MAACO

[68angrypony]

Anyone have any thoughts on using MAACO for body work? I have a guy who said he would do the body work and put the paint on my car if I already have everything, which i do, for like 1200. MAACO said they can't use my paint no matter where it comes from for liability purposes so I would have to get paint through them. Just trying to figure out things moving forward so when the time comes I know what my options are. Any thoughts/input would be great.

 

[Ponyman66]

Cost wise, paint jobs from MAACO are cheap. The reason being, they're cheap paint jobs! The price ranges they offer cover several things. With the cheapest they offer, you get the absolute cheapest materials, almost no bodywork to speak of, very limited warranty and almost NO attention to detail. You're just about lucky they mask anything before spraying (a slight exaggeration, but not much). The "better" quality range you choose, and resulting price increase, also increases the quality of everything previously mentioned...to a point. Even their "best" paint is still cheap paint. My father was a shop manager, and later a district manager for one of MAACO's direct competitors and they all do the same thing. If you just want color that will last a couple of years, go for it.

If you have a decent paint and body guy, plus already have quality materials, $1200 is a pretty decent price. You'll end up with a much better and longer lasting paint job. It's not hard to have a minimum of $1200 just in a gallon of quality paint and clear.

 

[68angrypony]

Had a suspicion it might be like that. I had a guy once tell me to take my car to maaco cause they would do a panel for 139 for body work and then you can bring your own paint or take the car somewhere else.

 

[Horseplay]

I presume when your guys says "have everything" it means all the papers, fillers, primers, masking, paint, etc. You'll be amazed at the cost of the materials needed to complete all the bodywork and paint. I'd have to go back and add mine up again but its easily $2-3k. And that is with good but not top of the line color and clear.

If your body work is simply "smoothing it out" kind of stuff, you can do it yourself. It just takes the use of good products and patience. If you need a fair amount of metal replacement, etc. I would be very skeptical of someone who would do it all and paint for that price. Unless you know them well and they are doing you a HUGE favor.

 

[68angrypony]

Most of the metal work has already been done. I am using the 3 step duplicolor system. I Just want the car protected at this point and if I can get the body straight and body lines good that would be good. I can always save up and go all out down the road if I want to. I am just thinking for now to get the car on the road and all one color and to just enjoy it as much as I can the next few years.

 

[Horseplay]

If you do the body work/prep yourself (saving yourself $) you can get a much better quality paint product for not much more money than Duplicolor, IMO. A little money saved now is money wasted in a couple years when you have to go back and start over.

 

[Anonymous]

If the body work is done, that's the hard part! A monkey could be trained to lay down some paint. Buy the material, get a good paint gun and give it a go. Use a BC/CC and just sand out the flaws. Why paint it again?

I painted my 66 back in 02 and except for the track battle scars, the paint looks just as good today as when painted. I used PPG Deltron and spent around $2,500.

 

[JeffTepper]

I have done two project cars in the past few of years, both of which were painted at my local Maaco, The owner and the manager there are great. They love working on the older cars, do a commendable job, and there are at least a couple of vintage cars in there at any given point of time. As with any franchise, it's the quality of the people who do the work that determines the outcome. In my case, I stripped the cars down to near bare shells and delivered them for minor body work (and I do mean minor) and their higher quality Sherwin Williams paint. In both cases the cars were at the shop for about a month or so and my frequent visits reminded them that I cared. I was even invited into the booth once the sealer/primer coat went on the check for flaws. The painter and I identified several minor flaws that needed attention so the car was backed out of the booth and they did the necessary work to eliminate the flaws before returning the car to the booth for the color application. I would characterize the result as very nice quality driver paint and the cost for each car was about $2K.

Here's a link to the build thread that show some of the work in progress. Scroll down and you will see Craig and Justin helping with the engine drop.

http://www.stangfix.com/testforum2/inde ... 469.0.html

Here's a link to the car today. It was purchased by a classic car broker and is now waiting for it's next owner.

http://www.billsclassiccars.com/carpages/1968convw.html

The second car was a '67 coupe that has been with the same owner since 1969 and is being kept forever. It turned out very well and both the owners and I are pleased with the quality of the paint:

Before:

After:

If you can find a Maaco in your area with a similar work ethic, you will be pleased.