Was your backyard paintjob worth it?

You can get good paint work from SOME Maacos depending on who they have working there and your relationship with them. I had a Town Car painted there that I stripped and mostly prepped myself and it turned out very well for the price. The materials Maaco uses are not bad.

Outdoor painting is bullshit.

If you have a garage you can set up for painting, with a blower at one end sucking and air filtered coming in at the other, a clean floor and clean walls, you can do a good job at home. If you are only doing one, it's way cheaper to have it done.

I knew the first one I did would be a disaster so I offered to paint a Dodge Neon this pizza delivery guy had for free for the practice. I had access to surplus paint from TWA when the KC overhaul base was largely idled, so he had a choice, white or red. It turned out halfass, but the original paint was coming off in chunks, so he did not complain. I had painted guitars and lacquered furniture before but never a car. My second effort was my Land rover and it turned out pretty good. But henceforth I'm farming it out to a guy up here who is one of those survivalist-anti-system types who will do a good job for $400 so long as it is cash, plus materials.

 

Here's my "driveway paint job " story...Had a "friend of a friend" paint my project three times..disaster!! Runs ,sags, splotchy,etc...So,I said to myself.. "what could be so difficult aout painting a small car ???" ..Made some racks,prepped it ,reprimed & sealed ..Got up early on a still morning,hosed down the gravel,& shot my car myself..First time ,slick as a button,very little dirt, thought "damn ,that was easy.." EXCEPT ,panels didn't match ,each one was a different shade !!
So , being the hard-head I usually am, I sanded it all down ,AGAIN, and started it all over for the second time ( This made 4 total attempts..)
Needless to say , the second time was way worse....( now ,its up to 5 times!!)
Bundled the whole kit & Kaboodle up and hauled it to a friend that knew what he was doing & has a downdraft booth& drying equipment, he prepped it , supplied the material, shot it and charged me $600....Turned out great...Seems the 6th time was a charm
Lesson learned..I'm no painter...

 

I just bought a OT beater, so I'm considering blowing my T apart for paint this winter. I have a friend who paints, but he's not perfect and I'm a perfectionist. I also want it done in either black or big flake red. I'm pretty sure both are hard to do.

Part of me wants to do it myself, but the perfectionist says let someone else do it. If someone else does it and screws it up, I can have them do it over. But that guarantee is gonna cost.

I could try and do it myself, but fear is a mutha. Yea, I could always start over, but I'm not sure how many "do overs" I'd have in me. Saying I did it myself would be cool, but not if it looks like crap.

So, to the OP, my thought is do it yourself, IF you're not afraid to fail the first few times. I guess that's what it boils down to.

 

I have painted a lot of cars with bc/cc in my garage and I have even used sumitt racing brand paint twice. I use Nason products for most of the paint jobs I do and I think they come out great!!! My 71 Mach 1 gets a lot of looks when driving down the road or at a car show. I'm thinking I may use the local napa brand for my Model A, I have not decided yet. But to answer the question at hand is it worth it: Hell yah it is Great pride in doing the paint!!!! Good Luck!!

 

I have painted 6 or 7 cars with good results, but its been a few years sence I've done any. I've done solid colors and metalics and the metalics are the hardest,you can get a shade differance if your not carfull. Like everyone says the prep is the most work--TV

 

I paint for a living and hate to tell you some of the best paint jobs ive seen have came outa two car garages.... I also can tell you ive seen some real crap come outa the home paint job as well.. do the body work correctly buy good material and take your time. Ask questions

 

Well I was gonna chime in with my years of experience, until I read this.
I believe Highlander covered it well. The only thing I would add is wear your mask, gloves and protective clothing. This stuff today is absorbed thru the skin, you don't necessarily have to breathe it in to be harmful.

 

Preparation , clean metal . I have a friend that collects and restores riding mowers . He has around 20 different ones . Every one was painted with a rattle can and looks smooth and professional . Better than factory .

 

There's a guy on YouTube called My friend Pete of Southwest Rod and Custom who has a DIY series of video's..
He's a real tripper, looks like he's on day release from Prison.....but he is straight to the point with no bullshit and I've picked up lots of useful stuff from watching him.
Check him out...

 

Yep...And was actually done in the backyard. Both vehicles, the '66 Ford F-100 and the '61 Falcon. Both were sprayed with NAPA's MSA line of Acrylic enamel with hardener. Painted the pick-up on a Sunday evening and drove it to work Monday morning.

 

If you can't get past the point of not investing in the tools, you probably need to let someone else do it.. Not.. Buy a hand file, prep supplies are pretty cheap.. U can a decent gravity gun for cheap.. Old guy up the street shot his A with a $25 gravity gun from harbor freight.. I would spend a little more than that though..
I prefer to do anything I can.. I too have painted all my own and have been complimented by peeps without agenda.. Invest in the tools and materials.. You can do it.. It'll look good at 60...


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Lets play what old thread gets bumped next

 

it can be worth it. materials are high, but so is having a pro shop do it. if it's well prepped and carefully executed you can paint almost anywhere and get decent to great results.

