my paint job

[jimjonez]

ok guys i'm looking to get my car painted a powder blue some what like a sky blue...

anybody know about how much a half decent paint job could cost me...

by the way i live in Reading,PA any local shops you guys recommend???

[JDM_honda_PIG]

well if you strip down the car and prime it yourself i heard that maaco paint jobs aren't half bad, they just dont prime your car usually and thats why the start to suck after a year or two

[topcop182]

Definatly strip the car yourself! the paint will only look as good a s the prep-work. If the paint has a good clean surface to adhere to then game on! but if you get a lousy prep job you will notice! At maaco a good job should be around 600 to 1,000 bucks

['93accordse]

do not prep the car yourself if you don't know what youre doing. The Maaco job has nothing to do with prep, it has all to do with Maaco. They are independently owned, therefore the quality of the work varies by location. Since there is no set standard for a maaco job, just prices, your car is really in the hands of whatever Joe Schmo is running the place. You might get an awesome qualtiy job for a few hundred bucks or you might get non-filtered paint, runs, orange peel, overspray, piss-poor tape-off, overspray, trash in paint and oh, did i mention overspray?

However, any real painter will not paint over someone elses prep work (unless you have a boss calling the shots). If you talk to anyone at a decent shop they will want to clean, sand and prime the car themselves. The problem with self prep is that 1.) youre probably gonna use spray paint primer which is a sucky starting point for ANY paint and 2.) how will the painter know the car was sanded correctly? Its more involved than just running a DA over the whole car with 300 grit. high and low spots need to be fixed, rust needs to be addressed if any and any trouble areas in the paint or bodywork need to be feathered out. The sense of touch for a properly feathered area is acquired over time, a spot that might feel smooth to you might feel like the grand canyon to a good body man.


if you want to learn and have access to the proper tools definitely try and paint it yourself this way you can learn body work, prep, painting etc... which will save you a ton of money in the long run and let you get as creative as you want. If you just want the car a color and are on a tight budget, check around your local area for cars that have been sprayed by Maaco. If the quality is good enough for you ask the owner if they know the name of whoever painted the car so you can get the same deal. Otherwise, cough up the cash for a real bodyshop to do the job.

[topcop182]

I really couldn't dis agree more! if the surface under the paint is not in good order then how can the final product (the paint) look at all good! I'd say by all means sand it down yourself and bring it to the body shop and let them deal with the dents, yes but why no save a few dolllars in the process and sand it down yourself. and As far as overspray.... thats what a clay bar is for! and you naturally will get a better paint job if you tio the guy painting it a 50.00 and a pack of good beer! Not to bash anyone but sorry i don't agree but that is simply my opinion!

['93accordse]

what dont you agree with? i dint say dont sand it period. i said dont prep it yourself if you dont know what youre doing. Did you even read my post???
and as far as saying "don't worry about overspray, thats what a clay bar is for" is dumb. Thats like saying "don't worry about runs, thats what razorblades are for". It;s a means to fix a problem, but its still a problem. i would worry about it. You gonna claybar rubber window trim?

now, tipping your paint guy a $50 a pack of beer, i couldnt agree more

[Golden_Boy]

Holy SHit! i didnt think there was anyone on this forum from Reading. Im here in Reading at school. i go to Penn State Berks. i dont kno any paint shops around here.....found a couple of custom shops, dats about it, but good luck with the search and tell me the outcome.

[BKwagon]

Hey kid

I do body work, First the thing first. Do the car have any rust on it? Do you want just the outside to be painted? Or the whole thing door jams, under the hood, trunk the works. First thing a body shop charges $200.xx a panel so you have to think there are 11 panels on the car, so you looking at $2,200. And if I was going to paint it after primer I would shoot the car with a white base coat so you make the powder blue pop more and shoot 4 to 5 coats of clear coat and wet sand and buff it. that shit will shine

['93accordse]

I do body work, First the thing first. Do the car have any rust on it? Do you want just the outside to be painted? Or the whole thing door jams, under the hood, trunk the works. First thing a body shop charges $200.xx a panel so you have to think there are 11 panels on the car, so you looking at $2,200. And if I was going to paint it after primer I would shoot the car with a white base coat so you make the powder blue pop more and shoot 4 to 5 coats of clear coat and wet sand and buff it. that shit will shine

eh, this isnt meant in any disrespect but,

to say a body shop charges $200 a door panel is like saying that gas stations charge $2.00 a gallon. What your shop charges isnt a standard by any means. So quoting $2200 for a job is like saying i can go anywhere in america and fill up 10 gallons for $20.00.

Price is reflective on amount of work to be done, type of paint etc... And if the shop is well established/known locally you might be paying a little more for the name too. Painting a base of white is also kind of a crap shoot, depending again on brand of paint. You could paint bases of many different colors to dramatic effect with the RIGHT paint. If he chooses a flat powder blue with heavy coverage the white will not make a difference in the outcome. However if he goes with Kandy (or even certain mettalics) you could shoot any color base and up to a certain number of top coat to get the desired effect. Because Kandy is designed transluscent which is why you hardly ever see two Kandy jobs look the same since the hue you end with is dependent on number of passes.

The problem with shooting Kandy (or any other paint designed this way i.e multi pass coats PPG Prismatic, Harlequin, HOK Kameleon etc...) Is that you have to walk the entire car in one length, one straight spray to avoid dark overlapping spots. So first of all, finding a body shop to spray this is one thing, finding one to do it right is harder, and you'll end up paying more than $2200 for the car guaranteed.

last thing, more clear coat does not equal more shine. it adds depth sure, but if your clearcoat isnt designed for multiple coats the 4 layers underneath your top layer (that you wetsanded in between coats, dulling it, but i digress) will eventually yellow. Again, referencing Kandy, there are paints that are designed to be shot like this. If you want that depth of a Kandy job, dont fake it with 100 coats of clear. I've personally sprayed 13 layers of Kandy Green over a PPG silver met base, followed by one coat HOK Abalone flake on a guys graphic. But its designed to do this. Your average clearcoat is not designed for multiple layers. Besides, you only buff and polish the final layer, right? so thats where your shine comes in.

[tresexohcb]

Spray paint that's the best, bomb the car in spray paint ftw. Peace

['93accordse]

Spray paint that's the best, bomb the car in spray paint ftw. Peace

witty. way to really earn those 30 posts

[BKwagon]

The thing you have to remember, he did not say what kind of paint he want to do. He was more asking about an good paint and work in an body shop for over seven years I'm just giving him an idea what an body shop will charge for an paint job I didn't get into detail if his car have any rust or dents I just said about paint and If the car have any thing like that it going to cost more.