[FordGtMan]

I cant believe i am actually making a thread about this but i am really in a dilemma. I am really only willing to spend 800 or so dollars on paintjob for my mustang. I found many shops in my area that i am going to check out and see what quotes i can get. Reason i ask is that i know that it takes atleast 2 or so grand to get a "good" paintjob, but im just a kid in high school. I dont need anywhere near a show quality job but i dont want it to look like a flaking pile of crap either. Just want it to have decent paint without the orangepeel. Will the 800 cover it? Do i need to grow a pair and drop 1500 bucks on it? I really need it to get painted soon because the guy who had it before me got it maaco'd 15 years ago but its still holding up, so i believe its somewhat rust free considering it would be bubbling like soda by now. It got dented to crap in the past months so lots of metal is showing, so i gotta do something. Just looking for some opinions whether it be experiences or thoughts. Thanks for your time.

[Jay H 237]

Well, I think with what you want Maaco will be your best choice. An independant body shop will likely charge 2k minimum, good paint isn't cheap, and they will likely want to strip the whole car down to bare metal. That's if you can find an independant body shop that will even want to work on the car and willing to get it done quick for you and not keep the car for months as a "filler project". That's the problem I found by me when I wanted to start getting areas of my car fixed, the local body shops only want insurance work........thier bread and butter, and don't want to deal with older cars.

With what you're looking to spend and at your age I would just opt for one of the higher Maaco jobs, even remove some of the trim before hand (less they have to do or mask). You can then enjoy the car for now and then 10 or 15 years from now redo the car even better when it will need new paint again.

[FordGtMan]

I really dont like the idea of that too well though. Gave it lots of thought. May just have to work though. My friends dad is a professional painter and he said as long as i can do the body work, he would spray the car for 500 bucks. He said he wanted to help me out as much as he could but i dont know if i can do all the body work nessesary. I got the time but not the skill. His garage is made into a paint booth so thats pretty cool. I would really go this route if i knew how much work sanding the car down would really be. He has painted some of the most expensive cars to go down the Barrett Jackson auction so i know hes real good. Should i just go this route?

[Irishking]

Is that $500 including the paint or just for his labor and time applying the paint? If it's for both, that's the route I would go.

Find someone who knows something about prepping the body.