That said, I've always beleived you can't teach somone to paint. Based on what i've seen it's a skill you either have or you don't and there's only one way to find out--just be prepared for the possibility that it will be bad and you'll have to redo it.

FWIW, I've been painting since i was 13, ran a small shop for a while and now paint maybe 3 or 4 times a year as a side gig. it's the best skill my dad ever "taught" me, but it was of necessity-- he/we couldn't afford to pay shops to do it for us.

 

Yep from 2009, I wonder what the outcome was? Did he take a shot at it? Would be interesting to hear the rest of the story.

 

I don't think painting my own car is something I see in my future. I try to get my cars as close to paint ready as possible, including epoxy primed and all body work done to my ability. But I leave the final prep and paint to someone I trust will do much better than I can.
Doing everything before taking it to a pro saves me a lot of money, as it's mostly labor and a little primer. My last paint job was still $2k, but I'm very happy with the way it turned out, and probably saved $2k-$3k by doing all the bodywork.

 

Don't ever remember see anything about him painting his car. HRP

 

After many hrs of body repair my son and good friend painted two cars in metallic paints and did my third on my own, Hope to do one more if I ever get that far. Easy peazy ! It an't yours if you did;nt do the work I feel.
go for it.

 

Original poster hasn't been on for awhile. Last Activity: 10-15-2012 05:29 AM

 

My car was in sealant when I got it. I had a guy in his garage take it down to bare metal, do bodywork and paint it glossy black. That cost me 2k about 10 years ago. It was beautiful then, but I was a stupid kid who never washed it, got scratches on it and stored it outside for a winter. But, I do think it was worth it. I'm redoing it, but I need to track the other guy down first to match paint. Really, it's good driver quality still, but since I'm older now, I'd like some awards when I go to shows

The only bad spots really are where brass was brazed by the deck lid, which can be trouble for anyone to paint, and some deep scratches in the hood from a lighting fixture that was above where it was stored and where it'd been nosed not being fully welded.

For a back yard job, 2k wasn't bad for 10 years, especially the way I took care of it. I've seen cars with factory paint not even 10 years old that looked worse and I drove the hell out of it in that time!


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When I was 15 years old I had a 40 Ford coupe my brother gave me. I decided to paint it myself so I got my moms Kirby vacum cleaner that you could spray paint with. It didn't look very good,but I did it. When you're a kid with your first car and it is all one color you feel great. It really looked good after I bought a white wall tire kit for it. They didn'tlast long after running into a curb. Sure was a great first car painted maroon. The year was 1956.

 

Hey my oreck can't spray paint I want to hear more about your Kirby. Does this mean I need to ditch my binks and buy a vacuum cleaner to be 100% traditional?

 

I had two vehicles painted by Maaco and they turned out fine,I did all the prep work and removed everything that would come off so little masking was needed. I had them paint the two because it was in the winter and could never get my garage warm enough,I will need to repaint the bed sides on the last due to my rushing the sanding and doing a poor job as I was trying to paint in myself before cold weather came but ran out of time. The rest of the truck turned out fine as I took plenty of time but by the time I got to the bed the weather was starting to turned and wanted painted before I headed to the turkey run but got sloppy.

 

It is well worth doing yourself. Buy the best materials you can afford. I painted my Merc myself in my garage. I used a cheap HVLP gun that I borrowed. I put on a good amount of clear and wet sanded and buffed it out. It looks nice but with any garage job you can pick it apart. Since I have done it people have like what I did and has paid me to paint there cars for them. You learn more as you go. I have now graduated up to top shelf spray equipment. I love laying paint it is stressfull as you want to do a better job than the last one but it is fun. I included a picture of my first paint job.

 

Here is a better picture that last one sucked.

 

ive painted and done bodywork as professional...for yrs...i have more fun now doing backyard stuff for freinds....built 100,000 dollar rods..built 10,000 dollar rods...i think the backyard guys enjoy thier toys more...and i enjoy helping them build thier dreams...what was once a proffession...now a hobbie...is much more fun...try..learn..play..enjoy...thats what its all about...

 

Hey Steve and all you guys, these are the stories I like to hear, guys who take it upon themselves to do it. Cars look like they came out great. Funny thing, maybe high body shop prices are making people discover they can do it themselves. Like they say, necessity is the mother of invention.

 

Never fails. An FNG stirs up an old thread and says "Hopes this helps".

Fidiot.

 

Just goes to show, nothing is new under the sun.

Brian

 

Not exactly H.A.M.B. friendly but I did this in a portable garage from H.F. Had several differnt colored parts as it was a junk yard rescue including the 429/C6 under the hood. 3qts satin black Rustoleum. Less that $50 for paint, primer, thinner. I got more compliments on this job than I ever expected.

 

well I haven't posted on the HAMB in a while but did a search looking for DIY painting inspiration. Got a new to me 68 wagoneer and am sticker shocked by the paint prices. 5k. so thanks all for the words of encouragement to the original poster,hence I too am going to try and do it myself. However I do not look forward to the prep work.Darned If I pay someone else.