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924/931/944/951/968 Forum Porsche 924, 924S, 931, 944, 944S, 944S2, 951, and 968 discussion, how-to guides, and technical help. (1976-1995)
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This is rediculous

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Old 07-07-2006, 07:35 PM
  #16  
BeerBurner
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Originally Posted by F18Rep
Brian... that looks great, give us more details. Did you protect the interior? Has the paint held up well? What lessons did you learn? How much did they charge you? Does it look that good close up? Cmon man, give it up...Bruce
Thanks.

Rather than retype everything, here's a post I made about it a year ago...

A little over three years ago I wanted to paint the 944. I shopped around and I found that everybody I talked to immediately said "$5-8k for a good (no, not great) paint job. I swung by the local Maaco for grins. I looked at some of the work they did and reminded them that they were right across the street from my Porsche mechanic and that I'm sure there were other owners who were as offended by the Porsche markup as I was, so this could be a good marketing opportunity for them.

They quoted me $1.6k to strip off the stoneguards, fill some dents, sand, prime and spray with the two-stage paint. I decided to go with it.

I stripped off every exterior piece except the front and rear windows and brought it over to them. They sprayed it, I brought it back home and reassembled it. Total cost, including almost all new seals, hood crest, badges, stone guards, rear speakers, 951 rear valance and a bumper pad (a stud broke during removal) came to about $4k.

Is it a perfect paint job? Nope. It has a bit of orange peel (I never wet sanded it, although I should have since that would solve it) and two runs. The flaws are there, but you have to pay attention to see them. And yes, it does chip a bit more readily than a quality job would. However, three years later it has held up suprisingly well. I think it was a worthwhile expenditure, and I am constantly getting compliments on the car.

Not to say that all Maacos will do a good job, but I wouldn't outright reject them as cheap. Their low paintjobs are, IMHO, crap, and I think that is where the reputation comes from. But if you are willing to do some of the work yourself and you have a good shop, it may be a worthwhile approach.

I'm glad I did.

BB.
So, at over four years old I'd say the paint has held up very well. The hood has the worst of the orange peel, which is made more noticable by the fact that it's such a large, flat surface, and I do have another area under the gas cap that looks a little funny if you get up close and personal. There's also a dent on the nose panel they didn't do a very good job of filling. To say that the car is a concourse-winning vehicle is absolutely false. But then, you have to scrutinize it to see the problems. They're there, no doubt, but they don't jump out at you.

But that's just my opinion. During the various Porsche get-togethers we have here, people are very impressed by the overall job. I'm the harshist critic (not suprising since I know where every flaw is!) but everyone seems to blow off my criticisms. Maybe they're just being polite...?

In any event, I should still be able to get a couple more years out of it, so I think it's money well spent. Call me a satisfied customer.

I didn't do anything else to the interior that you don't see in the pictures, they took care of all of that. No overspray, no thumb prints on my shift **** or anything. The only thing that I'd do different is that I really should have wet sanded it, although at the time I had my reasons for not doing it.

BTW, each Maaco is independantly owned and operated, so just because one sucks doesn't me the others will. Also, I believe that their reputation is hurt by their $2-400 paint specials which are absolute crap. That's what most people get when they go there and as such, that's the quality people see (and think of) when they think of Maaco paint.

BB.

P.S.~ Not trying to sound like a commerical.
Old 07-07-2006, 08:27 PM
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Bumpers are usually a little more expensive to paint because of the special "flex-paint" that is used. The paint on plastic bumpers needs to flex so that it doesn’t crack off when you bump something (or something bumps you).
Old 07-07-2006, 10:28 PM
  #18  
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Thanks BB, that info helps.. and makes me realize how I can't afford even a maaco job at 4k, haha.

my friend got a middle of the road job at maaco for like 800 dollars, and his still looked good a couple years later.. might be an idea if i do the prep.
Old 07-07-2006, 10:28 PM
  #19  
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Just my opinion, of course, butt, Macco is a franchised operation, so, you will have the good ones, and the bad ones also, just like any other franchise. Finding a good one?..........is it luck?.....getting references?........asking the right questions when setting yourself up for a paint job?.........requesting/demanding that a "apprentice/newbie painter NOT do your car, may help........butt, it all depends on way to many things too. Also keeping in mind that ANY paint job on a car is VERY labor intensive, and 90% of a "good" paint job is that labor intensive "prep" work. You can almost always find an experience "spray painter" at Macco. Just ask the right questions and such! You get what ya pay for. Also......."painting" a car, is NOT as easy as one would think. Its kinda like welding. Takes some decent experience to get it on evenly, and looking good. If you've never painted a car before............KEEP that in mind.

BTDT above. Painted a few cars myself. Preped ALL myself. Macco's has shot at least 3 cars of mine in the past. The ONLY way, I'd go for this, is to do all the prep myself, and bring them the car ready to wipe down, primer and paint (body work/finish sanding done), OR....... wipe and spray finish coat (body work/primers/finish/block sanding already done). NO glass, no trim, if it can come off.........it does come off, and gets painted seperately.......if required. ALWAYS ask for touch up paint to be left over (without the hardener in it, or in a can..........it WILL be needed, and WORTH it.)

I probably will have them do my '83, when I get the car.........and myself.........ready.

YOUR paying for the prep work LABOR my friend..........do it yourself.............or PAY it.

Good luck!
Old 07-08-2006, 02:00 AM
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Campeck,
Here are some pics of the repaint I did my self on my race car. Came out pretty good for a race car considering it was my first every paint job and was done in less than ideal conditions. (garage and outside).

Hell of a lot of work since I sanded past 5 layers of old paint.

https://rennlist.com/forums/showthre...ighlight=paint
Old 07-08-2006, 02:51 PM
  #21  
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did your garage floor turn red?
Old 07-08-2006, 06:44 PM
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a little
Old 07-09-2006, 05:38 AM
  #23  
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I've seen maaco jobs where it looked decent to other times having paint runs that made it appear as though they jammed the gun up against the fender and let it spray for a while.



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