hey everyone as many many of you'* already know macco here in allentown pa really did a number on my 88 sse last year.. i took it for the half price special which they have going on again..

and now as many many of you'* already know i have gotten my car totaled and repaired and then spraypainted by myself to get me by.. it looks o.k for now.

but i really desperatley need a paint job very badly
and with this half price presidental paint job for only $199 is now in effect and there is another macco located in a town about 30 minutes away from me and they have a very good repuattion from what i hear on the streets...

should i do it..? and if so should i sand my whold entire car down before i bring it to them for paint....? or anything else to prep it ...

I've been considering a new paint job for my car too.. but I've been thinking about trying the roller method vs. letting Maaco touch my car.

Roller method: Click Me

Basically you get some marine paint (lays down in 4 coats with little or no thinner) or Rustoleum Pro (lays down in 8-10 very thinned down coats), let it cure, and buff/polish.

I'm very uneasy about letting other people work on my car, especially since this other method is cheap, looks good, and will probably outlast any Maaco job.

If you want more info just ask, I've been reading the original thread (about 150-200 pages now) from which this other article came from.

Edit: Forgot to mention that Tremclad is the Canadian version of Rustoleum...

both junk but 99% of a paint job is in prep and taping. if i had to chose between maaco and a roller job i would prep the car myself, trailer it to maaco and tape it in the parking lot.

As a body shop manager I will add on this, both choices have pros and cons, the paint they use is very low grade and the prep work will be 25%. Roller and buffing can be done, we roll on some primer on certain parts of cars and sand it, works great. But you get what you pay for or have the knowledge/talent to do.

why?

No mess.

I also vote to prep it yourself then take it to Maaco. Sand everything with 600 until it is perfectly smooth. Take it to them and let 'em paint it.
Grant

in a 'body shop'

i would never use a brush on an exterior panel.

It doesn't matter if it is sprayed on, rolled on, or in some cases powdercoated, adhesion is the first and foremost thing to worry about. Hell I once painted a body panel with an electric sprayer. Yes, it left a mottled surface. But after sanding, recoat with a thinner mix, sanding, more sanding, and compounding...it came out great. Moral of the story is 1)Surface prep is the biggest factor 2) No matter how the paint dries, it can be made level so long as there is ample coat on the surface to sand through.

As an offshoot, I painted a whole car (VW Jetta) with Nason farm and implement paint. Cherry red, single-stage enamel. IIRC, it only cost me 50 bucks for a gallon of it. And it came out great after wetsanding and buff.

the nice thing would be that you dont have to use a booth, and its sanded down anyways so roller or brush or sprayed on, it will pretty much turn out the same.

roller