Thanks again brother.I really do appreciate all of this help.You've been great.So just get a gallon of PPG DP Epoxy?I'll look up the sheets on it here in a few minutes.

Thanks again!!

Nightrain

Man,I tell you.I've got too much time on my hands.I was sitting around here a few minutes ago and thinking about painting this truck myself.It makes perfect sense to me.I've got everything that I need to know knowledge wise in this thread.Plus,I can take it slow and learn things as I go along.I did some calculating also,and going by what I found for supplies,(i.e. DA Sander,Spray Gun,Sandpaper,etc.),it comes out cheaper than $400.I just don't have the proper breathing equipment or a paint room.How can a make-shift paint room be made long enough to paint this truck to keep most of the dust and dirt out of the paint?I can't paint my garage due to the fumes.I don't have a shop or anything.I was thinking that outside would be best,but I don't know how to go about preparing a paint room.Any ideas??

I don't have any experience what-so-ever,but I think that I could learn quickly as I go along,especially since the truck's body is in good condition.Know what I mean?Plus,if I have at least decent equipment,I could have the truck finished in less than a week,from start to finish.But I don't know...I would feel good about knowing that I did it,whether it turned out good or not.If i messed it up though,I just wasted a $220 gallon of paint,plus other expenses.I don't know...What do you suggest?

Nightrain

Do a search on this forum. I have seen it covered before. And if they have back issues that go back this far, check out Car Craft April 2001, it has an article that will be of interest to you. Maybe you should start a new thread with a question like that something like Can I paint it myself, that way this thread won't go on and on like troy said.

Ahhhh....Here it is.Thank God for HK .

Nightrain

I think that I've got it covered for now.I should be able to find some good articles in the Knowledge Base and also some good advice at the paint store.I might drop you a PM from time to time asking a question or 2 if you don't mind.

Nightrain

My 76 Skylark had 2 owners after my cousin painted it in May 2002. (he was the previous owner). I bought it from a guy that he sold it to.

These guys never took care of it, hit the doors everywere, threw stuff on it and the car looks the same.

My cousin prepped it him self, he sanded it, primered it with can spraypaint first, then sanded it again, then primered it again with a spraygun (primer $30 gallon). He took like a week to do that. He left the body straight.

They charged him $230.00 at guess were?????Maaco. The car looks the same. Except for the little dents or whatever.


And the car hasn't ever been polished. These are pics of when i washed it. It might look much nicer with a good polish wouldn't it???

I forgot, if it'll save you $$$ and be a good experience, go for it, you will feel better about it.
Good luck with your project.
Let us know if you get any pics.

Well I didn't think it's gone on too long. Painting is the only part of automotive work I've yet to get into and I've seriously been thinking of trying it. I have a "practice car"or two that need a repaint and if they don't come out that great they sure won't look any worse. If they work out OK, I'll set my sights on my Mustang and see if I can do a "good" job on it.
No questions right now. The few that I've been wondering about have already been quite well answered in this thread. I appreciate it guys.

I just painted the frame for a 54 5 window chevy that im rodding (in my driveway, wife was not to happy) 3 coats of dupont nason epoxy primer 2 coats of zero rust (prefer the por 15) and 3 coats of single stage dupont omni acrylic urethane, I have 2 guns an expensive devbliss and a home depot el cheapo deluxe,
I used the the home depot gun on the whole job as its the frame and it worked almost as good as my devbliss or however you spell it. but I had to set it up right to get the best results,
Ive always painted my own stuff for 2 reasons, Im cheap and more importantly I want to learn and say I did it myself, as mentioned in here earlier its 99.9999999999999% prep work, lousy prep, lousy paint job.......once you price paint you will realize that all the discount places are either buying paint by the tanker truck or using crap paint, my guess would be the latter......good luck

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Ohh my God, this thread is back. Glad to hear you had some success painting. The more you paint the more natural everything becomes. You still have a lot to battle painting at home (dust, bugs, moisture in air lines, overspray and lighting, legality ect) and no matter how long you have been painting you will still mess up once in a great while, but when you know you have done all the work, and the prep usually is a lot of work, you have the pride to say I did it. Unfortunately paint isn't cheap. Omni is ppg's budget line, not dupont. Not a big deal though. Did you use the ppg? Wonder if nightrain ever did try painting.

So what does someone do if they do not have the means to paint the car themselves but they do not want a cheapy job done from MAACO?

Should I look into a local shop that might charge more, but will do a much better job?

"3 coats of dupont nason epoxy primer 2 coats of zero rust (prefer the por 15) and 3 coats of single stage dupont omni acrylic urethane, "

Why on earth would you use Zero Rust or Por 15 over the epoxy?

Doesn't anybody read the instructions anymore?

The whole point of these two products is to provide protection to a surface that is not pristine and may still contian rust.

They do not offer anymore protection than a good coat of epoxy primer.

Well, like what's been said, it's mostly prep.
So a person could take as much off a car as possible, clean and sand
everything thourghly do as much prep as possible then take it to
Msaaco or other "cheapie" and have them spray it.
You can even get them to put a clear urethane on it,
then sand and buff it later yourself.
I have seen some pretty good looking jobs from them, but what prep lies
under the surface may not show up for a couple of years, so do
the important part yourself. They have the paint booth and equipment
to do a good job. Their quality of finish varies because of the different
experience level people they have. Go to more than one place and ask
to see their work, when you find one that looks better ask who painted
it and try to make sure he does yours.
For the money they can be a great value.

I agree take as much trim off as you can to save you money. If you can find a shop willing to work with you, you could do bodywork and sanding and have them spray a few coats of quality primer over the bodywork and whatever needs it on the car, then you could do the sanding and blocking and getting ready for paint. This may be hard to find though, most bodyshops don't do completes in the first place, and finding one to paint over someone elses work is going to be even harder. Then have them shoot the paint. Prep is the majority of the work with the most hours. People seem to think it can all be done in a day, which is not the case if taking off trim, prepping, spraying, and wetsanding and buffing out afterwards. Not having the tools and having to do everything by hand is going to be a lot of work though. Or maybe you can look for someone doing work on the side to hopefully save some money. Ask them if they have any references and check them, and see if you can see something they worked on to check out the quality of the work. Another option is to check out your local tech school. Many of these only require you pay for the materials. May be hard to get your car in though. If all these fail, well then there is maaco and other quicky production shops. If you do the sanding and remove trim and moldings your results may be better then if you didn't.

I would do paint job at garage instead of maaco, esp that I can do bodywork/paint. Maaco will rape me on bodywork and spray crappy compared to what I can do for less money

Another option would be to look in your local continuing education booklets. Some places run night classes affordably that will give you access to the schools tools and equiptment, allthough you will be sharing them with others, and the instructor can help answer questions. Back when I went I took the full course, but they also had a night class that was less involved.

In my opinion, the name "Maaco" has nothing to do with the quality of the work you get done. It all depends on the skill of the workers and how much the owner and manager really care about quality and customer satisfaction.

Up here in Red Deer, our Maaco was rated the best bodyshop in all of western Canada. I took in a rusty, heavily beaten up T/A with my plastic ground effects cracked and broken and after $2,000, drove away with a beautiful car that looked good enough for any showroom. These guys didn't even miss a detail, they even sprayed the t-top rails a nice shiny black. They even followed up with a free buff job a week later to make it look like perfection. There is no orange peel in the clear coat, and after 3 years the paint still looks as good as when I just got it, no fading whatsoever. Just a couple of chips from careless people in the parking lot.

My advice would be to find out what people in your area think of your local Maaco before jumping to conclusions.