In my opinion, I would never go to Maaco to get a vette painted.

 

This year I tried to get my Vette's paint repaired at the Louisville Maaco only to find that it has gone out of business, presumably due to poor quality workmanship. Guess you got lucky and wound up with a decent job from them. I wound up using a rattlecan on the car, it covered up my damage but there's now an area where my paint doesn't shine the same way.

 

I just had my daughter's car painted there. I made some TV commercials for them, so they painted it for free. They actually have four different levels of paint at the shop I went to.

Only the best job, starting at $1,400 has separate base coat/clear coat. The next one down $500 has an integrated clear coat. That is what I got on my daughters car. It looks alright. If I were to sell it, I for sure added more than $500 to the resale value, coz her paint was toast.

You are only supposed to wash the car with cool water and dry it off with a damp chamois for the first couple weeks. Then you can use soap and chamois it off. Then after about a month, you can wash as usual, and they said to wax it after that.

The car was painted a medium/dark purple. There is some orange peel. I would not do a $500 job on a Vette if you are picky. No way.

But as has been said, prep work is a lot of it. And you can pay extra for a wet sand and buff to remove orange peel if you want. But I would assume that is with the base coat/clear coat before the clear goes on. But I am just guessing on that.

If your Vette looks like crap, and you just need to make it presentable from 10 feet, it may not be a bad deal. The job they did meets my needs very well. That being my daughter's first car that had paint falling off of it before the trip to Maaco.

Best of luck, whatever you decide!

 

Every Maaco has a different owner-different employees. some will not be qualified to paint a Corvette , some will. I would say don't discount a shop because of the name on the sign. On the other hand-do your homework. talk to 'em about how they are gonna prep and paint your car, if you aren't comfortable -walk away. i was quite pleased with the one that did my car.. The one that painted my Vette was familiar with Corvette prep and also restores musclecars, in addition to his core business of inexpensive paint jobs. Good luck. Check 'em out. If ya like what ya hear, use 'em, if ya don't you can walk away.

 

I had my 1985 painted by Maaco in Alton, IL. That was about 4 years ago and it still looks great. I got the best paint job they sold and have been happy with the results. I think this has everything to do with the location you go to as these are all independently owned. For the money, $1,300, you cant beat it. I went to this shop as they have painted quite a few Corvettes.

 

I can't stop staring at your car, looks great and a one of a kind. I saw your vette in one of the magazines, you were at a drag strip I think in Texas, but not sure. Hard to miss that color combination.
What did your L83 do in the 1/4 mile?

 

Actually it was a dragstrip in Richmond Va.! Drove there from Houston. The CFI w/ported intake, 1.6-1 roller tips, and cold air mod ran 14.3@96 all day long!

 

I had a car painted at Miracle which I always thought was about the same as Maaco.It was about $1,100.Its looked good.Ofcourse there was overspray and some flaws.But I took as good of car of it as possible.I Kept it waxed and clean as much as possible.Overall it was worth it to me.

 

Personally, I would NEVER allow Maaco to paint my Vette unless I was selling it to someone I didn't like.

 

I drove my 78 vette to macco and he looked at it and said "We can paint your vette but I will tell you no way" Paint was at Waco, Texas and I appreaciated what he told me.

Cruizer

 

My V8 Fiero painted at Maaco....









Total cost $605. It ain't perfect, but for the money it's damn good. I don't know that I'd let them paint a '63 split window coupe, but for a daily driver C4, why not?

They painted our beater F150 in 2003 and it came out nice as well. It's starting to fade pretty good now, but it's dark green and sits outside all day in the hot west Texas sun. It's never been waxed....hell, in the last 5 years, it's only been washed a handful of times.

It all depends on the shop. All Maaco locations are independently owned. Bill always does a good job for me.

 

When I get my thirdgen camaro as a DD, im going to get it sprayed by Maaco.

 

That Fiero looks damn good for $600!!

From front end on shot I thought it was a C4
Nice color.
Got any motor shots?

 

Six years ago I had my 85 painted at a Maco shop in Hampton, Va. A friend of mine had his 69 camaro painted there. I liked how well they painted his car. They did such a great job, I took my car there as well. The original color was black so I kept with the same color. I paid $400.00 for the job and paid an extra $100.00 for an extra coat of clear. I was very pleased with the over all out come. There was a little over spray, but they took care of it with no fuss instantly. It's six nearly seven years later and it still looks pretty good (see profile). If you are thinking of having a Maco shop paint your car check some of the car they are painting for your self. You be the judge. Not all Maco shops finish product comes out the same.

Rssshen Vette

 

I will probably have mine painted by the same Maaco that did my Buick. xrcrx is right, you gotta talk to the guys at the shop before you can judge their work by the sign outside. There used to be another Maaco near me, but it went out of business cause they sucked.

 

If you're serious about having your Vette painted at Maaco, ask the shop manager if he could send/direct you to some past customers who had their car (preferably a Vette) painted at the same Maaco shop you're at and also by the same painter that you'll be using. Also, see if you can locate some past customers who had their cars painted longer than 3-5 years ago. This way, you'll know how their cars hold up over time. A car painted one year ago won't tell you much, but if you can find one that was painted 5 years ago and it still looks good, that tells you a lot.

 

Thanks!
Ask and ye shall receive...





And....of course, the obigatory "butt in the air" shot during the build...

 

How the heck you work on it?

That is cool.

 

It's actually quite simple. Everything fits just like it belongs there. The drivetrain is a 4.9L aluminum V8 and 4T60E Auto from a 1994 Cadillac Sedan Deville. Axles are a combo 1993 Pontiac Transport minivan / Fiero combination. Fuel injection is all intact using original Cadillac PCM to drive everything. Wiring harness built by Injection Technology, everything else fabbed by yours truly and my motley band of misfits.

It's really quite easy to work on, although I haven't had to do anything substantial in the 2000 miles since the swap.

Performance wise it's similar to a stock L98 (it'll lay waste to my 84 Vette). I also intentionally left it looking as stock as possible save the trunk decal "2M8". The exhaust was custom fabbed by a local shop....quiet at idle, throaty when you stab the go pedal.

The Honda boys never see it coming.....they do, however, see it going

 

Nice work there, that is a heck of a sleeper. Enjoy