[C2] Maaco paint job
06-06-2018, 05:45 PM
#1
Safety Car
Thread Starter
Maaco paint job
Not sure if posting this in the other (20K paint) thread making the rounds now might be considered a hijack, hence a new post.
My car was painted in 2011 by a local Maaco shop. Previous to this I had searched out local body shops and other paint shops to get an estimate on body and paint work. Every body shop I checked with did not want to take in the '64 for body work. The body work needed was to replace nose and body panels, including the left front fender top and lower side panel.
Seems many body shops prefer the quick turnaround work and won't take on something not in their wheelhouse. The response with just painting the car alone was the same........ sorry, nope.
A couple of speciality paint shops I inquired at did quote 15-18K to paint the car. The time involved for completion was many months. I was uncomfortable with this. I didn't want the car sitting around for an overly long period as things might start 'disappearing'.
The repaint quotes were still way more than I wanted to spend on aver that would be a driver. Not looking for perfection, I wanted something was still very nice.
While all this was going on, one day I gave a bud a ride in the'64 to a repair shop to pick up a van he had some mechanical work done on. Almost directly across the street was a Maaco paint shop.
Heading back home my bud and I thought to stop at the Maaco shop just to check out the goings-on. Near the exit a mid 60's Mustang and Oldsmobile had been painted and were being cut and buffed. What cut and buff had already been completed looked pretty good. I liked what I saw. .
Striking up conversation with the shop manager, the decision was made to have the '64 painted at this shop. The timeline to completion was good, about 3 weeks turnaround time. Before committing to having the work done I looked in at a couple of other Maaco shops to check out their work. One shop said no, 'we don't do Corvettes'. .. The other shop looked to do good work on repaints. This shop had classic cars parked at curbside, not just in their parking lot. The reason seemed obvious: Those guys too didn't want to put out big bucks on a repaint.
The cost to paint the car was $4400. This was their best level of paint service that also included door jambs and a new coat of primer. By then all necessary body work had been completed at home (another story). The old paint was chemically stripped, all bumpers, lights, buckets and trim, etc., removed.
The repaint turned out very nice. Except for the color shade, I was happy with the overall job. Relying on the paint code alone was a mistake on my part. I had told the shop to use it without spraying some test paint panels to confirm. Lesson learned.
As production shop there were a couple of spots that received some paint overspray. These were easy to touch up, no bigge. New weather strip rubber, all trim and bumpers were reinstalled at home. A new windshield gasket replaced the old one.
,
My car was painted in 2011 by a local Maaco shop. Previous to this I had searched out local body shops and other paint shops to get an estimate on body and paint work. Every body shop I checked with did not want to take in the '64 for body work. The body work needed was to replace nose and body panels, including the left front fender top and lower side panel.
Seems many body shops prefer the quick turnaround work and won't take on something not in their wheelhouse. The response with just painting the car alone was the same........ sorry, nope.
A couple of speciality paint shops I inquired at did quote 15-18K to paint the car. The time involved for completion was many months. I was uncomfortable with this. I didn't want the car sitting around for an overly long period as things might start 'disappearing'.
The repaint quotes were still way more than I wanted to spend on aver that would be a driver. Not looking for perfection, I wanted something was still very nice.
While all this was going on, one day I gave a bud a ride in the'64 to a repair shop to pick up a van he had some mechanical work done on. Almost directly across the street was a Maaco paint shop.
Heading back home my bud and I thought to stop at the Maaco shop just to check out the goings-on. Near the exit a mid 60's Mustang and Oldsmobile had been painted and were being cut and buffed. What cut and buff had already been completed looked pretty good. I liked what I saw. .
Striking up conversation with the shop manager, the decision was made to have the '64 painted at this shop. The timeline to completion was good, about 3 weeks turnaround time. Before committing to having the work done I looked in at a couple of other Maaco shops to check out their work. One shop said no, 'we don't do Corvettes'. .. The other shop looked to do good work on repaints. This shop had classic cars parked at curbside, not just in their parking lot. The reason seemed obvious: Those guys too didn't want to put out big bucks on a repaint.
The cost to paint the car was $4400. This was their best level of paint service that also included door jambs and a new coat of primer. By then all necessary body work had been completed at home (another story). The old paint was chemically stripped, all bumpers, lights, buckets and trim, etc., removed.
The repaint turned out very nice. Except for the color shade, I was happy with the overall job. Relying on the paint code alone was a mistake on my part. I had told the shop to use it without spraying some test paint panels to confirm. Lesson learned.
As production shop there were a couple of spots that received some paint overspray. These were easy to touch up, no bigge. New weather strip rubber, all trim and bumpers were reinstalled at home. A new windshield gasket replaced the old one.
,
Last edited by mrg; 06-06-2018 at 05:51 PM.
