Whatever happened to Earl Scheib's 'Any Car, $49.95'? I'm astounded at what people tell me they paid for their paint jobs.
Any suggestions on getting an 'affordable' paint job? Is it possible to get a decent one for around $700 ?
Can anyone tell me what prep work I could do that would help lower the cost? What about wet sanding afterwards, can this make up for a less thann great shoot?
I'm not trying to start a 'you get what you pay for' discussion, I'm just looking for alternatives to shelling out $4000 to get my Elkie painted. Thanks.
---
Ed

I know a lot of people don't like this idea but our local Mako does a real nice job. They even have the correct stencile kits for SS stripes.

They usually run a half price special in January, I saw a chevelle they had painted and it turned out awsome! He paid $1200 and that wasn't the half price deal! It could have been half that and it looked as good as a 6k job and they do last pretty long too. My brother had his mustang painted at Mako and when he sold it after about five years it still looked great but he kept it covered and outside.

Earl Shieb just looks real bad, I remember my dad getting the $39.95 deal! it looked real good for the rest of the summer.

John

All I can say is you get what you pay for.

Thanks John, that's the kind of information I'm looking for. I know Maaco's a franchise, so I'd expect similar results regardless of where they are. Has anyone else out there had any experience with places like Maaco?
--
Ed

i would go with earl scheib.my friend got his car done at maaco and about 3 weeks later it started peeling in spots close to the bumper and curves.he paid 800 something.that was with no body work.
earl scheib is gonna do mine for 634 with the best paint plan they have you can check it out by going to there website.and i have some mild body rust near the rear quarter panels to get done.
when i went to maaco after i got my quote from earl scheib the guy at maaco told me about 3000.i laughed he said he wouldnt touch my car for less than 1000 because of all the body work!!
this is the best part i have no dents AT ALL the only body work i need is the rust bubbles sanded off the bottom of the rear quarters and its very small..
oh yeah earl scheib also comes with a 6 yr warranty!!!

[This message has been edited by mykes68 (edited 09-15-2001).]

Earl, MAACO or similar shops...YOU'LL BE SORRY!!

There ain't no free rides! Quality materials to do a quality job cost $500-$800 at wholesale. You said you didn't want to hear it, but YES!, you get what you pay for.

Exactly.A macco prep job consists of a quick scuff and a quick degrease.(i heard from employees if they spend more than a half hour on prep there in trouble.A real body shop will spend roughly 40 hours on a paint job.40 hrs at $40/hour + 400 on quality materials = $2000 the price for an average job.This is all aproximate.Naturally a car that needs more work(or less) will reflect on the price.All Maccos are different,some employ good painters,but the prep and body work can be awful.I know ,a dealership I used to work at used to send some used cars there.Paint on the edges of door hanldes and moldings,overspray in the jambs,very sloppy.So if you insist i would prep it yourself and pay the extra for the best paint they have.Even if it looks good when you pick it up,it won't last.My Dad had his company vehicles painted there.A white Blazer,it actually looked really nice.Until a few months later when the big flakes of paint started peeling off.The unsanded yellow paint underneath looked in pretty nice shape too!

68elky, I can not emphasize enough, ALL MACCOS ARE NOT THE SAME!!! They are not like McDonalds where they have to follow strict guide lines to be a McDonalds. I have had HORRABLE experiances at Macco (franchised by the same people who bring you AMCCO transmission) and Miricle auto painting. These "investment" business' are bought and ran by investers, NOT people from the trade. They are PROFIT MAKERS, not body shops. They train their people from the ground up THEIR way. They always have a super nice paint job sitting out side that was done in the shop, giving you the impression that that is their work. Well it is, but NOT anything even remotely close to anything you would EVER see at any price from them. I have been in this business for 25 years and tried them over the years to get customers cars painted who coundn't afford my price. Every shop, Every location, has been a BIG disapointment. And I am not saying they didn't live up to my standards, of course they didn't, they are 1/4 the price. I am talking about being lied to, prices changeing, and HORRABLE work. Quality that I could do at thier price and do a better job than they do, and still make money (out side of the material cost, they get their materials for dang near nothing). In other words they cut corners that an experianced painter woundn't have to to get the job done fast.

Let me put it this way, a complete paint job costs about $600.00 to $1000.00 dollars in materials alone to do properly! What kind of number crunching do you thing MACCO's the head office has done to make this a profitable business to sell it's "investors"? There are some SERIOUS short cuts.

