Paintjob time - any advice?, Getting a Maaco job Options

[GriffGirl]

Okay, so here's the deal– my hood is badly faded and the bumper has mad rock chips. Someone opened up a Maaco not too far from me and is having a special on their "Supreme" Paint Service, so I'm going to take advantage of it and have my car painted. I'm keeping it silver, but am changing the silver from Alpine Silver (Maaco calls it Silver Metallic) to a silver that's a tad darker and has more metallic flake in it. I can't remember the name of the color.

I know there are things to be aware of, such as removing whatever I want removed and not taped off, etc. I figure a moderately sh1tty paint job will look better than the way my paint looks now. The guy @ Maaco warned me that with a single-stage paint, there's a greater chance of flaws. When I asked "like what" he said there could be some orange peel, even some dirt. DIRT!? WTF? I'm not expecting a $2k paint job for what I'm paying here, but dirt!?

Lastly, I have a crack in my bumper. Maaco wants $180 to repair it. If I had the $180 to repair it I'd just replace the whole bumper. (anyone in the PNW have a bumper for me! ) So I'll repair it myself. I know it won't be top notch, but I can do the best I can with whatever guidance you 6GCers might have to offer me! Current photo of the crack can be taken/posted if that would help.

What prep work can I do myself? What things can I do before hand to get the most out of the Maaco job? What can I do once I get the car back from being painted, to "help it along" and make it look as good as possible?

[aznpnoiboi55]

the hardest part of a new paint job is not the painting itself...its the preparation like body work...sanding...etc. paint jobs will only look sh!!ty because of the body work....if the body work looks good then the paint job will look good....and i suggest that you shouldnt go for single stage because in my opinion the paint job wont look as professional.....i didnt mines with 3 stages...first was the white sealer to cover all the scratches up to 220 grit...then base coat white...then clear coat..

[Fastbird]

PREP the car yourself. Prep the seals around all the glass, there's a special tape you can use that will actually hold them up and back off the panels (they're pliable) so you don't end up with a taped off line that chips and flakes at the seals. If you want any door dings or anything filled, body fill them and sand yourself, maaco won't do that as part of the package price. Make sure it's clean, they will paint over your dirt. If there's anything you don't want painted, make absolutely sure you point it out as they're surveying the car. I've seen them paint entire bumper reinforcements that were meant to be left as bare plastic.

It's all in the prep work. A properly prepped car should yeild good results under even the worst painter.

[GriffGirl]

Okay, so that's what I'm finding, is that it seems that the prep work is definitely the most important.

So should I sand the car down myself? I want to make sure I do this right if I do though. Orbital sander, what grit paper?

For filling in dings, body filler. I know, it has to stay thin. (I get that). What grit to smooth it out with after it's flush?

To repair the crack in the bumper— what do I use for that? Body filler? Probably not the best choice.... what's a better choice? I know to prime it after repairing, high build primer, sanded smooth... etc? Is this correct?

Do I prime the car myself so I can sand the primer myself to ensure the paint lays down smoothly? If so, what grit do I start with, and then finish with 220? Is that correct?

When I go to drop the car off, I will remove the tail lights, license plates, lights, front bumper. I've also been told to remove the weather trim around the windows, although I'm very reluctant to do this because of how much it rains here, I can't afford to not put it back on correctly.

[GriffGirl]

read me!

[dgbldr]

read me!

Bumper repair: if it's not cut through, use flex epoxy as filler. For example Bondo 806. If it's cut through, put a patch on the back first. Cut a piece of fiberglass cloth to cover the cut and 1-2" further in all directions. Mix some flex epoxy and work it into the fiberglass, saturating the patch, then apply. Area must first be roughed up slightly for adhesion or wiped down with acetone.

As far as bodywork, sanding, etc. if you haven't done a lot of it or have someone to help you through, it's tough. Get a scrap body part to practice on or take a bodywork class at a local community college, etc. It's not a DIY job you can read through like changing your clutch. It requires considerable experience to look right.

[presure2]

griffy, ill give you some good tips on the maaco paint line when i get back in a little bit, gotta run over to wally world and whatnot.