Popular Reply
06-08-2018, 06:43 PM
Race Director
Now...I read this entire thread and I can say that I am not the type that just has to do nothing but 20K paint jobs. But I DO have my limit on how low I will go on an overall paint job.
When it comes to the amount of paint. What is often times not discussed is how SOME paints are really weak in their strength...so they do not cover very well. Thus...more paint needs to be applied. BUT...the same exact color from another paint manufacturer will cover much quicker...thus...you do not need to buy a butt-load of paint. THIS is where many people use what is suggested or well known and NOT try to use products that are not so well known....even though many of these 'new' paint manufactures have the chemists that were the chemists from BIG paint companies who branched out on their own. FACT...Not my opinion.
I agree that PREP is where it matters ...but then also applying the products is just as important.
What often times effects if whether or not a shop wants to paint Corvette or not is the fact that they may have in the past ...and they had to deal with a person who wanted a 20K paint job for 5K. There are people out there that have really unrealistic expectations and yet do not want to pay for them. Kinda like....they want a 5 carat PERFECT diamond but only want to give you what they would pay for a one carat diamond.
Lastly what seems to not have been really touched on is the shops reputation. Some shops or individuals covet their reputation very much and it has taken them a long time to get it that way. And if they start to put out work that may satisfy the customer willing to pay for a basic paint job. That shop or person still has to live with the outcome.
Think of it like a hamburger you would get at a fast food drive though in five minutes...and that if a hamburger you would get at a cook out at Gordon Ramsey's house. Because I could basically guarantee that the burger at Gordons cook out would still be on a level greater than fast food drive through.
No matter what...those of us who do this work or have done it in the past...their still is a level of what WE can live with. And lowering a standard is just not worth it....because there are other people who will or can do it for less....but you just can not expect it to always have th same end result.
TIME is MONEY. The more money I get..the more time I can spend on it and really fine tune 'things'. And I also will put more time into project free of charge due to I know who I am doing it for will really appreciate it and I am actuality really ENJOYING what I am doing and it does not seem like work at all. The pay off will be the expression on the customers face when they pick it up. And for me...that is priceless.
So...for me it does not matter WHO a person chooses to paint their car and how much they pay for a paint job. If they are happy with it and it seems to last ...then they got their moneys worth.
DUB
When it comes to the amount of paint. What is often times not discussed is how SOME paints are really weak in their strength...so they do not cover very well. Thus...more paint needs to be applied. BUT...the same exact color from another paint manufacturer will cover much quicker...thus...you do not need to buy a butt-load of paint. THIS is where many people use what is suggested or well known and NOT try to use products that are not so well known....even though many of these 'new' paint manufactures have the chemists that were the chemists from BIG paint companies who branched out on their own. FACT...Not my opinion.
I agree that PREP is where it matters ...but then also applying the products is just as important.
What often times effects if whether or not a shop wants to paint Corvette or not is the fact that they may have in the past ...and they had to deal with a person who wanted a 20K paint job for 5K. There are people out there that have really unrealistic expectations and yet do not want to pay for them. Kinda like....they want a 5 carat PERFECT diamond but only want to give you what they would pay for a one carat diamond.
Lastly what seems to not have been really touched on is the shops reputation. Some shops or individuals covet their reputation very much and it has taken them a long time to get it that way. And if they start to put out work that may satisfy the customer willing to pay for a basic paint job. That shop or person still has to live with the outcome.
Think of it like a hamburger you would get at a fast food drive though in five minutes...and that if a hamburger you would get at a cook out at Gordon Ramsey's house. Because I could basically guarantee that the burger at Gordons cook out would still be on a level greater than fast food drive through.
No matter what...those of us who do this work or have done it in the past...their still is a level of what WE can live with. And lowering a standard is just not worth it....because there are other people who will or can do it for less....but you just can not expect it to always have th same end result.
TIME is MONEY. The more money I get..the more time I can spend on it and really fine tune 'things'. And I also will put more time into project free of charge due to I know who I am doing it for will really appreciate it and I am actuality really ENJOYING what I am doing and it does not seem like work at all. The pay off will be the expression on the customers face when they pick it up. And for me...that is priceless.
So...for me it does not matter WHO a person chooses to paint their car and how much they pay for a paint job. If they are happy with it and it seems to last ...then they got their moneys worth.
DUB
06-06-2018, 05:52 PM
#2
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The local Maaco shop here specializes in old cars and they paint a lot of them. Including mid years. I don’t think they do major body repair but they do minor repairs. I must admit they look good. But most paint jobs look great for about a year.
06-06-2018, 06:06 PM
#4
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In
In the other mentioned thread, seemed like most of the sky high prices and reluctance to paint a Corvette was mostly in California. Just like this thread.
Taking a car in that's already stripped, trim off and then charging that much money is a rip.
