Big Bad Green 944 - Should you paint it yourself should you take it to Maaco

I might've told you this before, but 944s look really good with the under-door panel blacked out...

jr10cross said:

I'm just saying, if my car was worth $20k then I'd be willing to drop $3k on a really good paint job, but it's not. I'm not going to spend its value in painting, I'd never drive it. I've tried painting a few times and doing it well escapes me. It took them 3 days to prep, tape, paint, and detail. That's not too bad.

Yep, same here.  My car was $2300, and I'm not going to make it a show car or anything, I just want it to look nicer.  

Which MAACO did you go to?  It looks like the one in Ann Arbor is gone now.

Hey, love the color.  Thanks for posting to Youtube - I love watching build videos.  

Tom_Spangler said:

jr10cross said:

I'm just saying, if my car was worth $20k then I'd be willing to drop $3k on a really good paint job, but it's not. I'm not going to spend its value in painting, I'd never drive it. I've tried painting a few times and doing it well escapes me. It took them 3 days to prep, tape, paint, and detail. That's not too bad.

Yep, same here.  My car was $2300, and I'm not going to make it a show car or anything, I just want it to look nicer.  

Which MAACO did you go to?  It looks like the one in Ann Arbor is gone now.

Garden City, ask for Mark. He seems to be a really nice guy. 

DocV said:

Hey, love the color.  Thanks for posting to Youtube - I love watching build videos.  

Thanks man, my views have been a bit down, but I figure someday someone will need some help just like I do all the time!

GameboyRMH said:

I might've told you this before, but 944s look really good with the under-door panel blacked out...

Under the door like a black Porsche decal running the length of the body?

LoL it makes those box flares pop. I love it. 

I always wanted to paint my conquest yellow or that mopar purple!

I've only owned red, black, and white ones so I was skeptical when I clicked...

But it looks sick! What are you going to do for wheels? I think matte black would look good.

My latest is a gold one, I plasti-dipped it red (shows my imagination, LOL). The dip cost about $200, and it has faded, so now you got me thinking about Maaco.

I did Earl Scheib a couple of times when I was younger. The first time, no prep at all, turned out like crap. I figured they don't actually do any prep at all. Second time, did all of the disassembly, prep, and taping myself, and it turned out great.

jr10cross said:

GameboyRMH said:

I might've told you this before, but 944s look really good with the under-door panel blacked out...

Under the door like a black Porsche decal running the length of the body?

Just the panel directly below each door, like your old red 944.

jr10cross said:

In reply to Javelin :

Thanks man, I love AMC it's a perfect marriage!

You know Jeeps were AMC for a long time, right?  See, you painted it a Jeep color after all

Bring me thw wheels. We'll powder coat them 

What

Have

I

Done...

FYI it looks great. 

In reply to GameboyRMH :

ohhhhhhhhhh that's right great idea

In reply to 3L33ter :

They actually did a very decent job taping everything off. They even removed my front bumper. I can tell because it's a little crocket, but I'll fix it later. I just have to loosen the bolt and move it back. 

DrBoost said:

jr10cross said:

In reply to Javelin :

Thanks man, I love AMC it's a perfect marriage!

You know Jeeps were AMC for a long time, right?  See, you painted it a Jeep color after all

LOL mannnnnnnn. You know how I feel about Jeeps. It's funny because I love AMC

XLR99 said:

 

What

Have

I

Done...

FYI it looks great. 

hahahahahhahahahha. Thanks man

I like the green! I've been looking for "In your face" colors for the engine bay on my wagon, and this is high up there. The fact it's an AMC color is a bonus.

IME, the problem with Maaco is most of the ones in bigger metro areas usually have a pretty high employee turnover rate. People tend to only work there because they can't find anything else, or have little experience. 

Once they find a better job or have experience to get a better job they bolt. 

(I went to a tech school for auto body, and had some of my classmates go to the Maaco's/E.S. etc.) 

The job you have done today may not look anything like what you'll get 6 months from now. (Or even one car to the next depending on how tasks get delegated in a particular shop.) 

If you don't know the techs it's not a terrible idea to ask to see the car after prep, before paint. 

It does make you a bit of an shiny happy person of a customer, but you're the one that has to live with it. 

Looks great but it made me chuckle because there was a dark blue 944 in neosho mo that got painted almost that exact color more two years ago. I always thought the green was an outstanding upgrade!

gunner said:

Looks great but it made me chuckle because there was a dark blue 944 in neosho mo that got painted almost that exact color more two years ago. I always thought the green was an outstanding upgrade!

Man I searched everywhere on the internet for some good photos. I found a few fuzzy examples and one gorgeous, mint 924 that helped me make the final decision. Even without the fenders it was outstanding. This was the car that helped me make the decision:

jr10cross said:

In reply to pres589 :

i was freaked out at first LOL. They guys at the paint shop noticed I nearly fainted, but it grew on me. The video details painting price and my total spent so far on the car. I think it's a good option at the right price that might be better than painting the car yourself. 

It's always nice when going bold on a color choice pays off. I remember feeling the same way when I called Blackbird Fabworx to order a black GT3 rollbar and Moti notified me that he had a metallic purple bar in the shop that the customer bailed on and assured me it was the prettiest rollbar he had ever made. He gave me a discount so I snapped it up. And then immediately started doubting whether I could pull of a metallic purple bar on a blue car. And everyone immediately told me I was insane. Then it showed up and I absolutely fell in love with it, it's one of my favorite parts of the car, and reaction has been massively popular (except for a few grumpy old guys who said "I don't get the color")

In reply to NickD :

I love purple, that was definitely in the running too. I like the way the purple and blue two-tones of each other! Color matching the body would have been so boring!

I like it.  I have a red Mazda 2 only cause it was the only manual trans in the state.  Really wanted the green. 

Nice color choice! In parking lots and gas stations you will get more comments on the color than on the car itself!

This is my lime green 944 "the bean" :)