Maaco Paint???

[APKhaos]

Track bud had his 944 DE/Club Race car resprayed by Maaco - the $600 job. Perfect for a track car, and probably OK for a driver. I'm thinking the quality of the primer/paint system would probably mean a short life before it started looking ragged, but no personal experience.

[island911]

Originally posted by Chuck Moreland
As BG says, if you do all the prep and strip everything off the car they can probably do a reasonable job of shooting the paint.

I've seen the results of that exact approach.

The car had been brought in wet-sanded with 1000grit, by hand.
Macco, DA'd the formerly nice prep with 240, washed the car & then shot the paint.

The big step they forgot was to completely dry the car! . . ..all along the rockers there were over-painted , water droplets!

I would say you're better off giving your car a rattle-can job, at dusk, illuminated by trouble-lights, at the height of moth season!

[IROC]

I had a Toyota 4Runner painted by Maaco here in town and my 911 painted by a "very reputable shop". Having to do it all over again, working with the "very reputable shop" was such a nightmare, that I would strongly consider Maaco.

The truth of the matter is that just because you pay alot of money, doesn't necessarily guarantee a great paint job. And vice versa. The Maaco job was great and the paint held up great until I sold the 4Runner. Best $400 I ever spent. The 911 paint job was almost ten times that....

Mike

[dhoward]

Originally posted by Paul Andersen
First off a paint job is alot more than spraying out paint. What type of paint are you using? 2 stage paint is what you want for a quality job and thats a base coat and clear whos gonna sand the clear? Thats what makes the job its called color sanding .I

Snipped.....

If it's BC/CC you better not need any 'color sanding'. maybe a light buff. That said, it's all in the prep work. You DON'T have to take it down to the bare metal. Take the bubbles out with some #80 on a DA and feather out with 220, 320, 400. Once it's blocked and prepped, shoot a good sealer. Most modern paints are faily decent. Talk to the owner and ask if they'll take a little extra care...
JMHO

(Shooting Dupont Chroma base/clear Dark Solar Blue Pearl Metallic in my garage...)

[morstad]

I would say you're better off giving your car a rattle-can job, at dusk, illuminated by trouble-lights, at the height of moth season! [/B][/QUOTE]

Thats a hell of an idea but we dont have that many moths around here. I wouldnt mind getting that stucco look...I heard thats coming back along with slant noses.

Honestly though

I dont have $4000.....I have alot of good clean elbow grease and about a thousand dollars for this job. How would "you" go about prepping __________ "Insert a non elitist car" to get ready for a Maaco job. Should I try and sand it, what pieces should I remove? Thanks for all the comments but really it comes down to this is what is probably going to have to happen. And I dont feel that good about it as I have Pyite sitting upstairs from me telling me I am a retard. I just want to get the best bang out of Maaco I can. I promise to remove any Porsche tags from my car when its done and glue on some Type R ones I promise.

[Stanley]

The PO of my 4runner had the $250 Maaco paint job on the car. They actually did a good job on it, there is no overspray or any blemishes. I think that Macco is great for other cars, but I would have to think twice before using it on a 911. If you really want to take your 911 to Maaco, I would try to be involved as much as possible in the process. Heres a pic of the 4runner:

[jpnovak]

I spoke with my local cheap paint shop last night. It wasn't Maaco but a competitor. I told him what I wanted - which was for me to bring in the car primed, sanded and ready for color. I spoke with the painter who has been shooting cars for about 10 years. I looked at his work and the paint was sprayed very well. Both cars were a metallic (blue and silver). The paint was even which is not easy to do with metallics.

Everyone is right regarding the taping job but if you do the prep work it shouldn't be a problem. He even mentioned that if the car was stripped that it would be easy to do the jambs, inside doors, etc. Basically that they could throw that in for not having to prep the car. He was very nice, had no problems with me poking around the shop. A pleasant exp. for me.

I am prepping a street track car with complete color change. I am not sure how the blending would come out.

flame away but I am really considering it.

[john_colasante]

Actually spraying color is the EASIEST PART. If you are into DIY and you do the prep work you should be able to take your shell to any paint guy who is competant, tell him what paint you want, and have him spray it for a reasonable price. If you are not experienced with bodywork you may need to budget a few hours for him to go over the car before the color goes on you smooth it out and maybe seal it.

