paint job questions...

[justinhustle]

ok, i have owned 3 cars now and the 1st two had good factory colour paint, and i didnt colour change them.

my s14 is that ugly ass champagne/gold colour and i loath it.

i was quoted today around 3k for a basic colour change and prep work.

those of you with good non maaco paint jobs, what did you pay?

and do ya have pix

[CleanS14]

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid84/p2cf99222237593068468f143c040b8b7/fad0aef5.jpg

Okay this is my car... fully sprayed with a fresh coat of skin... if your car is going to be fully repainted (windows out, jams done, engine bay etc) then it's a good price... but if they're talking outside spray w/ moldings/rubbers masked... I'd pass. Have you seen this place's work? I can't specify price exactly... but I didn't pay nearly as much as you did. Sorry if this didn't help... but I hope it gave some insight on what to ask about when you get your next quote.

[SleepySR]

I paint cars for a living at a independent bodyshop in NC 3k$ is a cheap price if the are going to do a full color change( engine bay,door jambs ,all glass removed ,interior of trunk, etc). if they are just going to tape stuff up and spray it then i'd pass , Try talking to some employess of a body shop to see if they do side work most do. or if you live on the close to NC maybee we could talk i painted a 240 about 3-4 weeks ago the owner posts on FA .

[justinhustle]

i should rephrase a tad

this is a buddy who paints that quoted me, i trust him and ive seen his work. but ive had regular bodyshops quote me around 3k for a colour change also

most likely, im going to have em do it, lemans sunset off the 350z

[S13SilviaGirl]

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid95/p9280b55612d2b4cff2a36007f0da569e/fa292ad0.jpg



there is my car 3 days after having her painted...for a GOOD, QUALITY, NO BS paint job...all I am gonna say is you get what you pay for. My paint job was a pretty penny, more than macco...

3K for them to do a complete color change, take out the mouldings (don't forget, these are probably gonna need to be replaced and cost $$$ at the dealer...and my 2 rear side window trim only comes w/glass @$150 per side..for an 89!), paint under the hood, trunk...taking off the bumpers to spray, ect....is not a horrible price.

I know how you feel...my car was an ugly champagne color that was faded...and from a macco re-paint! :barf: But, I must say that I am VERY happy with the paint and my color...and was def worth the $$$. :D

*EDIT* If this is your buddy (sorry, missed that at first) he should be giving you a better hook-up than 3K...my opinion though.

[thelinja]

Do a search on prepping the car yourself. It's easy, all you need is sandpaper, water and bondo. I know I've posted in several threads regarding self prepping. Doing the prep work yourself can drastically reduce the cost of a full paint job. I prepped the car myself last summer and had the whole thing repainted in black. No door jambs, engine bay, etc. Here's a pic of my car taken a little more than a week ago.
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/alfwilso/wheels/car_before.JPG

[stillmatic]

Check my sig to see what a $250 Earl Scheib Paint job looks like. Go here (http://f2.pg.photos.yahoo.com/[email protected]) if you want to see some more.

It looks good from far away. Nothing special. I believe neither Maaco or Earl Scheib uses primer for base coat and they barely sand the old paint off. I think it's worth it for $250 if you do your own prep work... You could try to ask the manager if they're willing to primer your car if you bring your own can.

I don't know about Maaco but Earl Scheib offers a 3 year warranty on their Pro 3 plan. The door jambs are extra for $50 each, however you could always talk them down :). They might even paint your engine bay for $100.

[90sr]

To be honest Macco sucks ass, your lucky if they sand off the clear on your stock colour. I work in a shop and painted my own car, for materials alone depending on the type and brand paint you get that could run you a grand at least thats for good paint and prep work is where the time comes in a local shop will probably take out the windows n moldings and tape everything off jams jam moldings engine bay underside of your hood the rear take out the tails head lights and inside n out of the trunk lid, and then spray with a primer filler wet sand it look for all dents or scratches bondo then primer sealer and then 3 4 5 good coats of base and then at least 4 5 good coats of clear then wet sanding and buffing it. Thats your job at a local shop and thatll run you at least 2500 to 3 grand so take out all the sanding n bondo and moldings your gona drop like a good grand off your price so do that first.

