I thought, id share a secret with you guys the secret to getting a $4,000 paint job for $500 as I have been doing for years.

This is my kitty, wet sanded myself 10 minutes with water and 1500 grit, all chips etc done by me, then sent to maaco for the $500 paint job(ALWAYS ASK TO PUT IN EXTRA CLEAR$35-50) this is BMW Black, single stage integrated clear etc, special deal as always.

After 3 days, I wash with a soft sponge rinse off, dry and use a blue polishing/wax pad on my orbital sander/polisher on the #4 speed with just a little of mothers pure polish,then immediately wipe off several time, never le it dry, if it does, it comes off with a wet towel.
The results last over ten + years of outdoor storage and speak for themselves!
Enjoy !!!!!!!!!!! ITS DARK OUTSIDE BY THE WAY. ILL SEND A PHOTO WHEN THE RAIN LEAVES

 

You can get a excellent paint job from them the secret is in the preparation. When I owned our collision repair center back in the eighties. We would prep many rebuilders and have Earl Schieb down the road from us shoot the cars, I couldn't buy the paint or hardener for the price. I think it was $49.95 0r $59.95 The painter their were good they sprayed about 20 cars a day. No drips, No runs, no dirt. This was the day before your clear coat systems and these cars were shot with enamel.

 

Yeah , I had your general rock chips on the front bumper and mirrors, but they came out with 800 or less grit sanding wet only, and I used finer grit to remove the rough sand grits wet sanding only =no dust, no mistakes.

Then, I did the whole car wet with fine grit, very easy.

If you do not ask for extra clear, you will not get the results I get.

The rain is still here, no sun, but in the sun, the car gleams all over, like a mirror ! I had a guy ask tell me, "bet that paint job cost your over 4 or 5 large, I did not share my secret lol.We will keep this in house.

 

Repaint quality is in the prep and clear coat finish. I do the prep at a hand sanded 400 grit then finish the paint with machine 1500 and 3000 then G3 on a foam pad on a DA. The G3 is one of the professional polishes that breaks down as it is used into a finer and finer polish.

 

I agree, I did not go that far because, I know they use their own primer /sealer which will go over the fine sanded areas I did and hide the finer sand marks completely, then they have to sand their primer /all free.

But, once that single stage is polished out, wow!!!! Looks great !!

 

I'm with you on this. I can prep my car, and do body work. It is the paint fumes that are killing me, and my kidneys. I even wear the most expensive mask Napa makes, and I am still coughing for weeks. I don't think Maaco prepares their cars at all. I paid $456 for a rear bumper repaint, and 6 weeks later it started to flake off at a touchless car wash.....This is going on my to do list, when I need my next car painted. They at least know how to mask.....Be cool....Mike

 

Oh yes the fumes can be pretty bad!
30 years ago I "converted" my XJS Coupe from a terrible brown color to white enamel.
I turned my garage into a spray booth and stripped everything from the body including the hood and trunk lid. I spent a long time in the prep phase. When I got to the white paint phase I did end up with runs. It took me quite a long time to sand it down however I did have quite a few coats. In the end I think it looked pretty good. However I will never do that again! Oh I also had the engine out for a rebuild so did inside the engine compartment which I did not sand down.
I still love the XJS design and, if I were not married, would buy another. My wife would not let me but I am going to buy a boat next year as to my surprise she really wants one.

 

Its a pity there was not some place like that over in the U.K, that sounds like a fabulous deal.

 

I got an estimate at MAACO last year including the 2k/urethane sealer,urethane + ic paint, chip repair, and ding repair for $1278. This specific shop was recommended by another high end body shop.

 

Wow. Looks better than new. Thanks for the tips. My Cat needs a full repaint and your prep tips will make a world of difference.

Paint has always been a black art, more skill than science but now I now what the 'science' is, I feel I can get a great looking car again on my post divorce new income level. I ever realized how important pre paint prepping was.

Cheers!

 

just remember,to ask for extra clear,make sure its on your work order and make sure you do good prep work and glaze polish 3days or later. I parked by a 2015 Mercedes Benz today,my car outshines that.

 

A little sun

 

It certainly has a nice shine, but how much orange peel when you get close up?

My car looked great from ten feet, a repaint before I bought it. But I had to wet sand the entire car with 2000 grit and polish it to get rid of the orange peel.

I'm just picky, I guess, but even most of the F types I've seen have what I consider a substandard finish.

 

The best wheel paint I've usedis 1Z / Einszett Silber Spray. It's a perfect match for alloy wheels on German cars. I have not tried it on Jags, but it might be worth a try. Certainly a huge improvement over Dupli Color.

 

You must be responding to my other thread

I've heard of the 1Z in wandering around, but not available
locally. Such is life when big box stores take over all the
real estate.

 

Interesting and duly noted... I just had my local Maaco paint a tiny trim piece for me last week for another car. Makes sense though that it's all in the prep work and polish afterwards. My XKR needs a respray at some point later, as it was recently done by the previous owner, and one of these dealer body shops that is shooting quota cars every day kicked it out painting right over stone chips on the front! And didn't even match the hood to the fenders. Only I know that and it's still a great ten-footer for now...

 

Funny, don't know how that happened!

 

aode, what do you mean when you say, "Get extra clear"? Do you mean they do extra coats of clear? Looks great!

 

I agree orange peel is just horrible and drives me crazy on black cars. Its a big problem with places like maaco, even some new cars these days are being sold with horrible orange peel. But it may actually be real easy to get rid of orange peel with these new denim pads I've discovered recently, much easier than wet sanding. I have not used them yet but will be using them soon on a car that has some annoying orange peel on one fender. you can read about them here CarPro's Denim orange peel removal pad TESTED....WOW!!!! - Auto Geek Online Auto Detailing Forum