'Course, I've been told California is chock full of high costs for just about everything.
Taking a car in that's already stripped, trim off and then charging that much money is a rip.
'Course, I've been told California is chock full of high costs for just about everything.
06-06-2018, 06:07 PM
#5
Safety Car
Thread Starter
Not sure if posting this in the other (20K paint) thread making the rounds now might be considered a hijack, hence a new post.
My car was painted in 2011 by a local Maaco shop. Previous to this I had searched out local body shops and other paint shops to get an estimate on body and paint work. Every body shop I checked with did not want to take in the '64 for body work. The body work needed was to replace nose and body panels, including the left front fender top and lower side panel.
Seems many body shops prefer the quick turnaround work and won't take on something not in their wheelhouse. The response with just painting the car alone was the same........ sorry, nope.
A couple of speciality paint shops I inquired at did quote 15-18K to paint the car. The time involved for completion was many months. I was uncomfortable with this. I didn't want the car sitting around for an overly long period as things might start 'disappearing'.
The repaint quotes were still way more than I wanted to spend on aver that would be a driver. Not looking for perfection, I wanted something was still very nice.
While all this was going on, one day I gave a bud a ride in the'64 to a repair shop to pick up a van he had some mechanical work done on. Almost directly across the street was a Maaco paint shop.
Heading back home my bud and I thought to stop at the Maaco shop just to check out the goings-on. Near the exit a mid 60's Mustang and Oldsmobile had been painted and were being cut and buffed. What cut and buff had already been completed looked pretty good. I liked what I saw. .
Striking up conversation with the shop manager, the decision was made to have the '64 painted at this shop. The timeline to completion was good, about 3 weeks turnaround time. Before committing to having the work done I looked in at a couple of other Maaco shops to check out their work. One shop said no, 'we don't do Corvettes'. .. The other shop looked to do good work on repaints. This shop had classic cars parked at curbside, not just in their parking lot. The reason seemed obvious: Those guys too didn't want to put out big bucks on a repaint.
The cost to paint the car was $4400. This was their best level of paint service that also included door jambs and a new coat of primer. By then all necessary body work had been completed at home (another story). The old paint was chemically stripped, all bumpers, lights, buckets and trim, etc., removed.
The repaint turned out very nice. Except for the color shade, I was happy with the overall job. Relying on the paint code alone was a mistake on my part. I had told the shop to use it without spraying some test paint panels to confirm. Lesson learned.
As production shop there were a couple of spots that received some paint overspray. These were easy to touch up, no bigge. New weather strip rubber, all trim and bumpers were reinstalled at home. A new windshield gasket replaced the old one.
,
My car was painted in 2011 by a local Maaco shop. Previous to this I had searched out local body shops and other paint shops to get an estimate on body and paint work. Every body shop I checked with did not want to take in the '64 for body work. The body work needed was to replace nose and body panels, including the left front fender top and lower side panel.
Seems many body shops prefer the quick turnaround work and won't take on something not in their wheelhouse. The response with just painting the car alone was the same........ sorry, nope.
A couple of speciality paint shops I inquired at did quote 15-18K to paint the car. The time involved for completion was many months. I was uncomfortable with this. I didn't want the car sitting around for an overly long period as things might start 'disappearing'.
The repaint quotes were still way more than I wanted to spend on aver that would be a driver. Not looking for perfection, I wanted something was still very nice.
While all this was going on, one day I gave a bud a ride in the'64 to a repair shop to pick up a van he had some mechanical work done on. Almost directly across the street was a Maaco paint shop.
Heading back home my bud and I thought to stop at the Maaco shop just to check out the goings-on. Near the exit a mid 60's Mustang and Oldsmobile had been painted and were being cut and buffed. What cut and buff had already been completed looked pretty good. I liked what I saw. .
Striking up conversation with the shop manager, the decision was made to have the '64 painted at this shop. The timeline to completion was good, about 3 weeks turnaround time. Before committing to having the work done I looked in at a couple of other Maaco shops to check out their work. One shop said no, 'we don't do Corvettes'. .. The other shop looked to do good work on repaints. This shop had classic cars parked at curbside, not just in their parking lot. The reason seemed obvious: Those guys too didn't want to put out big bucks on a repaint.
The cost to paint the car was $4400. This was their best level of paint service that also included door jambs and a new coat of primer. By then all necessary body work had been completed at home (another story). The old paint was chemically stripped, all bumpers, lights, buckets and trim, etc., removed.
The repaint turned out very nice. Except for the color shade, I was happy with the overall job. Relying on the paint code alone was a mistake on my part. I had told the shop to use it without spraying some test paint panels to confirm. Lesson learned.
As production shop there were a couple of spots that received some paint overspray. These were easy to touch up, no bigge. New weather strip rubber, all trim and bumpers were reinstalled at home. A new windshield gasket replaced the old one.
