DollaGreen

I dont now jack about paint but there seems to be a consensus that you get what you pay for. Im not ready to spend the big bucks this year on a new paint job...but am planning to get a decent one done either next year or the year after. Pondering this idea... Get the $500 Macco job now to cover the chips, scratches etc, and in a year or two get the good one. BIG QUESTION HERE is if any "damage" can be done by getting the cheap job. What most have said is that the Macco job will look OK for a while but not last. This would be OK with me, and $500 would be a small price to pay to cover up some blemishes...dont want to F things up for the future though. Thoughts?




[Modified by DollaGreen, 8:20 PM 2/22/2003]

joe73vette

well, whatevever you put on now will just have to be removed later. Have you tried buffing out the paint you have. I have had tremendous success with a buffing wheel and old faded paint. Joe

zwede

Odds are the $500 job may look worse than what you have now. Especially if you don't do any prep or masking yourself. You will almost certainly see overspray all over the place (emblems, moldings, mufflers, wheels etc).

Also, it is often more work to take a crappy paint job off than an old factory one.

I'd say don't do it and rather add the $500 to the nice paint you're getting later, making it even nicer...

Vetterodder

If you just have chips and scratches but the overall appearance is good (glossy, no peeling, etc.), do a touch up and polish on the paint. In the case where 95% of the paint is good, replacing it with a mediocre paint isn't a god idea. A skilled detailer can do a perfect match on the chips and make the scratches disappear for a couple hundred $. If the paint is really shot though, a low cost job like Maaco might be an improvement.

Fevre

Do like other suggest and suffer through the waiting period until you can get it done right, I am. :( I have many chips and a few stress cracks but since I am doing many mods I am going to wait till I have the car set up like I want then get it painted.

72GACRZR

You can wait it out and in the meantime if you want, you can try to learn to repair the small ones by working on out of the way ones. It won't make much difference, if you are going to paint later. Then after the paint job, if you get a new chip, you might be able to repair.

turtlevette

If your talking about the car in your signature, i don't think you are going to improve on it with a MAACO job. It looks really good!


The MAACO job will look good from a distance but thats what you already have.

DollaGreen

Thanks for the responses...

JOE73: Can you detail the method you use...what compounds etc and what order...as I said I have no experience with this.

If anyone can point me to a buff/polish/wax howto that would be great also!

I have looked over the product options and there are anywhere from 3 to 9 step processes. Need some info on what you have found works.

CF6873

Some other concerns with a cheap job are sanding off the sharp body lines, Sanding marks on the glass esp. rear window, Sanding on chrome rear bumpers, and as was already mentioned oversray and undertaping. To repair any of these miscues is very expensive. Craig

Magnum '82

Save your money and apply it to the "real" paint job.

Captain_Kaboom

Follow vettfixr's guide from his webpage:
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/vettfixr/page5.htm

I just did it, and the results are great. For less than $100 in the polish, orbital buffer, and terry towels- and the car regained some color and lots of shine!

Mack

I waited till I could have a good paint job. I really think the old job looked worse to me than to other people. It had rock chips and a big spider crack in the middle of the hood where it looked like somebody had left a socket on the air cleaner and closed the hood. Here's what it looks like now:


Edit: Cain't speull. :crazy:


[Modified by Mack76, 2:56 PM 2/24/2003]

RCB69L36

Here is a web site my wife came across. In fact, my wonderful darling actually bought me some products that should help make my black vette shine again until I decide to have her repainted.

http://www.autopia-carcare.com/

This site seems to be VERY comprehensive in exlaining all the things you'll want to try in order to improve the look of your vette.

Now, if it ever gets warm again, maybe I'll go out and try a few of the products she bought for me.

Good luck.

:cheers:

Fevre

Someone probably left the air cleaner stud/screw to high like they did on mine. :( Got the same spider crack you speak of.

killain

I've had a number of cars painted at Maaco. And if you do a little per paint work you can get a decent paint job there. I've had both enamal and matalic jobs done over the years. Do your own sanding and filling and cracks on your own realine any door or hood gaps and strip as much chrome and emblems off as you can realisticly reapply on your own and let them do a good paint job and you'll be plenty satisfied. :seeya

joe73vette

I pretty much did what vetfixr said. I used a 1200 grit polishing compound for badly faded paint. You should be able to get away with an agressive car wax like Rain Dance. Joe