DJ19895.0

OK, so i talked to macco and it sounds like crap. After reading a large article on diy auto painting, and talking to macco, $1000 is a LOT of money just to get a quickie paint job. They said for $1000, they scuff the old paint and repaint with a single coat job. Sounds like crap to me. If my paint is chipping, it going to continue to do that and cause the macco paint to chip too. So if i paint it myself, take down to bare metal, use filler and primer the RIGHT way, its going to look good and last, right?? I know it is an incredible task to get into, and its goint to take about 100 man hours and about $600 in paint and supplies. Is it worth it? What are some oppinions?

randy78045

Ive been around cars being painted and helped prep them... It's not as easy as it seems... and now the paints are multiple stage which is even more pain... it just seems like a whole lotta work and in the end frankly, will it even be as good as maaco. They have the guns and the heat lamps, etc... I'm one who jumps in over his head at times but this seems way over my head....

Mustang5.0_GT

You cant do it in a Garage or some sort of area like that because all the dust particles will fall into your paint and fck it up ..... What color do you want to do it .... If its black ... i wouldent even try

moparman1975

I've been in the same boat, I didn't want to pay an outragous price of a new paint job so I did it myself and it look good. There are a few things your'e going to have to consider.
THE BAD: the cost of supplies will definately put you around $600
The time you'll invest in body work is unreal, especially when your working a full time job
You better have a garage to do it right
THE GOOD: You will pay more attention to detail than MAACO will
The feeling you get when people compliment you on your car is means so much more

The one thing I took away from painting my own car is that preparing the car for paint is THE MOST IMPORTANT STEP it has to be flawless so take the time to do it right. If you think a panel is still off after prepping the car STOP, take your time and go over it again until it is perfect. The actual painting of the car was the quickest and easiest part of the entire job. It took weeks to get the body ready and less than an hour to paint it. Good Luck

Would I do it again? body work - yes paint - no

95Stealth302

I went through this last year. Maaco does a fine job prepping and painting if you they are nice guys who do honest work (hard to find that out, I know).

However, since you dont have a paint booth, a gun, masks, ventilation, all the necessary tools for proper preperation, etc, it was worth the money in my book. After all was said and done, Maaco did an excellent job with the paint, and got all my dents out for 1000$. With the new paint on your car, you can take an orbital buffer to it with a variety of poorboy's compounds and make it look like brand new as well as give it the protection it needs. If you have some extra cash, have them throw on an extra coat of clear or two, and then wet sand it yourself and buff it to a mirror.

Tims 88GT

you will spend $600+ and you are going to have a lot more than 100 man hours in the prep work.

ivan12

Or you could do both. You could do the prep work yourself and have someone else paint it. You could prep yourself and make sure it's the way you want it. I recommend you find someone else though, someone who will leave the car in the oven a lot longer. Maaco does things too quick, they just want to get the car done and ready for the next, here is where they miss that extra step. I don't want to put Maaco down in any way but the one down here does that, and I've heard a lot of complaints.

99mustang0

I know someone who paints in his garage, he just makes sure to keep the cement floor wet and keeps it clean in there and stuff turns out really well. Just have to keep the dust from flyin around in there.

schwindty

Well man I am in the process of doing mine right now! I made a space in my garage all sealed with cloth dust proof and water proof, along I am going to run a ventilation fan blowing outside through one of the windows. Its WAY more than 100 Hours to do the work yourself when you add up all the mess ups from in experience, I have both sides down to metal all the body straight, metal conditions and rust converted on the rusty spots...... I still havent got down to painting yet but all the bondoing takes some trial and error....did I mention its tonnes of work!!!!!!!!! But you can do it yourself just read up on it and ask some bodymen some tips!

Quik

these were painted in a garage that wasnt a paint booth. by me and my buddys

as for dirt it wet sands out!!!!


for the truck the hood, side skirts and driverside bed was all painted in a garage