The Paint Project has Begun...1-19-06

[Mark B]

Wow, I didnt expect to run into this problem. I thought people liked money. I guess I was wrong.

I seem to be having trouble finding shops that want to work on my car. Nobody wants to do just the spraying. They all want to assemble the car afterwards. And one guy said that he would have to redo all of my prep work because "its a better job." I guess the reassembly is where all of there profit is. The only shop that is willing to do it my way so far is Maaco! I guess Maaco just doesnt care.

I can understand them complaing if I sprayed the primer, because then they would have to warrant that my primer wont peel off, but I am letting them spray primer, color & clear. The only spots that I am primering are where I sanded to the metal & under the hood & trunk lid.

[TraceZ]

Wow, I didnt expect to run into this problem. I thought people liked money. I guess I was wrong.

I seem to be having trouble finding shops that want to work on my car. Nobody wants to do just the spraying. They all want to assemble the car afterwards. And one guy said that he would have to redo all of my prep work because "its a better job." I guess the reassembly is where all of there profit is. The only shop that is willing to do it my way so far is Maaco! I guess Maaco just doesnt care.

I can understand them complaing if I sprayed the primer, because then they would have to warrant that my primer wont peel off, but I am letting them spray primer, color & clear. The only spots that I am primering are where I sanded to the metal & under the hood & trunk lid.

That is why I ended up painting mine myself. Maaco was the only place I found that would touch it with my prep work for under $350. Even Maaco still wanted $220 just to roll it in the booth and shoot color and clear. Jeesh. An estimate to fix the rust and repaint would of been around $600. I did the entire job myself, start to finish for just over $200, and even had enough leftover materials to repaint the nose effectively for free. I bet I got $1000 worth of bodyshop work done myself for a couple hundred bucks.

If I was going to paint an entire car myself, I would start off by building a makeshift paintbooth in my garage. I would use Visqueen sheetplastic vapor barrier to make walls fastened to a flimsy 2x2 frame. Use a garden hose to wet the floor down, put on a painter suit to cover my clothes and prevent dust from my clothes escaping into the air. I know for a fact I could get professional results in my garage if I tried. I bet the whole job wouldnt cost more than $750.

Anyways, good luck finding someone to work with you on it. It might not be a bad idea having Maaco do it if you closely supervise the work. Make sure they are shooting what you want how you want it. Once all the prep work is done any painter can squirt it. Even Maaco.

I recommend you talk with Maaco, discuss paint brands and what kind will be used on your car. Then make sure you get the proper primer to go with that paint brand so it doesnt peel off later on. You'll likely need several different primers. an etching primer, a build primer and a sealer. After the sealer it is ready for base and clear.

The money is in the prep work. It would save you a lot of money if you at least shot the etch and build yourself. That way you could wetsand the entire car and make sure it is all strait. All Maaco would have to do then is seal it, base it and clear it. Sanding it is the time consuming part that makes a big difference in the end result. Sand between layers of build primer, then add more build primer and sand again. You can add a little color to each layer of build primer so you can see when you sand through a layer into the layer under it. It's really pretty easy.

I love your website. I do check it every day for new pictures. Keep em coming!! Your project looks like a ton of fun. I'd love to get that deep into a car and make it look new again.

[Mark B]

It looks like Macco is going to be the place to go. I wonder how much I can rent a tow dolley for? It seems that I will have to have the car towed to Macco at least 3 times. The one I have been reffered to is 25 miles from where the car is. If I can pull the car around myself, it will probably save me a few hundred dollars.

[MN6WS6]

Weren't you the one that asked about the DA electric sander? If so, how is it working out?

[Mark B]

I think one of the bearings inside went bad. Theres a high shreaking sound while its on. But it still works, I am going to use it till it wont spin anymore.

[Mark B]

After along break... The project is back.
Just updated the site. Take a look and let me know what you think of the progress.

[Mark B]

Updated it again. 2-26-06


Geez, Am I ever going to finish?

[TraceZ]

Good Progress! Thanks for the update. Are you going to paint the doors off the car?

[Christopherrr]

Updated it again. 2-26-06


Geez, Am I ever going to finish?

dood...just checked out your work. Man, I wish I had the b@lls to do what your doing.

You'll finish, and when you are, all the hardwork will be all worth it.

Keep up posted!

[Mark B]

Right now the plan is:

-Finish prep
-Make first trip to paint shop with following parts:
- -Chasis
- -Doors
- -Hood
- -Trunk Lid
- -Tonneau Cover
- -Fenders
-Have paint shop spray the chasis, the jambs & the underside of all loose pieces w/ single stage system.
-Bring all parts back to my shop.
-Assemble body panels onto chasis.
-Take car back to paint shop.
-Paint shop sprays outside of car & a few misc pieces w/ either single stage plus clear -or- 3 stage.
-Final assembly

I really wanted to paint everything seperately, but it looks like I wont be able to do that. Due to time & funds constraints, I am going to have them spray: all of the jambs, under the hood, tonneau cover & trunk lid while they are off the car. Then the final spray, which will get the exterior of the car, will be with the major panels back on the car. Including Hood, Fenders, Doors, Trunk Lid, Tonneau Cover, GFX. I will still be having them paint the smaller pieces seperately. Like the Hood Bilisters, Gas Tank Lid, Mirrors, etc. My only concern with this method is overspray on the already painted jambs. Im not sure if it will be a problem yet, but I will probably be able to claybar them off if they are a problem.

[TraceZ]

I agree with everything except painting the GFX on the car. I would strongly recommend painting them seperate along with the mirrors, spoiler and hood bilisters and fuel door.

If you paint the GFX on the car, how would you paint behind them? The lower door and quarter panel wont get any paint on them if they are covered up by these pieces.

I would also recommend installing the bumper covers loosely and using shims to hold the seams/joints open so the paint can get around the edges a little without bridging them.

[Mark B]

I was going to do the front/rear bumper trick already. I think I read it somewhere in Hot Rod. As far as the GFX, I need to talk to the shop to see what kind of cost impact there will be to paint them seperately.

[Mark B]

The car is getting towed to the shop tonight! The chasis is ready for paint, but there are a few body panels that are not ready. I am going to bring all of the parts up to the shop tomorrow morning so I can go over each part with the manager. I want to aggree on a plan that will get everything I want painted, painted. I also need to start talking $$$ with him. There are lots of little parts I need painted that I am afraid will nickel & dime me to death. Parts like the gas tank lid, side mirrors, hood latch support, hood hinges, etc. I am hoping they will just throw those parts in when the paint under the hood, trunk lid, tonneau cover & doors. I guess I will find out tomorrow.

[Mark B]

I went to the shop Saturday Morning. I spent about 1.5-2 hours with the manager talking about the project. He was able to talk me into a full basecoat/clearcoat job on the exterior. I am still going to stick with a single stage on the jambs & undersides of the panels. Which he is going to do this week!
The total job is going to cost about 1k more than I was planning on paying. I wanted to be in around 2k for paint & it will end up costing me 3k. Im a little upset about the total, but I am just going to deal with it. The jamb painting he is doing this week is going to be $1100. The exterior base/clear will be another $1200. Painting all of the loose pieces with base/clear will be $600. And probably $200 to repair that rear 1/4 dent.
As usual, I will get pics of everything as it happens.