Paint Jobs (AGAIN... bear with me)

[kazuo]

Okay.

So I ran my car into a stationary object (another car) and my beautiful baby is now a ugly mess. Mechanically she is perfectly fine, but the front bodywork is toast.

She already had a ****ty Earl Scheib paint job w/ prep work done by me (it was my first time doing so). IIRC we used 80 grit (i know, i know) wet sand, then like 1500 grit, washed her down, primered and got it sprayed. it wasnt too bad, but it is Earl Scheib after all. The paint match sucked and the paint came right off the bumpers when you so much as breathed in their general area.

I have heard MAACO does better paint jobs than Earl Scheib (its like comparing horse **** and dog ****, but it is supposed to be better :)), so I am considering trying my hand at prep yet again simply to avoid payin $5000 for a nice paint job. I am retaining the OEM color (Two-Tone Silver Green/Gray)

I've done some searching through threads and looked at various techinques that people recommend for prep. Sanding through clear coat and takign the gloos off the paint with a semi-coarse paper (like 100 grit or so) wet sand, then move up to a fine grit like 400, 800, 1500, wet sand. then use some kind of 3M something or other and tack cloth to get all the crud off, use bondo if necessary (I won't be), primer, wet sand, etc etc then take it and get it sprayed. We went down to the metal in some spots, just took most of the gloss off in most of the car before we sprayed it with primer.

Does anyone have any particular techniques/recommendations they'd like to make? Especially when it comes to the bumpers, which are both OEM urethane? Should I take the car all the way down to the metal or just go through the **** Earl Scheib paint (some of the OEM paint is still under there)? Any recommendations as far as what kind of primer to use?

I most likely WILL NOT take the car to MAACO (I am trying to work something out with someone who knows someone at a body shop to get it sprayed), but if it comes down to it I will probably have to (I ain't takin it back to Earl Scheib -- **** them). I know you get what you pay for, but I can't justify spending over 3 grand on a paint job for my baby, no matter how much I love her (it's downright absurd, given that I don't make that much money :P) I want to at least try and make her look decent w/o having to spend big time dollars.

Alternatively if anyone in the Bay Area knows someone who does decent work for a decent price or wants to help out, let me know. I am a good guy and provide eats/drinks as well as Bruce Lee movie-watching whilst working on cars. ;)

TIA :cry:

[driftk2000]

did you bondo the spots you went to bare metal on?
what do you need to know about your bumpers?
if it's prepping the bumpers for paint, all you need is a red scuff pad to sand it wet or dry; wet is faster.
if you have an s13, you'll need a heat gun or blow dryer to heat the strip of sticker that goes across the bumper to take it off. remove any excess adhesive with 3m adhesive remover or that goo gone stuff.
use etching primer for your car.
buy some multi-prep from the paint supply.

[Drift Style S14]

kazuo hit me up with a pm or a email. I just got my car painted for 1600, they took out every single dent, painted the entire trunk and under the hood, and did the door jams. I got the car painted lexus is300 gunmetal. If you want i can get you the info on the shop and you can check out my car and see there work. the only problem i had was that when i went to pick up the car the guy who gave it to me told me that they had buffed out the entire car which they didn't. so i called the owner and he told me to bring it back in a week and he would detail the entire car himself.


[email protected]

[ShortGuy622]

ok since maaco sucks where might i go to get a good paint job? i live in northern virginia anyone who can help will be much appreciated

[SimpleS14]

Originally posted by ShortGuy622
ok since maaco sucks where might i go to get a good paint job? i live in northern virginia anyone who can help will be much appreciated

omg...you should know since Woodbridge has SOOOO many bodyshops. :D

United Auto Body is good...

but I plan to go somewhere up in Falls Church...they have good paint and prep work.

[black180sx]

Originally posted by Drift Style S14
kazuo hit me up with a pm or a email. I just got my car painted for 1600, they took out every single dent, painted the entire trunk and under the hood, and did the door jams. I got the car painted lexus is300 gunmetal. If you want i can get you the info on the shop and you can check out my car and see there work. the only problem i had was that when i went to pick up the car the guy who gave it to me told me that they had buffed out the entire car which they didn't. so i called the owner and he told me to bring it back in a week and he would detail the entire car himself.


[email protected]

What body shop did u take your car to? any pics?

[Matt_240]

Originally posted by 95KoukiS14
but I plan to go somewhere up in Falls Church...they have good paint and prep work.

Falls church!? i used to live there a couple years back. worked at wholefoods market across the street from trader joes and the post office if you know where im talking about. I lived like 5 mins from tysons corner.

[Matt_240]

btw... don't ever go to maaco or earl sheit. if you really want to save money, the best way to go is to find someone who does side jobs.. .maybe call auto body shops and ask or go to the shops and see if there are any ads posted. that's what im doing right now.. i called a body shop and since they told me they were ridiculously busy, i asked if they knew anyone who did sidejobs. the guy gladly recommended me to this painter that used to work at their shop and it turns out that that painter is my friends friend. small world. but yeah, itll save a lot of money. orr......

you can prep the car yourself, sand it, primer it, everything. then buy the paint you want from dupont or s. williams and ask maaco to spray it for you. whatever you do, don't ask them to prep your car or use their crappy 1 stage paint.

[kazuo]

I agree, Earl Scheib/MAACO paint is the absolute WORST way to go... they use ****-*** 1-stage paint and their "prep work" consists of wiping the car down with some of that aircraft removal ****, drying it off and going to town on it with a spray gun.

Best thing to do is do all the prep work yourself and have someone else spray it....

Luckily I think I may have found a decent job for a decent price so I will go for that.

[Drift Style S14]

yeah i have pictures of my car, but i won't be able to post them till later tonight, I am plan to repaint the car in a years time, same color, just a better job. For what i paid and what i wanted this current paint job will do the job. I know i am going to mess it up anyways so might as well not worry about it. I'll get the pics up later tonight.

[SleepySR]

the key to a good paint job is the prep work if there is no body work to be done take off as much stuff as you can before you take it to the body shop ,lights,door handles, mirrors , w/s washers , emblems , pin stripes then you can either wet san the car with 400-500 grit sandpaper if ther are going to spray a sealer on befor your ground coat , if ther are'nt going to use a sealer then you can get a product from the paint store called blend prep . its a goey like substance with grit in it that is a soap wash the car with this using a grey scotchbrite pad 4-5 pads should do the car then rinse off and clean out all jambs <trunk,cowl,doors. etc making sure to get out all the leaves and dirt,etc then take it to the shop