Maaco Paint job

[Major Woody]

Wow Insect, that sounds a lot like the job they did on my old Accord. I did all the prep but they still got paint all over my seals, blew primer into the door jambs, forgot to paint the cowl vent cover. Big thick hairs in the paint on the roof, like horse hair they were so big. God knows how that got there. And the Accord was just a "point A to point B" car, not a car that I had poured my heart and soul into restoring. If I saw paint like that on one of my dubs, I believe I would lose my mind.

The best deals are the guys who paint cars for a living and do side jobs in their garages on the weekends. Plus if they do the work, you have a chance to help prep and mask the car and you're less likely to end up with an unsatisfactory result.

Since getting into the hobby, I've met a few guys who spray cars on the side, and I'm sure glad I did. Sure beats Maaco.

[lightswitch]

I used to work @ a body shop for years, did everything from $30k full restos to $200 "scratch & blast" jobs (take a scotch brite pad & scrub the whole thing down, then paint over it. )
Heres a few tips
* Take off everything you can
* Imagine your painting the car scan over every inch in your mind like your painitng it (I know this sounds stupid, but do it) Youll always find something else to take off.
*for most paints especially cheap paint 320 grit paper is good, i heard 800 grit mentioned you dont want the scratches to be too small. Cheaper paint tends to be thicker & needs the larger girt for adhesion.
* sand all the knicks & scratches out if its not perfectly smooth it will show up in the paint. Seriously, spend some time on this. even on a $200 paint job, shity prep is unexcusable & after the paints on, youll be cursing yourself for not spending that extra 15 minutes to do it right.
* body work find your spots & mark them with a pencil, if your doing it yourself it keeps you form forgeting spots later, if your paying someone, then they will know what you want done.
* Body work is an art, not everybody can do it. But nobody should be afraid to try it @ least once.
* Tape off what you cannt or dont want to take off, remmber even the tightest tape up job can cause weak points in a paint job. when taping up rubber stuff error on teh side of teh rubber. Its alot better to have paint overlap on teh rubber, than to remove teh tape & have gaps that allow the old paint job to show thru. You new paint job will fail @ these spots first. spend some effort into getting this right.
* rember to prep in non-obvious places. I see good paint jobs all the time, where it all goest to shit because somone forgot to sand the edge under the door!!!!!!! or inside the gas hatch, not a big deal but every time you fill up youll be remined of your lazyness.
* in a bug take the F%&# glass out on teh rear windows. youll spend more time taping the things up than poping them off. teh windsheild & rear arent easy to put back in , but might be a concideration if the seals are old & dried out.
*as for macco & earl schibe. every shop is different. & there is always a diamond in teh rough. but think of it this way. macco specializes in scratch & blast jobs, & bassically doesnt give a F&%$! Its all about vollume with them. Find a local shop that does good work, but isnt terribly busy. be strait up say I dont want to spend much money, ill do the prep. Tow teh car down. (get you shit all done before hand, body shops will not be tollerant of you doinglast minute stuff, in their yard) but make it clear that you will have everything ready, stuff removed, car cleaned, preped, all tehy need to do is paint it. most good shops with some bussness sense will see this as an oppurtunity to keep thier painter busy, & will take your $200 job under these conditions. IN turn you get, a quality job, that isnt full of runs or dry spots, done with proper prep work @ a steal of a price.
* get good cheap paint, with a clear coat or two. $300-$400 is what it should cost you for paint with a clear. the clear makes all teh differnce. pick a color with out stuff liek meatal flake in it. to keep teh price down. also lighter colors reflect more light & hide bad or negected body work. if teh cars wavy a dark paint job will show it.

[Bren]

Insect:
How did your Maaco pant job turn out?
I have heard of doing the prep, having them paint it, take it home and sand it, then have it painted again. But that was when you could get the $200 paint job....

-Bren
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1967 Beetle, 1971 Bay Window Westy, 1972 Super Beetle, 1970 Drag Beetle, 1976 Porsche 912E

www.thegoodvolks.com
www.us131msp.com

[SouthernYankee]

[auslander]

It a good deal if you, do the bodywork yourself, do all the prep, and take it their as a shell only. It would be pretty hard for them to f@!k it up.
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Zombie
Wandering...Have you found what your looking for?