The best way is to find a painter who like to make a few bucks on the weekends and have him do it.

Now, this all being true, is MACCO a good place for a cheap paint job? Yes it is, so long as you set your sights WAY DOWN LOW. Expect the price to change, the car to be the wrong color, paint on your upholstery, no paint on an surface that would require the painter to bend over to reach, dirt, bugs, fish eyes, NO shine, etc in the paint and last but not least, not completed on time. If you can live with this, I am not kidding, you may be able to live with this. Then have it done at MACCO. I personally have done it, knowing what I know because I EXPECTED this type of job and was "happy" with the pathetic outcome. For the money, they gave me what I needed.

My point being, if you go to them EXPECTING anything better than what I have discribed, you will be one disapointed customer. And believe me you can FORGET about the "I won't accept the car till it's right" routine. The customer service on "redos" is the lowest of any business you will ever see!

These are MY opinions, from MY experiances.

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1965 Buick Gran Sport Convertible
1965 Buick Skylark H/T
"Fan of most anything that moves human beings"

[This message has been edited by MARTINSR (edited 09-15-2001).]

68elkie,

MARINSR is 100% more knowledgeable than me in fact I read all his posts on painting cars because I'm planning on attempting it myself on my 70 because I can't afford to have it done, and I want to learn.

The deal with Macco at least with the one in Sacramento is that they like the occasional Hot Rod and I don't think it's their bread and butter jobs that they spit out every day. They spend a little more time on the muscle rides.

You do have to make a judgment call on the guy running the show and the shop, see if he's a Hot Rodder himself!

The big problem I've seen is that if you can't afford the 10-15k for a pro-job and you opt for the semi-pro job for let's say 5-7K. A lot of times you get taken for a ride. I've seen more of this than I have lousy Macco jobs!

If you have the money spend it on the best shop. It all depends how much you got!

John

John, you are right on with your comment..."The big problem I've seen is that if you can't afford the 10-15k for a pro-job and you opt for the semi-pro job for let's say 5-7K. A lot of times you get taken for a ride. I've seen more of this than I have lousy Macco jobs!"

I don't care where you take it, DO YOUR HOMEWORK! And research the shop. I am speaking from MY experiance and other people I have known. BUT I know that there HAS TO BE a MACCO out there that will do a nice job.



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1965 Buick Gran Sport Convertible
1965 Buick Skylark H/T
"Fan of most anything that moves human beings"

Here are a few possible tips on how to get a reasonable quality paint job for an affordable price.

1) Go to as many cruise nights and other enthusiast car events as possible. Ask the people with ordinary looking paint who did it and what did they pay. This way you will discover what a regular paint job goes for in your area.

2) Check to see if there are any vocational automotive paint schools in your area. You may find that if you are willing to put up with an extended shop time that you could get your car painted for something close to what you have budgeted.

3) Find a painter/shop that is willing to work with a car owner (you) who wishes to remove all of the trim, bumpers, lights, etc - and that you will also be responsible for reinstalling said items. I did this a few years back on another car and ended up with stunning results for the money spent. Be aware that virtually no shop will want to be involved with a car that the customer does any prep/sanding/blocking out of the paint itself.

4) A considerable amount of what separates the quality of many paint jobs is the amount and quality of the prep work, and IF they block out the paint between coats. I have seen many paint jobs that obviously used quality paint, only to skip out on blocking out in between paint coats - the visual end result is a wavy paint job; "more ripples and waves than in the ocean".

5) If you will indeed be utilizing one of the budget paint shops like Maaco, Scheib, One Day Paint, etc, I hope that there are several in your area. As noted above quality varies greatly from one location to the next. Visit them all, expalin that you are an enthusiast on a severely limited budget (family and other obligations) - then pose the above stated questions about having yourself remove all trim and seeing what it would take to motivate them (more $$$) to do more prep and inbetween coat paint work than they would do for their average customer (the average customer is not looking for a long term paint job, but you are).

Best of luck, you can probably get closer to your goal than most people think.

Thomas

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"Bomber" '67 El Camino, Beater comes back to life.
Was 350/TH350 14.90 @ 93mph, 360,000+ miles on car
Now 406 roller, 340rwhp, more hp coming, 3.08 gears
Street radials, left in drive, 13.20 e.t.@108.35 mph
8/1/01 added Plum Mist '67 to collection
*New* 468 on its way - going Big Block!