I am not trying to say that spraying color is easy for anyone, but in the whole scheme of painting the car the actual color stage is the endgame, takes relatively little time, and the result is totally dependant on the stages that precede it.

[tobluforu]

Guess who painted this car??

[pyite20v]

From the think look of the paint I would guess Maaco! Either that or it was dipped ina big bucket of paint.

Still, its pretty.

[McDaniel]

another way to go...
Check with the Vocational Schools in your area. Some of them
are doing auto painting. Work with them, and you can get a
complete decent (as good as M****o) at no cost what so ever.

[pyite20v]

Hey john_colasante that duck tail on your 993 looks awesome! Do you have more pictures of it anywhere?

[RANDY P]

Maaco (or equvalent) isn't a bad place to go if you can find the right guy. As a bodyman buddy of mine puts it, they shoot the most cars out of any shop, so they get to practice all day. Ask for references, see pictures, look at the work inside. Back in the days, have had a few cars shot there and buddies of mine have had this done as well. Turned out decent. As long as you do the time consuming and detail oriented parts (stripping it and prep work) yourself, the job should turn out decent. Spend the money on decent paint.

When you're doing paint on the cheap, it's difficult to find the right shop since the quality can be so hit and miss. Get yourself a few books on bodywork / prepwork at the local library and do some reading, talk to the guy at the booth about what he wants to see done when your car shows up. Just whatever you do, make sure you take the time and do it right. If the job fails in a few years (rust poking through for instance) it'll be your fault for improper work. Get it right and it'll be show quality (assuming your painter cares).

My brother tested this theory just last month. He's into lowriders - before and after pic of a Maaco (style) paint job. Looks good. Redone in factory colors, people mistake it for a 10,000 mile original car. $2800.00 total, after tax, with prepwork done here fixing of rust spots, a few small dents for the entire car.
In contrast, my 911 had a DENT fixed in the passenger door which cost $1800.00 to fix. JUST THE DOOR, at a high end shop. Done completely. wasn't a Maaco job though. Do the math.

Spare me with the bling-bling comments, I know already

[tobluforu]

Actually, I did, first time, outside. Did all the work myself (almost) and had a friend paint it with imron in a garage. 2 years later, stored outside and still looks pretty good. The pics do not do the car justice though. Unless you have lots of money (I dont) Take it to a few places and get bids. Shops wanted anywhere from 4800-8000 to do my car (The hell with that!) It all depends on what you use your car for. I have seen some pretty damn good Maaco paint jobs, but they cost over 2000 bucks.

[wcroty]

One thing to consider is the quality of the paint. All of the major companys (Akzo Nobel, BASF, PPG, DuPont, And Sherwin Williams)make at least 3 qualitys of paint.
Most painters at Macco's spray completes very well as this is what they do all day, infact they have more gun time then most painter of high end shops.
The main quality differences in the paint lines are as follows.
1- Distincness of image (DOI) or gloss level. the cheaper paints are harder to make smooth (Orange peel) and the resin structer is such that the gloss is not as high as the high end paints.
2- Corrision proctection is not as high on the low end paintsand primer systems.
3- Durability - All paint will break down with time and exposure to UV and chemicals
The low end paints will break down and loose gloss much faster than the high end systems.
So with that being said, how long do you want it to look good?

Good Luck,
Bryan

[PDACPA]

Maaco's are franchises. One here has been owned by the same guy for at least 20 years that I can account for. I had him shoot my old Fiero as the 13 year old clear coat was looking like hell. And I have to tell you, I expected a $400 paint job and what I got was a great paint job with MAJOR and I stress Major attention to detail. They painted the little plastic PONTIAC badge black and silver (think of the two paints on the engine badges everyone on Pelican has been getting).

Everyone is correct, remove what you can as I did find a few overspray spots under the hood, but nothing bad at all.

I think its a matter of finding a good owner who cares about keeping his customers happy.

[pyite20v]

You should have had him shoot your fiero with a 50mm cannon.

Speed holes!!

[pyite20v]

Simpsons refernce, just joking around.

[69 911s]

Tellin' tales: jbryant just had his 930 shot at you know where, maybe he'll chime in, or the NOVA guys can check it out at the HPDC tommorrow at Summit Point...

[pyite20v]

69 911s your post made no sense to me. Are you saing someone shot at jbryant's 930? wtf? thats crazy! More story please......