Earl Scheib $299.00 Paint Special

[55 Fargo]

Guys,if you live in or near a city,don't overlook trade schools or community colleges that teach auto body work. You can get a really good paint job at one of them for the price of the materials alone. No labor. The students need cars to learn on,and being students learning a trade,they try really hard.

The downside is that it might take weeks or months before your name pops up to the top of their schedule.

DO NOT TAKE YOUR CAR TO ONE OF THOSE PLACES AND JUST DROP IT OFF UNTIL THEY CAN GET TO IT! Get on the list,and deliver the car there the day they say they will be ready for it.

Nice Idea in theory, but in my locale the community colleges and high schools, only want late model vehicles for there students to work on, as this iswhat they will encounter in the Fast Food Autobody Industry.

I have argued with one college, I says to them, hey sheet metal is sheet metal, the instructor could have cared a less, just my experience...........fred

[55 Fargo]

If you're dealing with many small hail-type dents, maybe it would pay to investigate Paintless Dent Removal (PDR). You wouldn't want lots of little spots of bondo on a large flat surface like the roof, and if the headlining is out access should be fairly easy.

Harold, what Ed and I are talking about are shallow larger dents from heavy objects, no doubt some stretched metal etc, not sure if what you suggest is applicable here.

These cars, Ed's and mine are in Primer, they will be getting complete paint jobs.

What is wrong with polyester filler on a body, if not used overly thick, ain't much different than paint/primers, they aren't steel either.

On mine I will go with fillers, blocking, then will shoot on some polyester primer,this stuff is like sprayable body fller, it can level things out nicely, then more prime surfacer, blocking ,then paint.

Ever watch these shows like "Overhaulin", heck they skim coat entire panels with filler, if the substrate is prepped right, and you are'nt going too thick, then filler is a great thing to really straighten and level panels.

I had some filler spots on my car that were over 20 years old, they were still good and holding well, but I ground them out and used new filler, to err on the side of caution.

Ed, the roof you will need a long board, lot of sandpaper, polyester primer, a good high build primer and time, I am convinced you could do this portion of the car.............fred

[WatchingWolf]

Used to be a dealer in central WI. who would bring back sun bleached cars from out west, block them in his shop, and then have the local Macco shoot them. Turned $1000.00 drivers into "amateur restorations" that sold for five times the amount.

[1949P17BC]

Hold on there Elroy! You guys are way off on the Macco paint jobs being Cheap, and getting what you payafor. I did all the prep on 49 Business Coupe, and painted it balck at the local Macco here in St. Louis. People in my club and lcoal car shows want to see what the $600.00 paint job looks like. Pretty Good, I have had it at 3 National POC meets, and again plenty of compliments. You get what you pay for, but you also get what you plan for. If you think they are going to do all the work for nothing wrong, thats why there are paint jobs costing 5,000 and up.

[David Maxwell]

...I took advantage of Maaco's half price deal. My daughter needed her Honda Civic repainted. I did all the prep work so I only had to pay for the paint special. Came out excellent and has been holding up well so far. The perfect deal for a car that would not have been worth the price of a regular paint job.

[JIPJOBXX]

Great paint job for the money!jon

[JerseyHarold]

I think that the painters recognize a 'prepped' car when they see it, and do a better job because they realize the customer is not just your average walk-in.

[Don Jordan]

If you want to put it all in perspective - I just paid $10,000 for a paint job.

[Normspeed]

Don your paint looks great!

[JIPJOBXX]

Did you really spend 10,000 on your paint job? My old Wanderlodge has 10,000 dollar paint job on it but I bought it that way.