Bomber, you made a great post, but I can't figure out what you mean by "4) A considerable amount of what separates the quality of many paint jobs is the amount and quality of the prep work, and IF they block out the paint between coats. I have seen many paint jobs that obviously used quality paint, only to skip out on blocking out in between paint coats - the visual end result is a wavy paint job; "more ripples and waves than in the ocean".


You mean block out the paint between paint JOBS not "coats" right? Noone is going block out the paint in between the three or so "coats" in a paint job.


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1965 Buick Gran Sport Convertible
1965 Buick Skylark H/T
"Fan of most anything that moves human beings"

I think he means " to block out between coats of surfacer" which can really make a diffeence in a finish "coat" of paint, but I am amused by the "sanding out of the rust bubbles" get real, there is no way to properly prep and paint an car for less than 600-800 in material alone, not counting tape,sandpaper, and other misc stuff. Heck for 600 dollars or whatever for a 1/2 price special, what kind of paint are we talking about, latex?

Pipeman has it right, I am refering to having a straight foundation before the color coat is sprayed. On many older cars a paint job may have already been done in the past. And as the little nicks and chips are sanded out it often leaves valleys and riples if nothing is done to insure that most of the surface has the same thickness of foundation. In some cases this would be fixed by putting a surface/primer coat in the area where a nick or chip was sanded down, and then blocking it out true to the surrounding area. Of course, some cars have been painted several times, and the paint is so thick that a careless sanding job will leave a foundation of greatly varying thickness that would look wavy after painting - so that yes, the surface had been sanded down for good paint adhesion, but without thought as to how "straight" it would look after painting.

I too agree that $700 will not get much a paint job, let me emphasize that I said that Ed could " probably get closer to your goal than most people think". However, for about double that amount I have seen many paint jobs that provided "pride of ownership" for the enthusiast on a budget. It just requires searching out the right shop, and doing all the trim removal/reinstallation. On the other end of the scale I have seen innumerable $10k to $20k paint jobs that were real works of art.

Sanding out the "rust bubbles" will only insure that they will reappear at some time in the future. For cars with very minor lower body surface rust, where the owner has no money to repair correctly, I suggest painting the car in a two tone: say with a black paint lower color that can easily be painted again in the future without having to repaint the whole car.

For the budget minded enthusiast the goal is to make the car a good "10 footer"; looks good from a few feet away, but don't get too close! Even when the paint is far from concours quality, it is amazing what a difference it makes to have it all one color and reasonably shiney http://www.chevelles.com/forum/smile.gif

Bomber, you are right on the money. Can I add that DETAIL is what really makes a car. My own '65 Skylark (well my wifes car) paint was done far from perfect and the body wasn't even that straight, but the details were there and it looked great ( I say looked because it is a bit shabby now after 12 years).

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1965 Buick Gran Sport Convertible
1965 Buick Skylark H/T
"Fan of most anything that moves human beings"

Hey Pipeman!! Two of us on here from South Ms? Shucks, if we plan it right, we can take over the joint. :)

Vettefella, after this thread, maybe we should open a Macco or Earl's down here and during Crusin the Coast we can offer a drive thru special for $ 29.95 http://www.chevelles.com/forum/smile.gif Hey, just remember guys in a quality repaint, it in the details just like martinsr says, if you have a pretty good canvas to start with, one of the discount paint shops could do a pretty decent job, but beware it is hit and miss as mentioned in this thread, and there is no worse job than trying to remove cheap acrylic enamel off a car to try and repaint.

We're all fools unless we spend less than $20k on our paintjob, right?
Get real guys, you do not always get what you pay for, sometimes you just get taken.
Yes you can get a really good looking paintjob for $1k or less....just do your own prepwork and shop around.
But you guys please keep spending your inheritance on your paintjobs, thats fine, just don't make other people feel like crap if they don't have the money or insanity to go crazy with it.

MWad, man you dug waaay back in the archives to pull this thread up!!

You sound a bit tweaked about the money business. FWIW, I haven't paid someone to do a paint job on one of my cars since 1961. That one cost me $50. After that, I learned to do my own.

I think the major point that most of the posters were trying to make is that moderate grade, brand name materials for a complete paint job cost approximately $300 for a single stage job and $600-$800 for a basecoat/clearcoat. As someone pointed out, if reasonably good quality materials alone cost that much, what kind of a paint job including labor are you going to get from MAACO etc. for $600 or even for $1000?

If MAACO is all you can afford, go for it! Paint/body work is kinda like getting more horsepower out of your engine. How good do you want it to look and last? How much can you afford to spend? If you want good, it ain't cheap. If you want cheap, there are varying degrees of quality, most of them on the bad side. It's your money and your choice.

