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Paint: DIY or MAACO?

ric9469

Full Member
Joined
Jan 3, 2006
Messages
154
Loc.
Orinda, CA
Hello all, have been too active on the boards lately, too much life getting in the way of living.

IMG_1442.jpg


I'm thinking about replacing my EB's dented hood and fenders (already have a set of fair replacements), doing some of the body work, and reshooting the whole rig to help keep the rust at bay. I'm not looking for a show rig and don't have a lot of $$ to spend (less than $500 total).

The 3 options I'm considering are:

1) DIY Duplicolor paint system (lacquer), inexpensive spray guns, misc supplies. I've already got a 60 gal compressor and a garage. But everything I've read and been told says lacquer is crap and I might as well get the Maaco/Earl Scheib special, hence option 2.

2) Just do the prep work and get a $299 Maaco job (guessing roughly the same cost as option 1). But is this any better than the Duplicolor lacquer?

3) Buy half decent auto paint, spray guns, and misc. supplies and do it myself (guessing $500-$600).

It's primarily a trail rig but I wouldn't mind it looking halfway decent (wife would appreciate it, too). But I don't want to be stressed about scratches on the trail ruining $600 in paint. I know there is a lot of satisfaction and education in the DIY options but $$ is always the limiting factor.

Thanks if you've read all this and any opinions/suggestions are appreciated.
 

Dirtyboy

Full Member
Joined
Mar 15, 2007
Messages
336
Loc.
Cape Cod, Mass
My friend and I did a DIY paint job on my yellow one and it came out awesome!! now she is only a road warrior...for the past 7 years!!! The white one I had painted myself outside (clear day and night) with True Value(standard local hardware store) Rustoleum paint! Thinned it with normal paint thinner and sprayed through a normal compressed air paint sprayer. It comes out glossy and thick, yet a self flexing agent is already in it so spraying fiberglass or steel body parts is perfect. It takes some abuse and does not come off esily from chipping and such...check my gallery for pictures. My 2 cents.
 
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ric9469

ric9469

Full Member
Joined
Jan 3, 2006
Messages
154
Loc.
Orinda, CA
That does look pretty good. Do you happen to know what kind of paint it is, meaning, lacquer, enamel, urethane? And about how much paint it took, 1 gallon, 2? Thanks,
 

kntr

Bronco Guru
Joined
Oct 7, 2006
Messages
2,277
Maco isnt bad if you prep it yourself. DO NOT let them prep it. Ive seen some good paint jobs from Maco but the owners preped it themselves.
 

Heus33

Bronco Guru
Joined
Jun 1, 2005
Messages
7,407
You should try the rustoleum paint job. You roll it on and it looks like a decent single stage paint job and will only cost you about $50. There was an article about it in Hot Rod in August I think and there's a post about it on moparts.com
 

Dirtyboy

Full Member
Joined
Mar 15, 2007
Messages
336
Loc.
Cape Cod, Mass
Its not a laquer paint but a oil based. Thats why I could use standard paint thinner(im no paint expert). I bought a gallon of it for $37, and thinner for $7. Had the rest of the hard parts, compressor.... It does take 8+ hours to dry properly depending on humidity and stuff so do it inside. I was able to buff out the night creatures from the paint.:D
 

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ShortBus

Sr. Member
Joined
Sep 11, 2007
Messages
399
I've done a Jeep hard top and a Dune Buggy in my driveway and both turned out good. Buy good paint and don't over prep. If you smooth out an old paint job by sanding and/or scotch-brite, you can use an adhesion promoter, that is like spraying solvent on your existing paint job; it softens the old paint so that the new stuff can get a good bond, without having to primer the hole thing. With good paint and conditions, your paint job will be good. If you get a bunch of orange peel, then sand the crap out of it and hit it with another coat. It is kind of fun. I can't wait to do my 71'.
 

needabronco

Bronco Guru
Joined
Jul 2, 2004
Messages
6,411
Loc.
Prescott/Farmington
Before you go MAACO, go by a few times and look at their work, I've seen good paint and really bad paint from the same shop. Prep work is a biggy, but if the guy doing the spraying isn't good, it won't matter.
 

rcmbronc

Contributor
Bronco Guru
Joined
Dec 15, 2003
Messages
2,692
Loc.
Tomah WI
I would suggest that if you want to paint it yourself, get some acrylic enamel and paint it. A gun can be bought pretty cheap. I do not recommend the Rustoleum or oil based paint jobs. I just can't believe that they are going to look good for long. I also do not want to think about what stripping that would be like if you ever decide to repaint.

Acrylic Enamel can be purchsed pretty reasonably and makes for a decent paint job. Just my opinion.
 

SC74

Contributor
Bronco Guru
Joined
May 24, 2004
Messages
3,411
I plan on using tractor paint from Tractor Supply on my trail rig. You can buy it in quarts or spray cans for easy touch-up jobs.
 

COBlu77

Sr. Member
Joined
Feb 10, 2004
Messages
867
Loc.
Arvada, CO
Maco isnt bad if you prep it yourself. DO NOT let them prep it. Ive seen some good paint jobs from Maco but the owners preped it themselves.

That's what I did and it turned out great. I was able to choose the paint and I did all the prep work and then had Maaco spray it and wet sand it. It was way cheaper than any other body shop. They obviously have much better equipment than I do. I went this route, because all the body shops don't really want that type of work. They want easy and high paying insurance work. I also wasn't putting together a show truck and just wanted something half way decent that I wouldn't cry about the first time I scratched it offroad.
 

Heus33

Bronco Guru
Joined
Jun 1, 2005
Messages
7,407
There are also spray booths that you can rent in larger cities. Also you could look into the BOCES classes to see if someone will spray it for you.
 
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