Mustang Evolution Forum banner

Painting a 'Stang

2K views 8 replies 7 participants last post by  cruisin99coupe 
#1 ·
:shrug: I am new to Mustang, cars in general, etc. But I SOON will have a '99-'04 Mustang V6 (hopefully V8). Once I buy it of course I want to paint it. Probably a shiny candy, glossy metallic type paint lol. Im still deciding on the color. Maybe a dark blue, then buy white stripes. Or maybe red with white stripes. But yeah im still deciding on that, maybe even a real nice grey.

But you know, my main concern is not necessarily price but its the quality of what im paying for. BUT i am thinking about doing it myself. I just want to know an estimate, DIY vs. A Paint store. I live in Detroit, MI btw.
Im not asking for a exact estimate or price I just want to sort of know an ballpark that I should be expecting when getting it painted. I want to know what I would need to do it myself. And where could I do it. Can you list ALL the things I will need to do it myself though. Or should I just buy the supplies and like prep. the car and take it to the pro's. Also can you tell me what I could do to prep it, would I like have to sand down the paint already on my car ?
 
#2 ·
IMO and this us just me but my stang had it's paint job done at maaco. I think 300$ wAs the price. Maybe less. They do stripes to. Just extra. With a working guys schedule like mine and allot of other people on here it would just be easier Doing it that way. I'm not to knowledgeable when it comes to DIY's. Just allot of work from what my buddies tell me
 
#3 ·
its VERY hard and costly to change the color of a car AND do it correctly, it might be best to choose a color that's base will be best to go with the new color you want as well~

when it comes to a paint job you get what you pay for... and you should research the place you are considering to ensure they do a good quality job and dont cut corners or have unhappy customers. Most dont listen to that advise and regret it and end up with a huge mistake.
 
#4 ·
I would agree with SpectorV. painting is very hard. I had a buddy who thought he was good at it and had all the equipment and it never turned out the way he wanted. I would pic a Mustang with the color you want and do your best to buff & wax it to a nice shine!
 
#5 ·
I painted a car myself once. It costs almost as much to buy all the equipment you will need, plus supplies, plus lots of time and a booth, as it would to just take it to get painted. It's very difficult and time consuming. If it's a car you like (I'm assuming you like your mustang) DO NOT paint it yourself, especially if you have no experience painting. A good paint job should run between 1k-4k depending on condition of the current paint, body work you need, and quality you want. I am having mine painted right now for 1500. That includes some minor body work.

Remember, most stuff worth having or doing is not cheap.
 
#6 ·
78survivor said:
IMO and this us just me but my stang had it's paint job done at maaco. I think 300$ wAs the price. Maybe less. They do stripes to. Just extra. With a working guys schedule like mine and allot of other people on here it would just be easier Doing it that way. I'm not to knowledgeable when it comes to DIY's. Just allot of work from what my buddies tell me
How did it come out?
 
#7 ·
MAACO ALL THE WAY. for my birthday, i got my '99 laser red V6 repainted. it may be a little different, but here's how the maaco in florida is. lemme take you through it: i had wanted to get my car painted for some time, dad said he'd be willing to throw 500 bucks my way to pay for it. i went to maaco monday, cause i've heard great things about it from friends and seen great cars leaving the parking lot. they have four levels of paint services: ambassador - minimal prep work, urethane coating, basic clear coat ($300), presidential - a little extra prep work, including a basic primer, a stronger urethane coat, stronger clear coat ($400), supreme - long prep work, more primer, polyurethane coating, value clear coat ($550), ultimate - a lot of prep, including sanding and evening out, nice primer, multiple polyurethane coats, strong clear coat $(1000). i talked with the sales rep, and he cut me an amazing deal: value prep - sand down, buff, prime ($150), supreme paint service ($550), integrated clear coat - multiple coats of clear, mixed with a protective agent to prevent loss of shine for up to 8 years ($100), which would normally come out to be about $800, but he offered it to me for $500. i took it in tuesday morning, got it back today in the afternoon, and it looks absolutely fantastic. i even got a four year extended warranty on it, first two years totally free. on top of that, i'm pretty sure they vacuumed my interior (cause when i dropped it off it had leaves and stuff all over the place), wiped down my dashboard with a little bit of armor-all, and gave me a bottle of touch-up paint for minor dings. this is my second time dealing with an automotive business, and i could not be more impressed with the service, the process, the company, you name it. you need anything paint related, go to maaco, and you will not regret it. i'm going to be posting up pics soon, i just have to give it a quick wipe off, and need to find a place to model it.
 
#9 ·
DrSalt22 said:
I heard maaco does terrible body work,, so people do all the prepping and bondoing them selves and let maaco spray.
in some ways, it is true, in some ways, it is not. you get what you pay for, so if you get the ambassador, chances are maaco's gonna sand it down real quick, throw on some primer, and get spraying. but if you get the ultimate, they're probably going to take the time to make it real nice. i didn't have to deal with any collision repair or anything, so i can't tell you about that. but like i said, i got the value prep, and i didn't see them do it, and i can't see it under the paint, but i have absolutely no complaints with the finished result. whatever they did underneath the paint, it worked and it looks fantastic.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top