Was watching one of the "car" TV shows awhile back. Ted Jones was interviewing a guy at OPG and showing his blue Nova. Ted commented on how good the paint was and the guy said he had it done at Maaco every 3 or 4 years. Looked great on TV.

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Dave Bradley
www.corvetteforum.net/classics/d1_bradley (http://www.corvetteforum.net/classics/d1_bradley)
'69 SS396 ragtop
'33 3W Coupe
'65 Vette BB Roadster

Holy Crap- this thread is OLD!! LOL

"just don't make other people feel like crap if they don't have the money or insanity to go crazy with it. "

The only way that you'll feel like crap if these other people are spending an arm and a leg on paint is if YOU somehow feel bad about the end result on your car. IN reality, who really cares what someone else spends on their paint job (cheap or expensive) as long as you are ultimately happy with YOURS, and furthermore who cares what they think anyway?! You can get a CRAP paint job from Earl or Maaco, BUT you can also get a DECENT job if YOU DO the prep work- and remove or mask EVERYTHING YOU DONT WANT PAINTED -INCLUDING THE TAILPIPE. BUT- I heard that their painters are paid on a scale of how thin they can lay on the paint with the most coverage possible, hence saving the owner the cost of materials...SO, it is wise to shop around as it is a franchise. For a daily driver and a solid color, hey- they are not all that bad. BUT for metallics or some harder to spray type of paint, I'd look elsewhere. NOT trying to make you feel bad cause you don't have endless pockets, just speaking from personal experience.

[This message has been edited by JU87 (edited 08-10-2002).]

Have to jump in on this oooold/revived thread. Got my first pay check from body shop in 1961, 11 years old, call me a historian/preacher. 40+ years in automotive has taught me the following. Cost to repair is directly related to: needs of vehicle and desired outcome as defined by, customer. Be it body or mechanical. It costs more to replace cyl. heads than to replace thermostat. More to replace headlamps than to aim. More to refinish entire car than to refinish hood. More to replace a roof than a bumper. yada, yada yada. If you are dealing with a quality facility, more than likely you will "get what you pay for" There are those that may like bragging rights by saying they paid 20k for paint. Forgetting to mention that included MAJOR restoration work. That being said, do the math, cost of quality top coat materials alone can easily exceed $500 to $600. Walk into a paint store, ask them to price it out. My very experienced technicians, who are nationally certified in welding, collision repair, ASE, and refinishing, earn between 70K to 90K+ per year, plus benefits. We have to generate $80 to $100.00 per hour labor revenue for every hour they work. None of my staff were frying hamburgers, or digging ditches last week, or are they day labor brought in to plug holes in staff. In our area, Maaco is the only "paint" franchise I am aware of. Usually the person spraying the car is quite good. "The devil is in the details" Their materials are very cost effective. Quality preparation by someone who knows how, and takes pride in final product is essential to insure a good outcome. Caution on someone doing it on the side. There are times in peoples lives when they take on more than they are capable of, or have time to complete. If this happens, you and your car will be the victim. Karl (the preacher)

Imagine my suprise at reading this topic and then realizing that I was part of it - quite some time ago!

M(oney)Wad, sometimes a person can come off wrong on the internet - take a deep breath and relax. I would also suggest re-reading all the wonderful info and tips contained in this topic.

I'm always at a loss when someone seems angry about the amount of MY money that I spent on MY car. If saving money is your only goal, then the best way to enjoy the auto hobby is as a spectator at car shows. Team Chevelle is a great auto hobby community, with people at all economic levels happily participating in continuing the Chevelle legacy.

Peace, Thomas

All Maacos are not the same. I had my '70 El Camino painted by Maaco 8 years ago. I researched the shop & looked at the cars they painted. My car is driven daily in nice weather & garage kept. Before painting I took all the chrome off, clips, etc. & completed the bodywork & primer. All they had to do was paint the car. When I got the car back I carefully reassembled it with new clips, weatherstripping, etc. Other than a few rock chips and 1 wave in the quarter panel (my fault, not theirs), the car still looks great & turns heads. People can't believe Maaco painted this car, so I'm sure there are a lot of bad Maacos out there. I don't believe you have to spend a million dollars on your car to have fun in this hobby, especially if your going to drive your car in the real world. I built my car to impress me & no one else. I think you should do your homework & as much of the labor as you can do & spend your money on quality materials & someone who knows how to spray.

