Painting Options

[m0par0rn0car]

I have a 1969 Plymouth fury 3 2 door hard top that was scorch red from factory but at some point before I had the car someone rattle canned the whole thing matte black but the door jams and under the hood and trunk are still red. I'm planning on repainting the car sometime this year but I'm not sure if I should do it myself or have it done. I'm not trying to build a show car and I daily drive it most of the year so if it's not immaculate it's not the end of the world. I've never painted a whole car before but I have experience painting from classes in highschool and painting tanks on motorcycles. Anyone else paint their cars themselves with any luck? or should I just bite the bullet and take it to a shop?

 

[mopar440]

I have a 1969 Plymouth fury 3 2 door hard top that was scorch red from factory but at some point before I had the car someone rattle canned the whole thing matte black but the door jams and under the hood and trunk are still red. I'm planning on repainting the car sometime this year but I'm not sure if I should do it myself or have it done. I'm not trying to build a show car and I daily drive it most of the year so if it's not immaculate it's not the end of the world. I've never painted a whole car before but I have experience painting from classes in highschool and painting tanks on motorcycles. Anyone else paint their cars themselves with any luck? or should I just bite the bullet and take it to a shop?

There's a couple threads on this, and I've been in a few threads

I wanted a decent driver quality job on my car. I got quotes of 8-10000 to paint my 67 Charger. No shops wanted to do it, too much money in crash work. Side guys were the same price

Paint yourself and learn if you can. Alot of money in prep work. I ended up vinyl wrapping my charger, turned out awesome. Doing that to my 65 wagon too

So, alot of personal questions have to be asked in these cases

 

[Davea Lux]

I have a 1969 Plymouth fury 3 2 door hard top that was scorch red from factory but at some point before I had the car someone rattle canned the whole thing matte black but the door jams and under the hood and trunk are still red. I'm planning on repainting the car sometime this year but I'm not sure if I should do it myself or have it done. I'm not trying to build a show car and I daily drive it most of the year so if it's not immaculate it's not the end of the world. I've never painted a whole car before but I have experience painting from classes in highschool and painting tanks on motorcycles. Anyone else paint their cars themselves with any luck? or should I just bite the bullet and take it to a shop?

Painting is an art and so is the prep work. The other item to keep in mind is that paint and the solvents used to thin and cleanup are toxic if proper precautions are not taken. Painting a car in a garage without a respirator can kill you. Some of the paint components are also known carcinogens that can be absorbed thru the skin and respiratory system.

If you car is a daily driver, you could take it down to Miracle and have them paint it all one color. Most of their paint jobs are crap and will fade in a few years but at least you will get that much use out of the car. If you want to paint a car correctly, it should come down to bare metal and any body damage should be repaired at that time. Quality paint work will be at least $4k in addition to the bodywork. It probably is not worth spending that on a driver.

If you decide to paint the car yourself, invest in a good respirator and paint suit. Might also consider taking a few auto paint classes at your local community college to sharpen your skill set. Good Luck.

Dave

 

[mopar440]

Yes, clear coat has isocyanates, need correct ppe

 

[mopar440]

I took my charger down to bare metal, thinking I could find a decent priced painter, sealed in epoxy primer. It is ALOT of work, but worth it ofcourse

 

[azblackhemi]

Yes, clear coat has isocyanates, need correct ppe

Yes as does catalyzed single stage. Bad, bad stuff. A supplied air respirator would be best. And eye protection.

 

[The Goose]

I have a 1969 Plymouth fury 3 2 door hard top that was scorch red from factory but at some point before I had the car someone rattle canned the whole thing matte black but the door jams and under the hood and trunk are still red. I'm planning on repainting the car sometime this year but I'm not sure if I should do it myself or have it done. I'm not trying to build a show car and I daily drive it most of the year so if it's not immaculate it's not the end of the world. I've never painted a whole car before but I have experience painting from classes in highschool and painting tanks on motorcycles. Anyone else paint their cars themselves with any luck? or should I just bite the bullet and take it to a shop?

Take it to Maaco. Wait for the spring special and sand it yourself. Make rattlecans in Scorch Red and do your own jams etc. they usually have a spring special for about 300 bucks. You won’t be able to buy paint & material for that cheap. If you do the sanding most any shop can piss on straight enamel w good results. Don’t upgrade to anything and stick to single stage enamel. You don’t want a $300 base coat clear coat, trust me on that. Mine ain’t perfect but we sit on it, drive it on dirt roads and street park it in downtown Hollywood. Looks great going down the road. It’s no show pony.

Just my 2 cents worth. Worked for me.

 

[CBODY67]

We used to have more Maaco shops in DFW than now. Plus some Earl Scheib. ES usually would not remove anything, painting it all (moldings, nameplates, etc), but the Maacos usually did the normal removal and prep, by observation. The repaints I've seen from them are usually pretty good AND did have decent durability (at least 2 years before any flaking happened, in one case in our car club). Not sure how they can afford the price they sell things for, but they obviously have their own paint suppliers and such, OR they get into the paint supply mix at the "commercial" price level? But it does look good enough, in many cases.