::edit::

basicly, you want to remove anything you can get off the car easily before they ever touch it.

bumper, lights, door handle trim, all that stuff you should take off.

they want you to change color because of the single stage paint.
silvers, and light metallics are very hard to lay evenly with single stage paint, and in order to get the metallics to lay properly, you have to dust light coats on, which makes for alot more orange peel in the paint, and then you cant wet sand and buff it out like you can with a basecoat clearcoat job.
does that package include a full intergated clearcoat? if it dont, haggle with them to get them to at least include that for free, it litterally takes the painter 3 extra minutes to add the clear into the last coat, and definetly makes the single stage paint look better and last longer, it just takes a better painter to make it look good with the metallics and pearls.
if you know your way around a DA

you use that, with ~150 or 180grit to get all the big rock chips and scratches out, and be sure not to "dig" into the paint.
you want to feather everything way out, so you dont get any "bullseyes" (low spots created by digging into the paint)
use 220 to feather things further, prime, then sand the whole car with 320grit. you can finish it with some 400 or some wet/dry 600 if you want, but with the single stage paint, it wont make too much diffrence, to be honest.
maaco will use 320 or 400 grit for single stage paint, depending on the car.
you can use a grey suff pad (grey scotch brite pads) to get all the spots the DA dont fit into, just be sure to get everything really well, including the rocker panels.
the better you prep the car, the better off you can be, provided you do it right. if you really dont know what your doing, your best bet is to find someone who knows what theyre doing to help, or pay someone to do it.

[GriffGirl]

Thank you.

[silverceli09]

i think you would be better off going to a private owned shop to get your paint job, you'll get a good paint for probably even less than what you would at the Macco sale. i plan on getting mine repainted soon with larger flake and this guy that lives about 3 miles away from me said he would do it for like 800. He does a really good job, he paints a lot of cars from around here, especially peoples track cars.

[Malek]

I do not know if anyone said this in the thread but if you do your own body work, Maaco won't insure it. I am getting my car painted this week..except my dad owns this Maaco and I'll be working on it myself so I make sure there is no dirt or anything. and you definitly get what you pay for. we did some really nice cars and they turned out excellent. we also did some really nice cars that turned out horrible because the owner wanted that 300 dollar paint job. So if you do your own bodywork, make sure its CLEEAN!! I hope your not wanting to paint your jambs too. cuz thats like 50-75 a jamb. But overall, Maaco does nice work (we do atleast)..if you pay for it..

[GriffGirl]

Same for the $500 one too then?




I'm feeling very discouraged. My car looks like crap, but am I just trading one crappiness for another?

[rj8807]

dont go to maaco.

EDIT: let me refrase that so i dont affend. The maaco had horrible service, and equally horrible outcome on the car.

-many things promised on the estimate, were not done.
-overspray in the most unacceptable places
-body work that we told to leave alone specifically (and they agreed on), was done anyway and was charged to the bill.
-called me saying that there was a "dent" in the fender I gave them so they could replace the bad one. Cost me extra $75 to fix


As for (in detail) untouched work:
-hood, and sidemirros were SPRAYED OVER as in, never even prepped. Still many chips and imperfections in paint that were there before the work was done
-roof was to be stripped and redone, but that never happend. When i recieved the car, the dents and ripples still remained on the roof. It was WRITTEN on the estimate that they would fix it. Then they say we can redo it, for $900.


Over spray spots:
-constantly on the exterior window trim
-on AC condensor and elsewhere behind front bumper (so behind the bumper almost looks color matched. yea, its that much)
-On the rear passenger side WINDOW. ON THE FREAKING WINDOW. It looks like glitter. Litterally. That never came up.

So just for the record, I am aware that the Maaco i went to was obviously total Sh!t and the Maaco near your area may be a decent place. I'm just sharing my experience.

The only reason why i didn't get all that fixed is because I got the car for $800, in perfect running condish, and it still (somehow) looks 10x better then what the car looked like when i got it.


