I'm starting to plan my next major item for my Fiero. I decided to get it painted, should be easy enough. I just want a basic paint job, no color change and no major body work. I plan on putting on the Aero front and rear bumpers, ground effects and Aero side pieces. I want the mirrors painted and spoiler painted off the car. My '87 will look like a '85 GT! Being most of the body shops around me are out of my "final" price range I went to Maaco last Friday. I got 2 quotes $450 and $550. Which I thought was high for $299 and $350 advertised price. They add in $150 for their "value" prep. Today I went to another Maaco shop. I should've known right away the kid (maybe 21) was going to try to f-me and a prick. He see's my car and makes a FIRE comment. He then insists that the car is fiberglass. He asks me what paint job I want and I tell him the $350 job. He asks me "why would you want that??" " if you going to get it done get it done right." I told him I just want to get a fresh coat on it and so it's not so dull looking. Once again he says it's hard to prep fiberglass and...... BS....BS....! He finally gives me a price $1100 I told him forget it! So I come home and contact a guy from my "other car" club. The guy is unemployeed and a few times mentioned he does auto paint. I sent him pics of what the car looks like. He emails me and says he'll need to see the car to give a quote. Then writes how it all depends on the time and labor...... I wanted to write back and say "you're unemployeed, don't get cocky!!" I realize time is money. However if you have no money coming in, something is better then nothing. Anyway I hope to get the car painted this year and in two years do the 3800SC swap!

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It's a CAR, now drive it!!

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quote Originally posted by NightMare Cruiser: Then writes how it all depends on the time and labor......

I hope he did not really say that... Time IS Labor, Labor IS Time. Quote for the Job. All you should have to do with someone like that is pay for the price they quoted... you pay for the supplies. HOWEVER!!!!!!!!! No matter how destitute they are for money in your eyes, and how much you want to save money, remember that hiring someone to do a "garage" job may not yeild the results you want. I have seen way too many people get "screwed" by this. I mention that in parenthesis because it is in the eye of the participants.

The painter may say the job was worth the $XXX amount of money you spent on it

The customer may say, "Hey, what about this run here??? And this fisheye here??? What about the orangepeeling here???

There will (most likely) be no re-course for a paint job gone wrong.

If you pay for a $300 paint job, you will get a $300 paint job... just expect that.

This is the ONLY reason I have not had my car painted yet. I will be extremely (for lack of better words) anal about the job done on my car, and I know I will have to put down some serious moolah for the job I want done.

If you are not that concerned with the work, try yourself..... buy some visquine (SP?), tape and masking materials, rent a garage if you have to, paint, primer, small compressor and HVLP sprayer (bonus, you get to keep afterwards!) and learn to paint the car yourself! Total cost will be what you are looking to pay anyways.

I hope this post did not come out negative... I meant just the opposite (with a bit of warning included).

Either way you go, I wish you the absolute best of luck and hope the car comes out the way you really want it.

Maaco shops are all independently owned, so the job you get will vary. Look at the work coming out of their shop.

$650 at Maaco 4 years ago. Still looks pretty good too....and it sits outdoors. I can't complain.

Its definitely a shop thing, and as for the fire comment that's just ignorant and i would have immediately gotten his manager or called the macco head office which still has control over the various shops to some degree. There are some who just can't stand that the car is still around and gaining popularity. The price he is quoting is for the full package base coat clear coat job which is more expensive. It also lasts longer. The local macco here where i live did my whole car for about 950 out the door and they made sure it was the way i wanted it even sanded it down when the clear was uneven and re shot it without charging me. Go with the cheap package to make it look good for a quick sale go with the better package if your going to keep the car. I'll post pics after work i don't have time atm.

Talked to the guy from the other car club today. AHHHH, No way!! 2k to paint it!! First maaco shop is looking better and better.

Just go for the extra prep or do that yourself. Dont let them sell you all the 'extras' they say you need, they do most of them anyway and just dont tell you (like add hardener or gloss enhancer). Just get their standard basecoat/ clearcoat job. The $250-$350 one is single stage paint with integrated clear. (fine for a daily driver or used car).

i did my own paintjob on my z31 for 300ish bucks, would have been 150 or so if i didn't do a two tone. used rustoleum and then clear.

