My boss wants to bring his DD Miata to Earl Scheib for paint. Years ago I saw a 914 painted there. The paint was coming off in sheets and you could see distinct sanding swirls under remaining paint. But, they're still in business - maybe they've improved. Anyone with experiences out there?

No personal experience but, I'm sure you get what you pay for.

If you took a fully stripped and prepped car in there, it may come out OK. But if its fully prepped, you could paint it in your driveway and get good results.

Its a question of economics, how much better does your(his) car have to look for you(him) to be happy about it? If it looks like total Ass now, maybe a quick Earl Scheib job would make him happy enough. If its got door dings, rust, body issues. Chances are it will still have door dings, rust, and body issues. They will just all have fresh paint on them.

Basically, how good is good enough?

yep, a buddy just had his chevy truck touched up there as well as a rear quarter repainted. i was not impressed.

some spots shiny and some orange peeled. Prep was sub standard as witnessed by the obvious irregular reflections.

i think it's a secret painters apprenticeship program.
painting 101. =)

Here in San Antonio, years ago, they advertised they would paint any car for 100 bucks with a one day turn around. They would even paint the lights and any trim for you also, ie overspray. Basically you get what you pay for. If you're trying to sell the car why not.

Chris

Some of those shops really aren't that bad. Sometimes you get more than you pay for. There is one shop in Colorado that actually does pretty good work. But they are a franchise, so you mileage my vary from shop to shop. It all has to do with the individual who is doing the work, not the name of the store. Some expensive shops do shotty work too.

Oh, and I have had a car painted at one (color change too), and was quite pleased with the results. I would just recommend paying for better paint.

A friend had a few cars done....

His advice?

You prep it, you clean it, you smooth it, and they will do a sorta ok job....

You should always choose white as the $99 paints are low quality and oxidize quickly...

You can opt for better paint and that is money well spent....

Ken

Earl Scheib does not do prep unless you pay them extra to do it... Literaly at the advertised price, they mask and paint. Meaning if you left your coffee cup on the rear deck lid, it gets painted. So if you can do really good prep, it is a good deal. If not. write a check to a full service body shop.

MAACO does a lot better job, especially if you do some prep work first. Of course they charge more.

I had my VW Thing painted at Maaco 10 years ago. The car still looks good but it lives indoors. I took all the hardware off myself, paid for extra prep work, upgraded the primer and paint, and had them fill the big dents (keep the other ones to add character. It cost somewhere between $500 - $600.I was very happy with it.

http://www.cassidy-online.com/thing73/pictures/pictures.html

I had a 67 Mustang painted at Earls when I was in college, it sucked!

+2 on the Macco paint job for a DD a so so paint our better try them, I was able to have the guy write down on the contract no orange peel or runs and i got a real nice paint job. I removed the trim bumper.

not a show car but nice for a DD

Sheib used to do his own commercials back in the 60s. "I'll paint any car, any color for $29.95." Interesting side note. His son went to jail a number of years ago for arms dealing.

Cheers, Elliot

Didn't they have a "Paint and a Gun" special awhile back.

Earl Scheib was a chemist. He invented synthetic enamel, it dried the same day and it was (relatively) shiny as sprayed without buffing. These were new qualities in paint. Before that, lacquer dried the same day but it was dull until polished and enamel took a few days to dry, but it was shiny.
It's still a shitty paint job, Maaco's better.

I knew a guy in high school who had his truck painted at Macco. The truck looked better before he had it painted.

I have had two cars painted at Macco. I did all of the prep work, so any flaws where mine to begin with. Both came out really good for the price. If you want a 10x10 car ( 10mph at 10 feet) this is the cheapest way to go. I don't see any issue with painting a race car at Macco. If you want to show the car. Different story. Time to get out the wallet and pay some $$$$$. I have seen where the factory paint on Chevy's comes off in big sheets. I pealed off the original paint off of one. Took me about 45 minutes to strip the car, skuff the original paint and get ready to put on Primer. 2 hours later, I had the car at Macco getting paint. Pretty funny.

At Earl Scheib's if you don't want it painted remove it. I had a Datsun pickup done in the late '70s. When I picked it up everything, including the grill and trim, had been painted. I think that started the whole monochromatic trend. I was shocked but actually liked the effect.

I took my last teener to Maaco. I did all the prep and body work myself. I removed all of the lights, seals, trim, handles, and anything that I didn't want painted. Like Chris did I got the upgraded paint and primer deal. It turned out pretty well except for the area on the inside of the sail panels next to the rear window. Here's what the car looked like for around $500 in 1997.

The bumbers were fiberglass so they weren't painting over the rubber lips.

It's not the shop itself. It's the guy prepping and painting. If the guy is good... he could be in any shop that got lucky enough to find a good craftsman.

Look in more places and ask around about good craftsmen.

A complete paint job at our shop would cost you 10k +...

Macco, Scheib and others are a good bet if you do not expect too much. I always tell people in your situation to detrim the car your self. Go buy some red scotch brite pads and start scuffing. If the car needs body work get a paintless guy to do any thing minor - they are cheap and quick and capable of all sorts of tricks when disturbing the finish is not an issue. You take it to them like that and your chances are 100 fold better already - you pay for the better paint and primer and you can feasibly get your car done moderately well for 500.00. It is not going to hold a candle to the Glasurit two stage finish on my car, but it cost you 9500.00 less. Basically you should not expect miracles, not for 500.00...