66 POS Bus
69 Class 11 Beetle
71 Cat-Look Beetle
64 Old Skool Baja
74 "Swamp" Thing

!!! F**k Cancer !!!
Time's Tide will Smother You
"You can't throw a rock in Long Beach without hitting a tweaker" Steve Tucci

[insect]

I get it back Friday but my expectations aren't too high. The good thing will be that I'll have it to use. If nothing else I've gotten an education. I had taken the car all apart and windows out for painting but I had to put it all back together because I couldn't afford the place I was renting to work on it, and I live in an apartment where I'm not allowed to even change the oil in a car. (I do it anyway.)I'll post again Saturday and tell you how it turned out.

[SouthernYankee]

Cool man. Hope it works out.

Wish I had the money to blow and could bring them a primed shell to see what happens.
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Email changed to [email protected]

[vwjosh6070]

man, if my dad did that and expected a good job and got a crappy one, he'd go in with a baseball bat and smash a couple of things, like peoples heads. then he would do the old," sorry for the mess" thing and flip the coin and walk out.... im dead serious about that, he did it when a mechanic scratched his camaro's paint on the bottom of the door.
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josh, AKA "the infamous josh"

1973 Transporter "Floyd"

****Wheres my old bus?! 1967 Montgomery Ward Camper****

KI4MXO

[insect]

Well I got it back this afternoon and I'm convinced that I could have rattle can painted it better. I ended up with a two tone interior after all because the second batch of paint didn't match the first. They did remember to give me touch up paint, but it won't do much good since it doesn't match. They didn't do any of the other work except to sand out the runs, and touch them up with the new colored paint. The dashboard looks like a school of fish swimming straight for you. They busted my outside rearview mirror. They broke off the handle that releses the seat to tilt forward. They broke off one of the overriders on the rear bumper, and they crossthreaded all the bolts when they loosly put the bumpers back on. The owner once again said he'd take care of things but his track record isn't too good. I'm thinking of cutting my losses and repainting the dash myself. They gave me about 5 ounces of paint. Could I do it with that much paint and an airbrush? Of course I need to take it to bare metal and prime it first.

[vwjosh6070]

looks like a little crappy company might owe you some money for damages. go to judge judy, she'll help out.
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josh, AKA "the infamous josh"

1973 Transporter "Floyd"

****Wheres my old bus?! 1967 Montgomery Ward Camper****

KI4MXO

[hlwimmer]

insect... this is worse than either of my maaco or scheib experiences and likely a case for either court or a credit-card settlement... sorry it ended up this way, but don't give up without a fight. you should file a complaint with the local BBB (bbb.org). thay likely already have a long case log if their work is this bad.

[insect]

Well aint this a kick in the asp. After writing a two page letter and including about 20 pictures the owner of the MAACO agreed to 'make everything right'. So being a sucker, I ageed and they told me to bring the car back tonight so they could do the work. When I get there to leave my car I notice there are no other cars. There is a closed sign on the door but it was unlocked so I went in and the lady behind the counter asked why I was there. I told her I had an appointment and she said, "You'll have to go somewhere else. We just went out of business. The owner is bankrupt and the bank has forclosed on the business and the owner's house." Go figure.

[hlwimmer]

with his letter of fault-accepting, you might be eligible to get on his "i owe this guy money" bankruptcy file... i'm no expert, but i have had some folks go under while owing money to me and my debt became part of the debt log (still have yet to see a cent, but i get updates from time to time)... something to check into and definitely something to forward to maaco-corporate... best of luck.

[johann_24]

I have a friend who has had similar experiences with Maaco. He has a beautifully restored '64 bug for his wife, but made the mistake of taking it to Maaco. He went over the entire car and showed them everything he wanted cleaned\fixed, from rust to small holes. The person he showed even made a point of marking everything. However, when they got the car back, barely anything was touched. There is a very visible patch of rust that was obviously just painted over right in the middle of the dash.

