Body shop recommendations in northern NJ

polarnj

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Any good places, especially in Essex and Morris County NJ areas? I seem to be having trouble finding anyone who wants to work on an old car
 
Frazee's Landing Autobody near the southern end of Lake Hopatcong, Don is the owner and he started in his garage. All the shops in the area tried to recruit him but he stayed on his own and built his business.
 
I know Don because we grew up together, went to July 4th parties and New Years plus other occasions. He repaired quaternary panels on a Cordoba I had and later was going to paint a 74 Roadrunner of mine but I got married instead (should have kept the car instead). Later a van I had went to his shop after a accident but was totaled. If you read reviews people claim the prices are reasonable and Don has a soft spot for classics.
 
I know Don because we grew up together, went to July 4th parties and New Years plus other occasions. He repaired quaternary panels on a Cordoba I had and later was going to paint a 74 Roadrunner of mine but I got married instead (should have kept the car instead). Later a van I had went to his shop after a accident but was totaled. If you read reviews people claim the prices are reasonable and Don has a soft spot for classics.

Sounds like a good one thx for the info
 
@polarnj, let us know how it works out. I'm in South Jersey, plenty of shops around but I can't find one that will simply lay a coat of paint down on mine.
 
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@polarnj, let us know how it works out. I'm in South Jersey, plenty of shops around but I can't find one that will simply lay a coat of paint down on mine.

Maaco is one of the few places that I know of that will paint a car that's been prepped by the owner.

I've seen some pretty nice jobs done this way, but you have to find the right location and make sure the right guy does the job.

The Maaco in Montgomeryville, PA. is supposed to be a good one, at least it was 10 years ago. I have a friend who would farm out paint jobs to them that he didn't want to do. I could check to see if he still has a relationship with them and if they still have a good painter.

There's another guy near me that may do it too. Though, right now he's not taking on any additional work until he gets his personal project finished. He did a nice job on my coworker's truck, and I believe all the body and prep work was done by someone else. He's in the same general area as the Maaco, which isn't terribly far from you.

Jeff
 
Maaco is one of the few places that I know of that will paint a car that's been prepped by the owner.

I've seen some pretty nice jobs done this way, but you have to find the right location and make sure the right guy does the job.

The Maaco in Montgomeryville, PA. is supposed to be a good one, at least it was 10 years ago. I have a friend who would farm out paint jobs to them that he didn't want to do. I could check to see if he still has a relationship with them and if they still have a good painter.

There's another guy near me that may do it too. Though, right now he's not taking on any additional work until he gets his personal project finished. He did a nice job on my coworker's truck, and I believe all the body and prep work was done by someone else. He's in the same general area as the Maaco, which isn't terribly far from you.

Jeff

any halfway decent Maacos in the North NJ area? You never know how it will come out with them
 
We used the Maaco in Dover NJ about 5 years ago to paint metal chair bases. They had them 3 days, painted them the morning I was scheduled picked them up and a week later they started peeling.
 
We used the Maaco in Dover NJ about 5 years ago to paint metal chair bases. They had them 3 days, painted them the morning I was scheduled picked them up and a week later they started peeling.

Uh-oh I was thinking of going there for an estimate :(

I guess you mean Rockaway
 
I've owned a car paint by Maaco (or so I was told) and honestly, it looked like it was painted by Helen Kellar in a sand box. We painted my youngest son's truck in the driveway with Rustoleum thinned with acetone sprayed with a Harbor Fright gun and it came out better. Spent a whole hour prepping with another hour masking.

NsY8OMA.jpg

ov05mB9.jpg
 
I've owned a car paint by Maaco (or so I was told) and honestly, it looked like it was painted by Helen Kellar in a sand box. We painted my youngest son's truck in the driveway with Rustoleum thinned with acetone sprayed with a Harbor Fright gun and it came out better. Spent a whole hour prepping with another hour masking.

NsY8OMA.jpg

ov05mB9.jpg

when a paint job comes out that bad, can it be wet sanded and improved?
 
when a paint job comes out that bad, can it be wet sanded and improved?
Depends on the paint. Full disclosure... I'm not a painter and there are pros that know much more.

That said, if the car was painted with a single stage paint that has no metallic in it, you can sand and buff, just have watch for cut throughs on the edges. With metallic colors, you can do some, but it won't cure common problems like tiger striping where the paint is laid down uneven. You may easily make it worse. The issue with Maaco too is they use a minimum of paint, so the thickness is going to be minimum.

I got the metallic paint on that car so it looked good at 10 feet and not bad at 5 feet. I wet sanded and buffed another car that had a crappy backyard paint job (not by me) and it came out OK... Good at 5 feet.

Of course, no amount of buffing gets out a ding that was painted over. LOL
 
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