An alternative is to find the painters that work for the used car auctions.

As noted, single-stage acrylic enamel is what to specify, NO clearcoats. The OEM paint was acrylic enamel and it lasted well and shined longer than the acrylic lacquer that GM used, by observation.

Maaco has a catalog to choose from. Colors, pin stripes, body side moldings, etc. ALL with prices. Just like ordering a car. As they are "production shops", it might take a while to get the car scheduled, but the time it takes to do it should be quick, once they start. Just as with mechanic work, decent work doesn't have to take "too long".

By observation, worst thing that can be said is "I'm going to drive the car and 'maybe show it'". THAT sends the price upward, immediately, as the "show car" orientation kicks in. Extended prep work, etc. Plus probably a bit more care in spraying the paint and such. BUT considering the generally high quality of current factory OEM paint jobs (in gloss and smoothness), it would probably be better to specify "current OEM quality", which should NOW be their normal mode of operation. The OTHER thing is that many body shops might not be adept at spraying single-stage acrylic enamel as they are more attuned to base coat/clear coat finishes. BTAIM

Enjoy the shopping!
CBODY67

 

[Rustyrodknocker]

I forgot about MAACO. they closed the one in my town years ago. I would be interested in knowing what their packages rates are nowdays. I checked their site and they don't post them.

My father in law got some pretty good work from them. His theory was that nobody sprayed more cars than the guy in the MAACO booth. If you get the car straight and can give him a tip they look good when they roll out.

 

[3175375]

I had tigger painted by Maaco 30 years ago. It was jammed by my neighbor. It was beautiful for about 10 years and then started oxidizing. Since then, I had it resprayed in 2000 by a body shop n the paint on it now is Glasurit and still looks good...

 

[Rustyrodknocker]

My 300 has a cheap respray it looked ok when I got it. But its really flat now. The prep work was insufficient as typical. When I first got the car I had to rebuild the dutchman panel. I had intended to paint the roof at the trim line to mimic the vinyl top color scheme.
However, when I was masking off I had plastic sheet draped over the rear with a few spots of blue painters tape holding to the car so it would not lift.
At the end when I was removing the tape it was peeling the paint off! I was infuriated and was desperately trying to salvage it. But in the end that's how I ended up with the white tail. I just tried to incorporate all the spots into the roof work!

Its been that way for years. I'm putting a new roof on the car, so it will have to wait.
It's so frustrating, a little better prep would have made a lot better paint job!

My 68 Coronet on the other hand, had a better quality respray job in hemi orange. But they did the old double hardener in the enamel trick. It gives them extra gloss, and 25 years later that car will gloss right up, but the paint is extremely brittle.
Its got many spots where any rocks impact or anything else the paint shatters and flys off the car.

 

[The Goose]

My 300 has a cheap respray it looked ok when I got it. But its really flat now. The prep work was insufficient as typical. When I first got the car I had to rebuild the dutchman panel. I had intended to paint the roof at the trim line to mimic the vinyl top color scheme.
However, when I was masking off I had plastic sheet draped over the rear with a few spots of blue painters tape holding to the car so it would not lift.
At the end when I was removing the tape it was peeling the paint off! I was infuriated and was desperately trying to salvage it. But in the end that's how I ended up with the white tail. I just tried to incorporate all the spots into the roof work!

Its been that way for years. I'm putting a new roof on the car, so it will have to wait.
It's so frustrating, a little better prep would have made a lot better paint job!

My 68 Coronet on the other hand, had a better quality respray job in hemi orange. But they did the old double hardener in the enamel trick. It gives them extra gloss, and 25 years later that car will gloss right up, but the paint is extremely brittle.
Its got many spots where any rocks impact or anything else the paint shatters and flys off the car.
View attachment 367622

That’s a cool ride. Sorry about that evil tape. A trick you can do is stick the tape to your t shirt then stick it to the car. It’ll hold up during your job and then it peels right off. The tiny threads kill the super powers of the tape.

One other thing I do is never wax the new paint. I know it sounds crazy but if you’ve ever waxed a brand new paint job and then said “what happened to my new paint shine”?!!!??? You know what I mean. Mine was painted sept of 2017 and still looks almost brand new. Once it’s shine dies (I know it will eventually) then out will come the wax and remember it’s always better to say “well that looks a bunch better” than “where’d my shine go” Lol !!! just what I do. Limitations apply your results may vary...

 

[CBODY67]

It sued to be that you were supposed to wait 90 days or so before any waxing was done, even on a new car (which had already been baked at the factory). Additional "cure" time for the paint, especially on acrylic enamel (Chrysler and Ford).

BUT . . . buffer polishing was allowed and many times gave the acrylic enamels a hard shine that bordered on "show quality", by observation. A dose of hardener seemed to help this along, back then.

Just some thoughts,
CBODY67