My '87 GT has really bad paint, and I was wondering what would be the best way to do it. Is taking the panels off of the car easier? And if I sanded them myself, could I then take them to get them painted? Please don't tell me to "get it done right" and take it to a shop since I will be paying thousands. My budget is only a few hundred dollars. Its probably not possible to get good results for that cheap, but any help would be appreciated.
I think if you sanded and primed the car yourself then took it to a place like Maaco for their budget paint job you could get good results for less than $500. I would talk to them ahead of time about it. My 85 2M4 has awful paint on the top and I am going to repaint it myself using the duplicolor lacquer from Discount auto and a HVLP spray painter kit that I got from Harbor freight for $125.00 I am hoping it will turn out okay. the paints cost about $25 a quart. I am told 99% of the results depend on how good the prep sanding is, the panels should be smooth as a babys bottom before you apply the final coat.
I just saw an old Mustang that looked terrific in BRONZE. Very impressive, almost like science fiction. However, it was not painted.
Rather, it was dipped (Plasti-Dip). A local craigslist guy just told me that prep+spray+materials = $350 for my Fiero. Three fifty!! The stuff has a life of at least two years, much longer if the car is garaged. And, it can be touched up.
I already decided on plasti dipping it months ago, but after trying to dip my spoiler last night, I got sick of it and made this post. Then I found out it doesnt dry or work right when its cold. And I didnt use a base coat. I did my rims today in ideal weather and it came out perfect.
My '87 GT has really bad paint, and I was wondering what would be the best way to do it. Is taking the panels off of the car easier? And if I sanded them myself, could I then take them to get them painted? Please don't tell me to "get it done right" and take it to a shop since I will be paying thousands. My budget is only a few hundred dollars. Its probably not possible to get good results for that cheap, but any help would be appreciated.
I'm curious as well. I'm happy to take the time to sand down the car, and do the painting... I just want it to turn out well. I've seen a couple cars roaming around town in a matte gray color that looks pretty nice, I'm just not sure how long it will last...
I've had a few Macco paint jobs done over the years and as long as you are not too particular, for $300 you can get the car a paint job. You can do some prep work to repair body panels but they do some type of chemical prep prior to paint. They are not too swift on masking as there was always a bit of overspray but the end result was OK.
Couple thoughts - If you have access to compressor and garage or outside tent "garage" and know how to spray get the Dupli-color Paint Shop system , you can prime, base and clear straight from can through strainer into gun and shoot it. Second option - check local community college and see if either they want to use your vehicle as a training aide, or if they offer a class on paint/body work and if it lets you bring own project to paint you just use the booth to paint. Or a Paint and Body supply shop and ask them what they would recommend and who would do that type work.
I have used Maaco before and it was OK but ran into issues with over spray because they don't tape things off they throw covers over your wheels and tape off windows and spray , I had rebuild engine and painted it and suspension all cleaned up and painted and had to take it all apart because of over spray. Just be careful and stick to your guns if they mess things up. and get everything in writing with everything as to what you want done.
Couple thoughts - If you have access to compressor and garage or outside tent "garage" and know how to spray get the Dupli-color Paint Shop system , you can prime, base and clear straight from can through strainer into gun and shoot it. Second option - check local community college and see if either they want to use your vehicle as a training aide, or if they offer a class on paint/body work and if it lets you bring own project to paint you just use the booth to paint. Or a Paint and Body supply shop and ask them what they would recommend and who would do that type work.
I have used Maaco before and it was OK but ran into issues with over spray because they don't tape things off they throw covers over your wheels and tape off windows and spray , I had rebuild engine and painted it and suspension all cleaned up and painted and had to take it all apart because of over spray. Just be careful and stick to your guns if they mess things up. and get everything in writing with everything as to what you want done.
I looked through a bunch of videos and did some reading on this duplicolor system, and i'm intrigued. Reviews are hit and miss... some people say Maaco is better, others swear by Duplicolor. It looks like it comes down to expertise of whoever's doing the painting. If you're good with the prep, have the right equipment, etc... you're probably better off with duplicolor. If not, try to find a Maaco with really good employees :-)
Has anyone else heard of other brands of paint that work well for this? In the reviews people mentioned the non-name branded paints perform just as well if not better.
I've done a few cars and motorcycles for friends who want a truly cheap paint job with the Duplicolor paint shop paints. Keep in mind that I have been painting and airbrushing since the early 80's so I've used a TON of different types of paint. The idea of Duplicolor was to bring back the lacquer paint job which dries very quickly but also has a lot of orange peel. It is very forgiving if you don't understand how to properly paint a vehicle. Any lacquer paint sands very easily and buffs out like glass. The issue with the Duplicolor system is that the clearcoat is very soft. Meaning a year from now, you can leave an indent in it with your fingernail. For a few friends, I forked out the extra money for them and used a urethane clear over the Duplicolor paint and their jaws dropped when they saw their paint jobs. They looked like glass. If you want to use the entire system from paint to clear, just be aware that the final clearcoat will have to be wetsanded and buffed out if you want to see a good gloss but will scratch VERY easily.
The duplicolor paints Ive seen are just gloss lacquer. I dont know if they even make a basecoat paint. So to answer your question can you just paint with Duplicolor paint and no clear....Yes. It can be color sanded and buffed exactly the same. With it, there really is no reason to clear it. They only use basecoat / clearcoat paint systems because its cheaper. They only need one color coat and the cheaper clear makes it shine. Thats a lot cheaper in the long run for the factory that used to put up to 3 coats of color that didnt need the clear. The clear was mixed into the paint. If you do the Duplicolor, you WILL have to do more maintanence to keep it that way. The other advantage to base/clear is you dont have to mess with washing and polishing as much. The downsides are it cracks and peels in just a few years usually, and about any scratch in the clear is pretty permanent...and it does scratch easily. Ive had to paint trunk lids on cars because people just putting coats and groceries on it scratches the crap out of it. The idea that base/clear is saver for the planet is a hoax. Read the label on a can of it and then read the label on a lacquer can. I painted for a living for 30 years using lacquer and never wore a mask. With base/clear, 2 paint jobs can kill you. I still only wear a mask when spraying catalyzed paint. Im 65 and in just about perfect health.
