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Exterior Visual Mods (Spoilers, Body Kits, etc)

93 messages,  Last post on May 05, 2012 at 1:10 PM

You are in the Speed Shop Tuning and Modification Forum.

What is this discussion about? Performance Mods

Messages Page 9 of 10

#74 of 93 Re: Earl Scheib [kyleknicks] by airplanepnutz

Jan 29, 2007 (2:37 pm)

Replying to: kyleknicks (Jul 04, 2005 4:20 pm)
Can I see the pictures? because my 99 Mustang is needing a paint job as well

#75 of 93 Re: Earl Scheib [airplanepnutz] by steve_ HOST

Jan 29, 2007 (2:49 pm)

Replying to: airplanepnutz (Jan 29, 2007 2:37 pm)
You guys (and gals) should check out the Paint and Body Maintenance & Repair discussion too.

#76 of 93 good material by benztuner

Jan 29, 2007 (9:47 pm)

I wanted to give everyone some info about paint work. I own a Mercedes-Benz certified collision center and we use Glasurit paint/clear. Mercedes-Benz shoots Glasurit at the factory, in fact most high-quality luxury manufacturers use Glasurit in the factory and reccommend that any paint work done to the car be completed with Glasurit products. Now Glasurit is a BASF product, and is one of the best materials out there, which is reflected in the cost but you pay for what you get. Now I agree with Biscayne, in a perfect world there you shouldnt have to buff after painting but most times that just isnt possible. However there are some things you can look for to make sure you're getting a better job.
A down-draft booth is essential in producing a good paint job. Im not saying it isnt possible to have a good job in a different booth but its much harder. Also if you know anything about paint/paint prep you should ask the sanding steps they take. Some places are slack but others are very professional. This depends upon what bodywork was done but the steps should be about: 180, 320, 500, Red Scotchbrite w/ sandfix or wet-sand w/ 2000. If you take steps like this then you ensure a better result. Depending on the state of the car when its brought in determines how many steps you should take. Also in my opinion there should be NO single panel painting. If you wreck your car, a new hood and bumper is put on it then the entire front end needs to be painted. Paint the hood and bumper and at least blend the fenders. A good shop will do this, but a lot dont.
Now if you're looking for something special, I would reccommend House of Kolor or Carizzma, it is a BASF product. Also, Glasurit has a new ceramic clear out that is really cool. The clear is self healing, in other words if you scratch it with your finger nails(Ladies) or keys or anything and it is a minor scratch, when the clear gets hot from the sun the clear fills the scratch in and then once it cools the scratch is gone. It is very cool to see. Now again this is for MINOR scratches, I am almost positive that it doesnt work if it scratch is into the paint, but it might help it.
Pricing, well this varies from shop to shop and it can be rediculously low or reasonable. What I call reasonable is probably very high to other people. In order to correctly repaint an entire car you have to be very skilled. We typically de-trim the entire car, take all of the glass out, take everything apart, fix any dent/dings. And you'd be suprised that people who think they're car is dent free, once you start looking hard you usually find them everywhere, but sometimes they're hard to find if you dont know what you're looking for and arent in the correct light. Then after the various sanding steps and taping everything up you shoot the car and then put everything back together. It is a very long process, and takes skill to do it right, which is why the price is so much higher than other places. If you are serious about wanting a paint job and you want it done right, you need to forget about these Chain Paint Shoos, like Macco etc. They wash your car with thinner and barely tape the windows and shoot it with the cheapest paint available. When they're done the car is repainted, usually so are the moldings, wheels/tires, glass, lights, wheel wells, wipers, door handles, etc.
Bottom line, if your looking to get a paint job do some research on the shop. Ask them some questions about their booth, do they cure/bake their jobs? do they have a down draft booth? what kind of paint/clear do they use? do they have a warrenty on the paint and/or work? how long will it take (if it can be done in a day or so, you need to look elsewhere), etc. A little extra money now could safe you money down the road, and if you could possibly sell the car that is a good selling point, you had a complete paint job done by a credible shop with a good material. Consider all of the options, but dont quickly deny a shop because they're higher than others.
We recently painted a W140 S class for a customer, it was painted RED. It is the only RED W140 S class in the world, because Mercedes didnt make that color. It looked good, the car is 11 years old and it made the car look brand new which is what a paint job is supposed to do.