bomber'67---ecss454--- BINGO!!! For many of us the true joy of these vehicles is working on them, learning about their foibles, developing new skills, and taking pride in what WE accomplish from our efforts. For many hobbiests once the project is done,(????), we start all over with something new or keep tweaking what we have. I am in the industry, deal with automotive repairs 10 to 12 hours a day, savor every minute I can spend on my 66 elky. Your comments are sage advice for anyone contemplating this hobby. Karl

Took my good runnin' bad lookin' '68 to MAACO for an estimate awhile back. I had all the trim and bumpers off. The guy looked at it good and told me that I didn't want them to paint it because I wouldn't be happy with the results. He said specialty work wasn't profitable for him because of labor and material cost. I was disappointed but appreciate his honesty. He gave me the name of an instructor at an auto body vocational school. He wanted to buy the car too, but didn't want to pay much for it. The vocational school guy couldn't give me any idea when they could start or finish, so I didn't leave it, I was also worried about parts being stolen. Another econo-shop here gave me an estimate of $1500 incl. cracked windshield replacement. I was there for 'bout 20 min. and there were 3 peed off customers complaining while I was there. Decided to pull the drivetrain and let somebody else mess with the body. Seems like what I want and what I can afford are usually two different things.

I painted my Elcamino myself. Like others said the materials cost around 500$. It's not the best, but it does look good. Some people at work looked it over and now want me to paint their cars. After giving it a good bit of thought I decided that for me to paint somone elses car I would have to charge 1000.00$ and I would end up working for about minimum wage. I'm not a professonal painter. It takes me longer to get good results. In the end the other guy might not be happy with what he paid 1000.00$ for, and I wouldn't be happy giving up my spare time for such low pay. Not a good deal for either one of us. I don't know how maaco can paint cars as cheap as they do, but I have seen some that didn't look bad. I've seen some real crapy ones too.

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64 ElCamino (http://mediaservice.photoisland.com/auction/Jul/20027306594843713937468.jpg) 350 700r4 3.42 posi

I am not going to consider a Schieb or Maaco
job but just let me vent for a moment. I found my chevelle in a barn in November and I have redone all suspension, and drive train. I used aircraft stripper and removed all the paint. I have a small amount of rust in one rear lower quarter, both lower front fenders, and very little rust in the deck filler panel. I have ordered and received patch panels for the areas I have mentioned. I have begun to contact local shops to come by and give me some estimates. I had the first shop give me an "off the top of his head:" guesstimate of $7000.00 to 7500.00. This blew me away, I am not asking for a custom paint job, just straight and Red. I will be shopping around some more. Overall the car is very straight other than the rusted areas and some minor damage to the SS hood.

Many years ago a friend of mine had his '68 Chevelle SS clone painted by a Maaco shop. It was a medium metallic blue and I don't think it was an original Chevy color. The damn thing looked awesome even from one foot away. Was it an exception? Maybe. I agree they are not the place to go for ANY type of body work. But if you check around, get references and look at some of their work you may just get lucky and find one that has a good painter. These guys probably shoot more cars than anyone. Some of them are bound to get real good at it and even take some pride in their work. OK it will be a quick job without perfect masking and cheap materials. (You could do a lot of your own masking or trim removal.) But if it's all you can afford and want your car to look fairly good it may be a good option for you. It sure beats driving around with different colored body panels or primer or a worn out paint job. Having said that, would I take my car there? No. But if it was my only option I sure as heck would give it serious consideration.

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LS6, 4spd, 4.10, Cortez Silver
1 of 231 exported to Canada

Maaco WILL paint your car with YOUR supplied materials. Three years ago I stripped all of the paint from my Chevelle, did all the body work and primed it with a urethane primer. All the materials, including the paint came from PPG. The paint was to be acrylic enamel with a urethane hardener. I picked the hottest two weeks to do this. I actually had to get up at 5 in the morning to shoot the primer! After using a half gallon of primer and wet sanding the car, I decided to see if I could find someone to shoot the "color" coat. I stopped at a local Maaco and spoke to the manager about shooting the color coat for me. He told that they shoot anywhere from 12 to 14 cars a day, so don't expect a "show car job". The other stipulation was that all materials I supplied would be from the same manufacture. I delivered the car to them with the remainder of the primer, the gallon of acrylic enamel and the hardener. They sanded the car, used the remainder of the primer and wet sanded the entire car again. Then they applied the color coat, Forrest Green Metalic. I asked the manager to make mine the last car of the day so they don't have to move it out of the booth too soon. No problem. There were several old cars there, a Mustang, a 57 Buick and mine. I picked it up two days later and was very surprised! Not bad, not bad at all. Of course, I had done all the prep, the body work, the first two coats of primer AND, supplied the entire paint system, PPG. Yes, there was some dust in the paint. But, if I had painted it in MY garage, there'd be a lot more problems! I may take my 57 Chevy there to freshen up it's 22 year old paint! I was very satisfied. Would another Maaco be the same? I can't answer that. But this manager seemed to want to have a satisfied customer. Can't argue with that! http://www.chevelles.com/forum/smile.gif

