[ShelbyGirl88]

ok so i am planning on having my two white stripes painted on my car cause my taped ones look like crap and have bubbles and cracks in them. i found a shop that will paint my stripes on if i bring my car prepped and stripped ready for the paint to be put on. my question is what do i need to do to have it ready for the paint? any responses are thanked!

[2Manystangs]

Hey Shelby girl, I would take the car to Maaco for the prep, basically the stripes will have to be sanded off and the metal sanded and primed...they have the lowest labor rate, so unless you have a ton a cash to burn, I'd probably get them to do the repaint and stripes too...go talk to them, my local shop is very friendly and gave me a 5 year warranty on my finish...try to get that from a local shop.

[pmpony]

I had the same idea about my Shinoda graphics--the stickers are peeling and look like crap close up...figure after I have the side skirts fixed (custom exhaust prevents stock parts) I will have the whole thing reshot and the graphics painted on in flat white...didn't think Maaco did custom work..was gonna find a friend of a friend to do the job...the girl in my office lays fiberglass so she is fixing the side skirt...will have to price out maaco too..

[Mustang 232]

If it's taped stipes then no, don't sand them off. It's a b***h by hand or with a sander. The stripes will come off with a hair dryer and some very careful pulling it off. The heat from the dryer will expand the adhesive molecules making it easier to remove. If there's any adhesive residue left over from the vinyl stripes, use a rag and some Wax and Grease remover. Klean Strip sells tham at WalMart for around $8 +/-. After that it really depends if your going to get it prepped yourself or by someone else If you're a do-it-yourselfer, prepping the surface by degreasing it several times and wet-sanding with some 400-600 grit sandpaper will do just. I've painted stripes for Mustangs before and I just painted a friend's 02 GT police cruiser today and if you want, I could make a short video fineof me prepping his bumper since I missed a small 3/4 in spot on it with clearcoat. It's very simple and wouldn't be a problem Hope this helps ShelbyGirl88

[Kens Coupe]

Yeah, my buddy would remove the factory decals/stripes from street bikes before doing airbrush work and didn't have to sand anything, he'd use this coffee pot to heat up water and then pour it on the stripe/decal... after a few seconds, he could strip it right off, he had a few troubles on occasion, but nothing that more hot water wouldn't cure. He said he avoided the hair dryer because it didn't heat enough as quickly as he liked. Also, with water, you dont risk hurting your paint, one could burn the paint if you spent too long in one spot, but water, if you're not sure if it'll be too hot, you can always start at a lower temp...

[ShelbyGirl88]

thanks for the info guys i know to take the stripes off myself but they said that they are better at painting then doing the prep work like buffing and sanding. they said i should get my actual car color down to the base or primer that way when they paint it it doesnt look loopsided or uneven compared to the rest of the car. so thats what i need help with. any more help would be appreciated

[06 redfire GT]

How much more would it cost to have them prep the car that way if it doesn't come out right they can't blame the prep. I all ways find it best to have one place do all the work and get all the things they need. That stops all the finger pointing at the best i'd ask them how they want the car preped if you do do it yourself just my 2 cents

[ShelbyGirl88]

Well only problem is that if i have them do the prep it will be another 200 bucks. they said that if i do all the prep that they will give me the paint job for 230.

[Mustang 232]

Originally Posted by ShelbyGirl88

thanks for the info guys i know to take the stripes off myself but they said that they are better at painting then doing the prep work like buffing and sanding. they said i should get my actual car color down to the base or primer that way when they paint it it doesnt look loopsided or uneven compared to the rest of the car. so thats what i need help with. any more help would be appreciated

From what you've just said, it looks like Maaco really sucks. Hm... Buffing isn't prepping, it's what you do after painting on the clearcoat to improve it's gloss. Well, I see what's being suggested to you but that's really the harder way to go Takes longer too. If you're keeping the same color, all you have to do is wetsand the areas to be striped. Let me create an example.