,
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Westlotorn (06-08-2018)
06-06-2018, 06:10 PM
#6
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I've seen some nice paint jobs from these shops also. You figure a guy who stands in a booth and sprays all day long gets pretty good at the application. As with all paintjobs it's what happens before it gets in the booth that matters.
Basecoat clear can turn out very nice with some detailing.
JIM
Basecoat clear can turn out very nice with some detailing.
JIM
06-06-2018, 06:13 PM
#7
Safety Car
Thread Starter
Almost 7 years now the repaint still looks good. Other than rock chips from driving the car there's no peeling or flaking paint coming off.
06-06-2018, 06:34 PM
#8
Drifting
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In 1990 i was 16 & I had my first car painted at Maaco, a 79 Cordoba, i removed the bumpers, fixed all the door dings, wet sanded the whole car, (I had no clue what I was doing) and had them spray it, 2 tone, the same dark blue and dove Gray it was, and it looked phenomenal. I saw that car maybe 5 years ago, it still looked great.
06-06-2018, 06:38 PM
#9
Melting Slicks
As a body shop owner, I will say that Maaco gives you a good paint job for the money spent. I have recommended many persons to the local shop when my price was more than they wanted to spend. Most older car owners do not want a perfect job, just one that looks good at 20' and 20 MPH.
06-06-2018, 06:44 PM
#10
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06-06-2018, 06:55 PM
#11
Burning Brakes
I had several of my company vehicles painted by Maaco years back with no complaints. Quality work that lasted, I remember at the time they were the only shop that “baked” their finish on. I got an estimate to paint a 63 vert I was restoring, including prep, for about $5k - and that was for black! I saw several customs they did and all were quality jobs IMO.
06-06-2018, 07:01 PM
#12
Race Director
I've seen some pretty nice paint work out of MAACO. A paint shop about 3 blocks from me converted to MAACO about a year ago and they are jammed with business - all types of cars including some classics. There are usually about 30 cars in their lot awaiting their turn. I'm thinking of stripping my GTX down and doing a little body work and taking it down there if I can work out a way for them to paint it without it sitting outside (no secure fenced lot).
06-06-2018, 07:08 PM
#13
Burning Brakes
Sometimes it isn't the car they don't want to deal with, it is the owners. Like it or not, Corvette people have a reputation that turns some body shop guys off. I do my own body work and paint so I have control over the quality and the final product.
Last edited by 4 Speed Dave; 06-06-2018 at 07:09 PM.
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06-06-2018, 07:11 PM
#14
Race Director
But, but, but according to the experts you didn’t pay anywhere near enough for a quality paint job!
06-06-2018, 07:20 PM
#16
Burning Brakes
The fact of the matter is that just the paint, primer, epoxy sealer, fillers, sandpaper, tack rags I had over 2200 dollars all using PPG chemicals 2 years ago when I painted my 66. That is the one thing shops can save on with lower cost paint jobs. My Nova was painted over 21 years ago and it still looks very good again all PPG chemicals.
06-06-2018, 09:59 PM
#17
Anyone know what brand of paint Maaco uses? I'm pretty sure it's not expensive PPG, Dupont or similar.
Been thinking about doing a car with Kirker, you can get a gal. of base coat in the $100 dollar range and clear for even less. Total paint packages in the $300 range, these prices are shockingly cheap compared to the former. If anyone wants to look at this stuff go to Auto Body Toolmart, fast shippers BTW.
Been thinking about doing a car with Kirker, you can get a gal. of base coat in the $100 dollar range and clear for even less. Total paint packages in the $300 range, these prices are shockingly cheap compared to the former. If anyone wants to look at this stuff go to Auto Body Toolmart, fast shippers BTW.
06-06-2018, 10:11 PM
#18
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what color is that anyway?......looks great but I don't remember ever seeing a C2 with it. 
06-07-2018, 07:13 AM
#19
Melting Slicks
Correct me if I am wrong but MAACO is a franchise company with many many shops. I think most were independent shops at one time before becoming a MAACO franchise.
It would stand to reason that there are some very talented, competent individuals at MAACO body shops that can put out a very good product. Just have to know which ones are the good ones.
It would stand to reason that there are some very talented, competent individuals at MAACO body shops that can put out a very good product. Just have to know which ones are the good ones.
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06-07-2018, 07:25 AM
#20
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Correct me if I am wrong but MAACO is a franchise company with many many shops. I think most were independent shops at one time before becoming a MAACO franchise.
It would stand to reason that there are some very talented, competent individuals at MAACO body shops that can put out a very good product. Just have to know which ones are the good ones.
It would stand to reason that there are some very talented, competent individuals at MAACO body shops that can put out a very good product. Just have to know which ones are the good ones.
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ZERRY 316 (06-08-2018)