/rant

This post has been edited by rj8807: Jun 17, 2009 - 8:13 PM

[GriffGirl]

I'm pretty close to being talked out of this whole thing now. The reality is that my bumper, the front of my fenders, and hood all look like shiz. The rest of the car looks pretty good, with the exception of some light surface scratches. My car has absolutely NO rust, no dents, one ding on the hood from the battery holddown thingie (my fault) and otherwise is in really good shape.

So what I'm thinking at this point is that for the same or less than the cost of the crappy paint job, I can replace the bumper if he PMs me back, sand and fill the chips on the fenders, and paint the hood and fenderrepair areas myself. I have a Bachelor's in Fine Arts. Perhaps I can employ said degree for the purpose of crafty feathering/blending, and come out with a halfway decent quality job. Lord knows there's plenty of tips on here for auto painting, not to mention the rest of the internetz.

Thoughts and feelings on this new plan of action?

[96bluevert]

If you get the bumper and decide to do the job yourself, I'd suggest that maybe practice on the old bumper or something else a little bit before respraying the new one.

I regret not practicing on something before doing my wheels, now theres a few little imperfections.

Aren't there any other body shops around that might be able to do a better job than Maaco at a decent price?

[GriffGirl]

If you get the bumper and decide to do the job yourself, I'd suggest that maybe practice on the old bumper or something else a little bit before respraying the new one.

I regret not practicing on something before doing my wheels, now theres a few little imperfections.

Aren't there any other body shops around that might be able to do a better job than Maaco at a decent price?

The bumper I'm after is already silver actually, and presuming it's in the condition its owner says it's in, I should be good to go on that. It's the hood and fenders I'll be respraying.

As for other body shops, there's plenty (I live only a few miles off 82nd, which has TONS of body shops, some might not even be shady!) but I haven't shopped around. I figure for a big chain like Maaco, I'm not about to insult someone by walking into another shop and comparing them to Maaco

PS: I'll use my old bumper as the tester panel

This post has been edited by GriffGirl: Jun 19, 2009 - 6:33 PM

[RbrtNdrws]

Maaco did my paint job. I did all the prep work myself and had the bumpers, the mirrors, and the sideskirts removed and in the car when I brought the car to Maaco. It's been almost two years now and it still looks great! I have a few pictures in my profile.

[SwissFerdi]

Would you mind posting pics of your faded areas? My bumper is starting to go the same way and it's depressing.

[GriffGirl]

Yeah I'll try to get some pix in the next day or so and post them up

[ra65_22re]

I do a lot of work at body shops and one thing Ive noticed is you can deff tell how good a body shop is based on a few things.

-Be nosiy look if the shop is clean(tools laying on top of car/interior a mess)
-Walk around look at everything
-Ask to see a car that they just got done or almost


Like everyone is saying there are some crap places but some are good. If only I was closer I would help you out (ie remove all your glass) Just take your time choosing. Im going to be painting my car soon so Im goin to go through the same ordeal.

[Random_Stranger]

I gotta be honest too. They painted my bumper $50, hood $50, and riser blocks $50 and guess what? The color came out nice, but now, I notice that the reflection from my original paint, vs theirs is better and more clear. They hood and bumper have this mosaic like appearance to it, like many hole like bubbles, I am guessing they painted it outside with a breeze? They asked me if I wanted them to paint under the hood, and I said yes please, guess what? They didn't. I even said I would pay extra if they could repair a tab that was missing or broken from my bumper, they said they couldn't or talked out of it, even though I was willing to pay for it (and these guys repair collisions?). Anyway, the bottom line is you truly get what you pay for, yet sometimes what you pay for you do not get and there are hidden gems out there. So just meet people, talk to them, talk to customers there to see if they are returning as a satisfied customer, or because something needs to be redone.

Whatever you decide to do, let us know how it all came out. Oh yeah, and they took the parts apart on my bumper and hood, but on my bumper, they just gave me all those parts in a plastic baggy. LOL I had to assemble it all back together once I got home, which I guess isn't that bad, but kind of made me question the future if I ever decided to take my whole car to get painted, which I plan to do in the future, because I NEED IT, and probably in the same boat as you, or could use a paint job even more than you.