I painted my white notchback 88 into a fastback GT and it cost me almost $1,000 for primer,techbase color, activator, clear coat and additive going to red. Red is the most expensive color. White is less. This was just material cost. If you want a good job and can't do it yourself and can't afford more than 3-4 hundred for a paint job if I were you I would not waste my money until I had enough to do a decent job. For what you are wanting to spend it may look ok from 20 feet and after a year probably look like crap again.

99 percent of a good paint job is surface prep. I never painted a car in my life but I studied and read on the subject and spent many hours sanding and priming and sanding to get a mirror smooth surface and then painted every panel off the car and assembled it. I ended up with a nice job at 1/4 the cost of having it done.

If you want the job for the cost you are talking about and will be happy with it then that is your decision. It is your car but if you plan on keeping it and it means as much to you as mine does I would not rush things.

[This message has been edited by Mike Murphy (edited 05-04-2010).]

Well i couldnt paint a car myself here for under $300 myself it would cost $250 for paint/clear $100 for thinners and papers tape accessories. So if someone would even paint one for $350 seems to me impossible.

The local Maaco painted my gold GT for $2200. I picked it up and there was overspray, fish eyes, runs, drips etc. Needless to say, they repainted it until I approved.
My orange and black GT paint and the VR6 paint cost five figures each. I won't insult skilled painters. You get what you pay for. They have overhead and insurance to pay for.
In my line of work I only get about 25% of the actual job that comes through the door at my shop. The technicians that work for me only get about 5%. The rest pays for the overhead.
Dave

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1987 GT (my toy-see above), 1987 GT 3800s/c, 1986 SE with a VW VR6, certified master technician/shop owner
www.njautobahn.com
www.hausofguru.com

I guess i'll hit a few more paint shops before deciding. Besides, I really need to save up for Dave to do my 3800SC swap.

you don't have to jump strait into paint if its just dulled, look into sanding and polishing. Hit it with some 2000 grit paper and then rubbing compound on a polisher, then some swirl mark remover. you can get it looking brand new for $100-150. This works great for a dulled finish but does not remove deep scratches and chips. But i'll tell you i've been doing paint work on my own cars out of my garage for years and i wouldn't personaly do a paint job for under $1000, there is a lot of prep work, and taking a fiero apart far enough so it looks natural takes a lot of time, and whey my cars leave they have no overspray, orange peal, fish eye (you would have to be a complete idiot to get fish eye anyway) dust, etc. but anyway look into polishing first could save you a lot of money and bring the life back into your car, i use swirl mark remover every year to keep my car looking freshly painted and remove fine scratches.

If your on that much of a budget, I'd really take a look into the Rustoleum method.. The paint itself is durable as hell, and with proper prep and application will look fantastic. There are just too many awesome stories of garage jobs on a budget using thinned Rustoleum not to try it IMO.

quote Originally posted by nitroheadz28: If your on that much of a budget, I'd really take a look into the Rustoleum method.. The paint itself is durable as hell, and with proper prep and application will look fantastic. There are just too many awesome stories of garage jobs on a budget using thinned Rustoleum not to try it IMO.

do it. if it doesn't come out right it will be due to lack of prep work or your compressor being shotty ( i used a 80ish year old refrigorator car compressor so i have a lil defect here n there in the clear. i was in an acident with my rustoleum paint job car and the paint held up beautifully, it did not crack etc, only came off right at the point of impact. the clear and rustoleum bonded perfectly.

I looked for rustoleum paint and all I came up with was spray paint for automotive. Where do you get the other stuff? I assume your talking about using a spray gun with a compressor, right??

Opps FOUND it!! http://www.instructables.co...-Car-With-Rustoleum/

[This message has been edited by NightMare Cruiser (edited 05-06-2010).]

Hockaday, that came out great!

[This message has been edited by nitroheadz28 (edited 05-06-2010).]