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MalibuJerry350
TC Member #1279
Original owner '70 Chevelle.
580,000+ miles on car.
Hey, if it's got wheels, DRIVE IT!
My Chevelle: http://hometown.aol.com/erie614/myhomepage/index.html

Rick Bandy- Understand your frustration. Perhaps I can help with another perspective. Have commentented on this before. 69 Buick Wildcat, I fixed rust and painted with lacquer 20+ years ago. Good friend. Car was garaged, never driven in winter. 20 years later, paint crazing, checking, and cracking in some areas. I own a shop now. Friend brought to me for help. Didn't want to do because I knew I would Loose my A$$. Still a friend, did car. Removed all trim, beadblasted both my, and original paint to bare metal. My body staff repaired all new rust, re-repaired old fillers from my previous efforts. From then on I did ALL work!! Prime, block, prime, block, base, clear, color sand, and buff. I DID NOT charge him for ONE DIME of MY efforts. All he paid for was the efforts of my body staff and cost on materials. I am very proud of both repairs on this car. It came out great the first time and the second. His total cost to have work done, if I remember correctly was $8000.00, and ALL paint prep and application was FREE on my part. This IS a good friend that I have great respect for. This was NOT a frame off. Only sheetmetal panels taken off car were hood and deck lid for edging. The moral to this story is: it takes a lot of time and $$$$$ to do a proper job. Most major shops are very reluctant to work on our cars because it HAS to be a labor of love, or significant conflicts WILL arise. If one just wants it shiny, that is easy to achieve, at a very low price. If we have expectations that $1000.00 or $2000.00 dollars will erase 30 years of age and abuse, and have a quality of finish and longevity that meet or exceed todays manufacturing standards, we are being unrealistic. I do not do restoration work because I want to eat. We have had many shops that have specialized in same, they keep going broke. The ones that do survive are the ones that charge time and material, no estimate, get paid on a regular basis for services performed. If they don't get paid, they stop on car, park in barn, and charge storage. They end up inheriting many cars. The finished product, and what it took to get it there, determines total cost of job. We cannot look at car at curb and accurately identify, and anticipate ALL required repairs. It would be nice if it were different, but as far as the retail repair industry is concerned, this is a fact of life. The more you learn to do yourself on your car the happier you will be, both economically, and the pride of accomplishment you will have. Karl

or just youtube it, read books and do it yourself, borrow equipment or buy the stuff online and get a good paintjob under $500 depending on what quality you want. thats what im doing and just looking for a decent paintjob to get by on ;D

Sorry, but rust bubbles always come from inside a panel. Usually the more you sand them the bigger hole you end up with. Then you either put a new panel in, or fill the hole with mud and wait for it to come back in a year or so.

If you have rust bubbles that can be sanded away you are one lucky guy!

It's unfortunate, but quality materials cost a lot and low quality and a light coat do not last.

You guys do realize this thread is nearly 10 years old, right?

Then again good topic, so its a wash then.

You guys do realize this thread is nearly 10 years old, right?

Then again good topic, so its a wash then.
You realize he probably had the car painted at Maaco it's done rusted out to nothing and someone else is now trying to piece it together and posting on this site about something .:yes::yes::yes:

I was picking up some bumpers from a guy the other day and I inquired about paint and he said "Maaco of Vancouver". He said they do phenominal work as the owner used to have his own shop and specialized in classics. Its a little pricier, but he said its worth it. A friend of his had his 70 Chevelle painted there and they charged him $1200 paint job alone. Total with body work was $4000 which included patch panels, doors, etc.

He said his dad has had 2 impalas painted there and they were around $2500 each.

I had my chevelle painted by macco after i prepped it. I used there mid ways priced paint. I have kept it under a carport for 4 yrs. Still looks great. I did this because I would rather have a cheap paint job protecting it temporarily till I can afford to do it right.:D