[black180sx]

I'm currently in a auto body class, I pay the cost of paint and supplies for a bumper to bumper paint job.

[aznpoopy]

this topics been done many times. plz don't generalize 'all maaco sucks.' maaco is a chain, and like any other chain u can have good shops or bad shops (like a good mcdonalds vs a bad one)... some will be good and some will be bad. their cheap ass paint jobs suck of course, and that's why they are cheap. the only paint job i would consider from maaco (or any paintshop) is a custom job, where you specify exactly what you want them to do.

to get a good job done you have to make sure the prep work (that other ppl have covered, so i won't) is done properly. this u can do yourself, as other ppl mentioned, and if u want to learn more about maintaining and working on ur car its a good thing to try. once that is done take it to a good shop (and maybe buy your own paint and clear coat) and tell them exactly how you want it painted.

so:

find a good reputable shop
do the prep work yourself
bring or specify the materials used for the final job
expect to spend money

good luck!

[Kain_Pabyeda]

Hey, if anybody is interested in how to sand and prep your car, let me know and I'll e-mail you pages straight from the I-car books @ NADC

[WONTONnPHO]

How much do shops usually charge if you do the prep yourself?

[Phlip]

Originally posted by SleepySR
I paint cars for a living at a independent bodyshop in NC 3k$ is a cheap price if the are going to do a full color change( engine bay,door jambs ,all glass removed ,interior of trunk, etc). if they are just going to tape stuff up and spray it then i'd pass , Try talking to some employess of a body shop to see if they do side work most do. or if you live on the close to NC maybee we could talk i painted a 240 about 3-4 weeks ago the owner posts on FA .

Jason, I would assume that this is you speaking, bastard. To everyone else: Yes he did do a stellar job in painting R240NA's car a few weeks ago, he posts under that name here and on FA as well. It took a little longer than normal because of the bullshit weather and BRUTAL cold. Russ has yet to update the pictures on the website because he's a dick, but that is another story... Check here (http://www.240sx.org/atlanta/russs_s14.htm) and maybe one day this year he will update it...




Back to the task at hand: I had (past tense) a 95 that same color that you hate and I hated it too, but not near as much as I hate red, which would have been my other choice when buying the car. I met Jason about 2-3 weeks after I bought the car, but we weren't close for about another year or so after that. During that time, I was in a small accident and used that to get the car painted another color and the price I was quoted for the prep work and paintjob was like 2400.00 (this was in 2001, mind you)... To the best of my understanding, 3k is a fair asking price now almost 3 years later... If this guy is one of your boys, I suggest you make an offer to help or something to lower the cost, because I doubt you can expect to pay any less for a GOOD prep and paint job changing colors...

[goodjuan]

Originally posted by S13SilviaGirl
[IMG]...my car was an ugly champagne color that was faded......

whoa whoa whoa...champagne 240s are teh sex (well at least i like to think mine is)

(..oh yeah this one too)
http://www.zilvia.net/photo/data/501/5794Tein_S13-med.jpg

imagine it with black wheels...:boink:

[fastpace]

hell yeah, champagne owns
here is my car with the crummy dent from my accident a month ago.


sexyness (http://www.imagestation.com/mypictures/inbox/view.html?id=4194975737&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.imagestation.com%2Fpicture%2F sraid97%2Fpea832231610c822931e94d1774375a33%2Ffa0a 3ff9.jpg&caption=sv300026)

[datzun]

$2500...including prep, primered down to repair all rust, painting/installation of bodykit, stone white paint with maroon stripes painted on. Very good work...was very pleased with the outcome. The paintjob is about 4.5 years old now, and it still looks like it was freshly painted except a few chips from rocks and the damn cancerly rust :( More pics at my site.

If they do the works for 3K, it may be a good deal. I dont know if I'd like getting it painted by a buddy though, because if you arent satisfied...problems could come up. At least if you get it done by a well-known local shop, they will back their work up without any problems.

[justinhustle]

i wish my car was more toward this colour

http://www.topsecretjpn.com/aerokit/nissan/silviaS14-500.JPG