Learning from him, I've saved up $3000 dollars to devote just to the paint and body work.
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When you're in up to your ears, keep your mouth shut.

'63 Classic resto bug

[toumadrivesa66]

I think I'll stick to rolling on the paint with exterier house paint. Looks good on my bus, and it's been there for a good three years now, not a chip on it. Can't really tell when it's dirty either. Cost me $15.00 to do that one, looks better then my buddies maaco. Cost him $300.00 and the paint is chipping.
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"Ummm, yeah my car would run a lot better if I put the motor back in"

[davidw99]

I had my car painted by Maaco in 1987. I took off as much as I could and had them tape the rest. I paid them for sanding and priming. I tthink it cost about $300. I drove it for three years and stored it in a damp barn for 14 more. I have to say, the paint still looks good. Now I'm doing a pan off restoration and I'm having a lot of hidden rust fixed then sand blasted. I'll have it painted again. Probably not Maaco. Not because I tink they'll do a bad job but because I have a lot more money now. Do as much prep as you can. The more the better. Look at cars that they have done. There should be severel in the lot from the last day or two. I think that there are good and bad Maacos. Do your home work but, if you are on a budget, don't dismiss them ot of hand.
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Dave

'73 Saturn Yellow Sports Bug that has undergone a full pan off restoration. "Herbert IV."

'67 Sedan. "Bellamy." Currently being "refreshed" and recently repainted.

[r39o]

Maaco Costa Mesa, CA

So I read and read and agonised over what todo about getting my 85 Westy painted white again. I used the formula of doing the prep yourself and I used a body man to do the prep. That took 2 weekends. I took everything off except the windows which I cut the seals back. During the prep process I was beginning to worry. Paint places wanted $1400 to $2500+ to paint it. No way! A friend showed me a couple of VWs that he had painted at a local Maaco. Nice job they do of applying the paint. I thought. I got my van back and I am very happy. I got as good a paint job as my prep allowed.

Cost: $500 body work + $580 Maaco. 4 year warrenty. Period. I asked and the manager said to keep it waxed and it will last twice that. Good enough.

BTW: The Maaco in San Diego sucks!

Thanks Samba.

[Chubber]

All this talk about saving a few bucks at Maco or Scheib.

But, you are going to spend countless hours prepping the car, sanding, cleaning, primering, sanding, cleaning, primering, etc.

The best "paint booth" I have used is what I am using right now:
Buy one of those "instant carports" that are pipes and canvas 10x20 feet. Get the side and end kits. Price Club, Pep Boys or Costco have them for under $200 with all 4 sides. Get a 15x25 cheapo blue tarp to lay on the ground. Seal the corners and bottom edges with painters plastic and tape. I disconnected the ends at the very peaks and installed cheesecloth ($10) and put exhaust box fans ($10 each) in opposite corners at ground level.

For about $220, or about what the primer will cost for 1 coat (2 on a convertible) you have a clean, well lit, mostly dust free environment that you can paint in, plus you get to keep the carport or sell it when you are done. My $200 carport is more than 5 years old and still going strong.
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Chubber
'71 Deluxe 7 Passenger Bus (Resto thread)
'72 Fastback
'74 Super Beetle Convertible (Sold)

[rich53x]

I just got my bug back from Maaco.

see my website/restoration: http://www.1974beetle.com

My pictures tell it all. - I completely stripped every square inch of paint off the shell. I did all replacement of the various body pieces myself. -

I think it all depends on your local Maaco franchise. Mine has a good rep in the area. The guys there have been absolutely terrific. The owner encouraged me to come every day if I wanted, and take as many pictures as I liked. During the 4 weeks they had my bug they literally made me a member of the family. - I paid a pretty penny, but for me it is worth it.

[KennyD.]

Looks good. I am in the process of getting my Bug ready for paint. Hopefully it'll look just as good as yours. Is that enamel paint they used?
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1974 Super Beetle-turbocharged 1915-mine
1974 Thing-dads