Maaco can do it that cheap because they pay a masker about $20 per car and the painter about $30 per car. Then they mix their own paints. Everything included for single stage job dont cost them $150. They used to shoot used cars for me for $150 because i masked and prepped them.

i rolled all but the clear and green on. you can paint outside on a good day ( for spraying )

Im almost 1 k in the hole on paint alone.....and im not even ready to paint . I had a nice black cherry pearl mixed up with a hint of silver. I bought the paint, catalyst, hardner, flow enhancer, and filters for 900 bucks. I still need the base metalic silver and primer.

quote Originally posted by Philero: If you pay for a $300 paint job, you will get a $300 paint job...

This is the part MOST people don't understand... If they were in the business, THEY wouldn't do it for that!

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3.4L Supercharged 87 GT and Super Duty 4 Indy #163

The paint and other material alone for my GT cost $1200. Primer/sealer, Urethane base coat & clear coat, activators, sand paper, tape, lacquer thinner to clean the spray guns out with afterwards, etc.

I need to get a good pic of my car......

I had 1 of the many local MAACO shops here do mine.. I know alot of people and just asked around one of my buddies knew the owner of the shop who did mine. They did a phenomenal job for the 299.99 ambassador special. They even did some minor body repair. I did have some overspray under the rear bumper, and under the hood. Other than that I was happy with the job.

only thing you need to do to have a Maaco paint job look good and last, is to do really good prep work...ie - sanding. and when you get plastic parts painted be sure they use "flex" additive in the paint or the first time the bumper gets "bumped" the paint will crack everywhere.

I just had my 88 Coupe painted by my good friend who's a professional airbrusher/pin striper (the link is in my signature)
he just finished painting my rear formula bumper, side quarter on the pass, and the decklid and spoiler. looks GREAT!!!
I'm going to pick it up around 5pm. I CAN'T WAIT!!!

but back to the subject of maaco, you get what you pay for. yes the deqals are good, but you need to do the prep work.

Its all about the prep, and the devilish finishing details like wet sanding for the glass like finish.

quote Originally posted by NightMare Cruiser:He see's my car and makes a FIRE comment. He then insists that the car is fiberglass. He asks me what paint job I want and I tell him the $350 job. He asks me "why would you want that??" " if you going to get it done get it done right." I told him I just want to get a fresh coat on it and so it's not so dull looking. Once again he says it's hard to prep fiberglass and...... BS....BS....! He finally gives me a price $1100 I told him forget it!

I see no less than 4 different events that would have caused me to walk out before the price was even mentioned. Not saying that I disagree with the price, just saying the cocky attitude and lack of correct information would have driven me out of that location ASAP.

Anyone ever use duplicolor "paint Shop? Or http://www.duplicolor.com/products/paintshop.html

quote Originally posted by gtxbullet: ...and when you get plastic parts painted be sure they use "flex" additive in the paint or the first time the bumper gets "bumped" the paint will crack everywhere.

There are a couple of things wrong with this statement... The bumper is not plastic, it's Urethane, which is a type of rubber. Second, you don't need flex additives in modern paint. That is just a way for the shop to jack the price up for no reason. When you see cracked paint on bumpers it's because the paint is ancient and lost off of it's flexibility decades ago. Flex additive won't help you there.

No way around the fact that paint is expensive. No reason why it should be that way, but it is. Ironically the Fiero is about the easiest car in the world to paint too. There are no door jambs, under the hood, or trunks to paint. Only the parts of the car you can see need paint. A color change on a Fiero should not cost any more than a regular spray.

Ya both my Fieros were color changes, and I painted what was needed in jams with an airbrush and about a coffee cup full of paint.

For what it's worth, I had a customer that owned a used car lo t-used to get real nice paint jobs ot of Maaco. I asked him about it one time, he said that he knew the guys in the shop - the guy prepping got a $50.00 tip up front, the guy masking got $25.00, and the painter liked a half gallon of Captain Morgan's rum. He also tipped the Manager, and figured it was well worth the money. Being a car lot, he really did not do color changes, or care to much about longevity.

