners is all that you will need to do a complete.. you will have more then enough primer..

Attached Thumbnails

         

 

BrutalB83

Yeah, or you can take classes...

eg6sir

thats funny because i was gonna do a Maaco job on my hatch.. i went and got quoted, .. $900!?! .. thats when i decided to do the $50 paint job

95EGciv

classes will only teach you what you can read online or in articles.. painting is a skill, not a theory.. i went to school for 2 years for automotive collison and refinishing, and i learned more in the first few months in a shop then i did there.. it is learned by hands on experience.. learning from mistakes and things that work out the way you want them to. i could tell you exactly how to do a quality paint job step by step, it doesn't mean you will do it perfect the first time.. practice makes perfect ring a bell?

kamilnj83

Hey guys I'm new to the forum but take a look at some of my work, I only use Spies Hecker paints and BASF clears, but I've work with it all and this stuff is really good for the price. At the end of it all a good paint job start with good prep.180>220>320>Primer Surfacer>Block Sand>400>600>Paint>Clear

This bumper was a light silver and was covered with 2 coats of black, no primer, 2 coats of clear.

stevennn09

put two coats of wet clear. u need at least one coat or else you will not have any gloss in your paint. plus if u ever get minor scratchs in a thick coat of clear down the road, u have plenty of clear to wetsand thru to get the scratch out. which helps alot. try to spray both coats fairly close in time when dealing with clear. runs can be cleaned up with a razor blade and some 800 grit sand paper. 1500 the final coat of clear. use alottt of water while doing this. if u hear any scratching apply more water. than use a heavy compound and rubb that shit. be careful not to burn thru, i learned the hard way by rubbing thru on a 6000 dollar insurance job..