If you were going to stripe just a hood...
1. Wetsand the whole hood
2. Measure the width of the stripes to your liking and lay down the tape
3. Tape the areas not to be painted with masking paper or newspaper
4. Paint the stripes with the color and paint brand you want. Wait until dry(30 mins tops)
5. Remove the tape and paper that was used to mask the hood so that you see the stripes you just painted and the dull wet sanded areas.
6. Clearcoat the entire hood. If you want to avoid raised and uneven areas, it's how you do this part. Spray the areas touching the stripes first. Maybe 20 mins later(assuming you're using a fast hardener) once the clear starts to tack out, spray the entire hood normally. The idea is to kinda fill/blend the low and high spots for a uniform finish. My attempt of a picture is below lol The bold ls are stripes and the Ss are the areas you spray first before waiting and clearcoating the whole hood normally.

Sl lSl lS

[2Manystangs]

I'm not a Maaco rep or anything, but each store is a franchise and the one I deal with will do anything you ask them to..they have body guys and the same paints as anyone else...I can assure you they are the lowest price and fastest turnaround compared to most body shops..Got my Cobra reshot with basecoat/clearcoat for $500 and in and out in 3 days...regular shop quoted me $3000 for the same job

[tj_singh09]

Originally Posted by 2Manystangs

I'm not a Maaco rep or anything, but each store is a franchise and the one I deal with will do anything you ask them to..they have body guys and the same paints as anyone else...I can assure you they are the lowest price and fastest turnaround compared to most body shops..Got my Cobra reshot with basecoat/clearcoat for $500 and in and out in 3 days...regular shop quoted me $3000 for the same job

i heard Maaco uses crappy paint

[2Manystangs]

They have levels of quality and charge accordingly...there are only 4 companies that make auto paint and they use what everybody else uses...so that statement is really not accurate...the amount of prep work is probably what separates them from a most other shops...I was quoted $3000 to repaint my Cobra at a "regular" body shop and got out the door for $500 on my Cobra...it looks great, has a 5 year warranty and I'm not afraid to drive and park the car...after that, I had them paint both my other cars. Don't let "what I heard" be your opinion, listen to someone who has actual experience or get the work done yourself and form you own opinion.

[tj_singh09]

ohhh if maaco soo good then y dont chip foose n all the other ppl on tv tht fix up cars n repaint them get maaco to do it??

[teamshinoda]

we can get you boss graphics as a paint mask so you can paint them on

[Kens Coupe]

Originally Posted by 2Manystangs

They have levels of quality and charge accordingly...there are only 4 companies that make auto paint and they use what everybody else uses...so that statement is really not accurate...the amount of prep work is probably what separates them from a most other shops...I was quoted $3000 to repaint my Cobra at a "regular" body shop and got out the door for $500 on my Cobra...it looks great, has a 5 year warranty and I'm not afraid to drive and park the car...after that, I had them paint both my other cars. Don't let "what I heard" be your opinion, listen to someone who has actual experience or get the work done yourself and form you own opinion.

In 2003, [on my 1961 Falcon] I paid $1,200 (just for spraying paint) And the shop screwed it all up, I finished the body work and primer and all I needed was paint and they hosed it up badly! "We sanded and prepped it," they said... I was like WTF! It was DONE! I later found out the really hot cars that come out of that performance shop AREN'T painted there, he takes em to this other shop in town thats known for high price and high quality...

Eight years ago [on my 1969 Mustang] I paid a shop 1/3rd down... $1,000! and they just used a ton of bondo and sprayed primer on everything... and then rolled it out into the weather and left it, "we were tired of it" they said...

So the lesson... It's the people... not the price that determines the quality. Any shop worth their salt should have no problems prepping for stripes/painting/doing repairs... And SHOULD warranty their work. The local pricey shop has a lifetime warranty on paint. If it EVER peels, pops, had defects from spraying or doesn't match... they'll fix it. Obviously if the fender rusts out from the inside, that's just cars...

The best shop resume... look at the cars they've refinished... If you'd not be happy with the pain job... I've seen some MAACO paint jobs that made me nearly cry after I paid so much more for hacked sprays.