Mike

quote Originally posted by Frizlefrak: Maaco shops are all independently owned, so the job you get will vary. Look at the work coming out of their shop. $650 at Maaco 4 years ago. Still looks pretty good too....and it sits outdoors. I can't complain.

It would look better at my house.

Anyone??

quote Originally posted by NightMare Cruiser: Anyone ever use duplicolor "paint Shop? Or http://www.duplicolor.com/products/paintshop.html

Several guys here have used the Duplicolor paints. They are lacquer based paints that are very easy to spray but require a lot of work to give you the glass finish that most are looking for. Painting a car is a lot of work. Prep is very important because if it's not prepared properly the paint won't stick, the paint will be wavy, or the paint will show imperfections that are left. That is a ton of work. When you are happy with the car, it needs to be clean and smooth......320 or 400 grit as your final sand prep. Any smoother and the paint won't stick to the car and any rougher and you'll have sanding scratches that will show through. When I sprayed lacquer paint, I used to spray up to 10 coats of color and lightly sand between every other color coat because lacquer paint will never dry smooth.....it always leaves an orange peel surface behind as the thinner dries out of it. So, I'd spray a couple of coats of paint color, then dry sand until smooth. Use a tack cloth to get rid of the remaining dust after blowing off the car and spray a couple more coats....then sand again. The last 2 coats of paint color were not sanded as sanding of course scratches the paint surface and you/ll see those scratches if you clear over them. So the last 2 coats of color will hide the sanding scratches and also leave you with a nice coat of color that'll show well. Ok, now clear. I never sanded clear between coats because they can sometimes show through the clear and you can't polish them out.....so I sprayed 6-8 coats of clear because when you do wet sand the car you'll be removing quite a bit to get the surface smooth. If I remember correctly, I wet sanded lacquer with 600 or 800 grit paper and then polished it out with rubbing compound on a buffer, buffed again with a machine glaze, then a final buff with a microfinishing compound. Like I said, it's a ton of work. Lacquer paint is very soft as paints go, are easy to scratch and damage but also very easy to repair. You need to use a flex additive in the bumper covers as lacquer paint is very brittle and easy to crack when bending flexible parts without it. You'll also need to keep it waxed as lacquer paint does tend to haze over after time without wax because the paint is soft ( as paint hardness goes ) and the effects of air and rain and dust will tend to dull it over time. Keep it waxed and it'll show well for many, many years. But again, it's a ton more work than urethane and the urethane results are easier to achieve and it's a much more durable paint. There are drawbacks to urethane but there are drawbacks to lacquer. Nothing is perfect......lacquer is easier to use for the novice, but isn't the best paint for a car. That's why it isn't used anymore. But, it was used very successfully for many years and still can be. Urethane is just a better quality paint and much more durable but it's harder to spray and is not something you want to breathe in while painting.....you MUST use a charcoal resperator or preferably a fresh air mask. But, the results are easier to achieve if you can spray the paint. It is more expensive but worth the cost.......but I also know how to paint it properly. Painting is an art.......if it was easy then anybody could do it.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do. If you want to spray it yourself, there are several professional painters on the board that are more then willing to help out as much as you need. Just drop any one of us a PM or post in a thread and we'll be happy to answer any question you have and offer whatever advice you need.

Mark the paint guy

Pics!!

Looking pretty good hope mine comes out that good!

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Sad to say this is the best looking part of the car so far!

https://www.fiero.nl/forum/Forum1/HTML/080998.html

Donnie

would the prep for a matte paint job differ from that of a gloss paint job? or is it all the same?

Same prep applies. In actuallity, you might need a better place to paint a matt job because you cannot sand and buff out mistakes. Your done when you finish spraying and you got what you got. If you try to sand and buff out a run or bug, that area will be glossy. You can even buff primer to a high gloss.

My car is currently in the shop being painted. Will cost about 6K (Canadian). They pulled all the panels etc. (due to color change). I have been checking the work and they are doing a awesome job so I don't mind paying more for the work. The hood took over a day to prep, I watched the bodyman sanding, filling, sanding etc. They are very particular about their work. If I didn't have the cash I would have gone with the Maaco paint job and hoped it looked okay. My 2 cents.