Paint job question???

[thiagoGT88]

Whats a good price to pay for a good paint job on a 88 GT.

[cyberstang5.0]

What kind of paint job are you looking for? Any special things you want to add (flames, racing stripes, etc...) What are you getting painted? Are you changing the orignial color?

I got mine painted about 1 1/2 years ago. I paid 2726 for mine and spent a little more then a grand in body parts. From all the different places that quoted me, the place I got it done at had the best price. I was talking to another one of my Mustang friends and she told me that I paid way too much for my paint job. So, you'll just have to shop around. I got the entire car repainted. The green is a little darker then stock and the silver is painted to match the color of my Cobra R's.

[Conman]

Originally posted by cyberstang5.0
The green is a little darker then stock and the silver is painted to match the color of my Cobra R's.

your car is green???

I thought it was black and still think it is black
I can kind see a little hint of green in one of your pictures in the users rides.

I guess it is "a little darker than stock"

either way it still looks good

[lx5091]

Cyberstang, you paid $2726-$1000 parts= $1726 for the paint job itself and people think that's "way too much"?!

Your paint looks great and I think as long as your body is already straight and they have to sand, seal and squirt it and have it look as nice as your car, $1500-$2000 is a fair range. I have connections that'll paint a car for me for $600-$800 depending on how expensive the materials are(high quality paint costs $200+ for enough to do a car), but it's nice to have friends.

Figure it like this, Thiago, if you have a classic car with alot of surface rust and maybe a few small rust holes here or there, you're looking at $3000-$4500 for a SHOW QUALITY paintjob.

Hey, you can always go to Maaco and slap down $299.00, but don't expect a $1700 paintjob!

[cyberstang5.0]

Originally posted by lx5091
Cyberstang, you paid $2726-$1000 parts= $1726 for the paint job itself and people think that's "way too much"?!

no, paint and minor body work was 2726, then the body parts (hood, front/rear bumper, soiler) alone was a little over a grand. It cost me almost 4G's total to get my car the way it looks now.

[stang4to8]

i paid 850.00 at maaco & it looks awesome!. i did some ding filling myself. i removed all the lights front & back, the 1/4 glass, all the black plastic & rubber molding [ lx ], wipers cowl grill, added saleen wing- painted off the car & rem. rest of black window trim around windows. car looked like it was going to a junk yard! . i had the car repainted medium scarlet red & had jams done also & they filled a few dings. the repaint was great, smooth, lots of gloss [ single stage paint w/ paint & clearcoat mixed] & shiny! after i reassembled the car- it looked brand new! dont be afraid to do your own prep work & disassemble your car- this can save alot of money. i also repainted all the black parts satin black. its been 4 years since the repaint. no chips, flaking, scratches or anything! still looks as good as the day i reassemled it. do the prep work & take it to maaco, youll be suprised.

[lx5091]

stang4to8, the pictures in your User's Ride entry are not very good, do you think you could post a nice clear picture of your paint? I'm glad you're happy with your service.

I just think people have varying degrees of what looks good. I don't doubt that you got a good paintjob at Maaco. I do doubt that most people that go there get good paint jobs, even if they did there own prepping. I have a feeling that what happens at Maaco is the same thing that happens at every large chain. The workers just don't give a **** alot of the time! It's just a job until they can go somewhere that will pay them a nice wage, or until they can start their own shop.

I have friends that have gone there and the cars looks ok and the paint lasted a few years (it never looked real nice, just ok). And I have friends that have had it peel or crack THE VERY NEXT DAY! One of them had it fixed for free, but months later the problem was back, and the car was shedding the paint.

I couldn't trust going there. Not unless I was an ******* and decided to have a car painted there just to sell it and leave the next guy with the problem!

[HotRoddin]

2 grand is not out of line for a good paint job. If you take your car to a macco or a Earl Shieb, you have to do the prep work because they won't ! A good shop will R&I (remove and install) all the trim and moldings and anything else they can't get under to prep... the car looks pretty much stripped when they're ready to shoot it. the cheaper shops will just mask everything, and when you do that you get a paint edge around all the trim and usually paint ON some of the trim ... it just looks tacky and can cause the paint to peel along that paint edge. With Macco and places like that even if you do your own prep its a crap shoot ... if they happen to have a good painter who gives a sh** you can get a pretty decent paint job for the price ...if they have a crappy painter who doesn't give a sh** it will look like crap right from the get go and will start peeling and blistering in a couple of months.

[stang4to8]

oh believe me, the thought of my baby going to maaco made me cringe because of the reputation they have but i truelly go lucky on this one. this was NO make it shine for 299. deal. i opted for the eurethane paint which is way more durable than the usual paint they use. i can deffinatly see & undestand everyones thoughts about macco. my buddy owns a great paint shop w/ his dad & he couldnt believe it was a maaco job. in fact nobody can. it looks that factory. my car is an 88 & had not a spec of rust or damage, just a couple of dings so this is were i got lucky also.

[DaTank]

I had my whole car painted about 2 years ago and paid a little over 2,800 dollars for it. I have a convertable, and had them take the rails off the trunk and a saleen spoiler added. I could have paid far less, but after doing the research about the quality of different places, paint booths (with down-drafts) how they dry it ect........ I opted to pay more. Plus they were the only ones out of about 5 or 6 places (3 of those were reputable car dealerships) that gave a life time warranty. All the others gave 3 or less year warranty.
Sometimes you get what you pay for, and I am very happy with my paint job. It was painted black, the original paint color.
Good luck.
Brad

[lx5091]

First off the car is dirty, but here is a closeup pic of my car. It was painted over 3 years ago (long before I bought it). Before the paintjob the body was original and immaculate, not a scratch, just old faded factory piant. He paid $1800 for the work you see. It was water sanded between coats to help reduce "orange peel" . It looks good in this picture, but it looks like a BILLION dollars after a wash and wax job! The car truly and honestly in stock trim TURNS HEADS. It is SOLELY due to the paintjob. I think if he was guaranteed it would look as good as it does after the years it's lived, my friend DEFINATELY would have paid twice what he did. And I think it would have been worth it.

Don't skimp on a paintjob, it makes a difference. For the people that say, don't waste so much on paint, instead buy go fast parts, I say skimp on ricey ground effects if you want (don't bother buying them), but don't skimp on piantwork.

Just my opinion

btw, the picture in my avatar looks like crap, because it was taken with my 1mp Kodak camera. I took this picture with my Father-in-law's 3.2mp Olympus, big difference!

[RoadWarrior]

Definately do the prep work yourself. Im in the middle of doing my stang and we stripped it right down to bare metal. Its fairly cheap and easy. Now we are just doind some rust repair and patching a few dings and dents. But im planning on leaving it to the pro's to get the final paint job done. Im planning on going with either vermillion red or lazer red with the same 2 tone that my car had.