I might be taking my new bumpers to maaco to have them painted, I have my own PPG paint and I figure they can't screw up the masking if there's nothing to mask. What do you think? Thing is Maaco quoted me a price about 6x cheaper than the cheapest body shop I found, and I'm low on cash but still want to get the bumpers on.

Maaco is good when you bring YOUR paint and YOU prep it. Then it's just as good as any I've ever seen.

When doing a whole car? I heard you better WASH the hell out of it and do all prep work yourself...then bring your own PPG paint and that paint job will last the life of the car. Seen it in person several times...only two paintjobs i ever seen that lasted that long were because of what I said above. One guy still drives his 87 ford pickup...looks brand new,...waxes it everyday.

Any advice on how to prep this bumper? Its just a stocker off like a 99 eclipse. Should I just hit it with some coarse sandpaper and get finer and finer or what? 220 grit seems to do nothing for taking the paint off. Is it okay to let maaco prime it as well? I also have some scratches on my body but maybe I should take the car somewhere else for that.... Decisions decisions...

I would prime it. Sand off as much as you can...get it as ROUGH as you can...then prime over that....then sand to make it smoother...and smoother...then get it sprayed.

I'll tell you in two days how well they do with my kit.

All they have to do is prep and paint and install....hopefully they do a good job, but we'll see.

Yeah let me know how that goes. I'm hoping they can pull this off since it's a pretty good deal.

Ben

It's not just about the prep work and paint material. It's also the experience of the painter, and the way he does the strokes. He also has to know how to properly do the right number of base and clear coats. But I think they should be able to do at least a decent job. I just know of one painter that worked for 20 years painting still couldn't color match properly, and would sometime not shoot enough clear.

Yeah eclipse804 is right yet again.... I'm sure every Maaco is different from place to place because of the painter. I know the guy that is doing mine put a huge kit on a Precidia (including painting it) and did an amazing job. Hopefully he does just as good on mine....we'll see. Supposed to get the car back tomorrow but they moved it to Wednesday or Thursday :( - oh well hopefully it will be a better job then.

I'll post pics of it right away since I got a new digital camera :)

I'm actually thinking about going to Maaco as well once I get an Eclipse or aftermarket rear bumper. I already got the lights. How much did doing 1 bumper cost you all? And where did you get your specific color of paint from?

Thanks, Richard (97 ESi)
http://www.ourformerselves.com/richard/main.htm


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I got my PPG paint from a place called Finish Master. It was like $30 for enough to cover front and rear bumpers. You can see if there's a location around you at www.finishmaster.com (though i can't get to the site right now maybe it's my shitty QWEST dsl)

Ben

Unless you have major chips or gouges in the bumpers or you are changing colors, i wouldnt do shit. I'd scuff them up good with some 220 and paint the fuckers. Just make it so the paint aint shiny anymore, and make sure you keep your hand flat so you dont get divots and raises in your bumper. Also keep any grease/oil/cleaners/etc away including your hands (remember your hands are oily). Thats what I've always done and it works just fine. No chipping, peeling, etc.

just wet sand it w/ 400 grit before you bring it in. Don't take all the paint off it, just make it look dull. The existing base coat will act as a primer.