#77 of 93 Re: good material [benztuner] by Mr_Shiftright HOST

Jan 29, 2007 (11:14 pm)

Replying to: benztuner (Jan 29, 2007 9:47 pm)
So what was the color of the Benz before you painted it? How did you deal with the color change vis a vis engine compartment, etc.

#78 of 93 Re: good material [Mr_Shiftright] by benztuner

Jan 30, 2007 (7:45 am)

Replying to: Mr_Shiftright (Jan 29, 2007 11:14 pm)
The color was Black originally, so it was a big switch. We took pulled the engine and painted everything, door jams, the body A pillars, everything.

#79 of 93 Re: good material [benztuner] by Mr_Shiftright HOST

Jan 30, 2007 (11:23 am)

Replying to: benztuner (Jan 30, 2007 7:45 am)
Wow! That probably cost him more than the car was worth...a very odd decision, but I'm glad you got the work!!

#80 of 93 Re: good material [Mr_Shiftright] by benztuner

Jan 30, 2007 (6:12 pm)

Replying to: Mr_Shiftright (Jan 30, 2007 11:23 am)
We originally changed the color when it was new 11 years ago. There is a long story behind the car and the family, and the car is being given to another family member. Well normally we wouldnt change the color of any car due to the amount of work, but these were special circumstances which made us happy to be apart of the tradition. Thanks.

#81 of 93 Re: good material [benztuner] by wdickson

Feb 18, 2007 (9:06 pm)

Replying to: benztuner (Jan 29, 2007 9:47 pm)
Who do you think you are? I'm a painter at Maaco in Santa Rosa, CA. We have a double wide downdraft booth, we take parts off cars and there is never paint on windows, door handles, tires, wheel wells, or wiper blades! We NEVER wash cars with thinner! We use House of Color at times and in fact right now we are doing a $15,000 paint job on a Mustang Eleanor. We do cheap jobs too, but you get what you pay for. With all the pratice i've had i'm sure I could do better then any of the painters that paint for you... and I could do it with the cheap paint!

#82 of 93 Re: good material [wdickson] by benztuner

Feb 18, 2007 (9:31 pm)

Replying to: wdickson (Feb 18, 2007 9:06 pm)
Im not from CA, and therefore I dont know about CA. But I am in NC, and the Maaco's here only do cheap jobs. I know everything out west is much different than here, as far as rates, insurance owned shops, etc. and I was speaking for NC, Im sorry if i didnt come out and say NC. The Maaco's here only do cheap, crap paint jobs, thats it. It is a well known fact that if you want a cheap paint job go to Maaco, now they may offer nicer paint jobs but Ill tell you now they dont offer anything like what you're talking about. Im not saying you guys dont do nice work or offer high-line work, but the Maaco's here surely dont. Im sorry if you got upset but what I said were things Ive personally encountered. Im not going to get into a argument with you about who can paint the best, ive got better things to do. But just so you know, we do show cars like the Swisher H2, and everything in between. So just so everyone out there knows I meant the Maaco's in NC do cheap paint jobs. I am curious though, why would you choose to work at a place where they do great paint jobs like the $15,000.00 job you mentioned and do jobs that are only $1,000.00 or lower? I know how much talent it takes to be a great painter and my guys would never put their name on anything they wouldnt have themselves, they've got too much pride for that, so I was curious why you would choose to work there? And another thing thats got me, are you paid on commission or are you salary, I only ask because the boys at Maaco here are salary? I appreciate your reply.

#83 of 93 Maaco in NY by paisan

Feb 19, 2007 (12:23 am)

Is similar to NC. $99 paint job! It's one step above Earl Schribe
 
-mike

Messages Page 9 of 10

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