I've been spending every spare moment in the garage prepping my '75 1.8 for a fresh paint job. My only real problem areas were at the base of the windshield and where the fender and front cowling meet. There were some pretty big gapping holes I had to fill. As usual this was hiding under some bondo. I shot the door jams under the hoods and engine compartment. I let Maaco do the rest. They did a really great job! I think it helped that I did all the bodywork and prep all they had to do was shoot it. It also helped that the painter was a big VW/Porsche fan! Enjoy....

Before
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During....

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Sorry, my after pictures aren't that great because it's not that nice out right now in the great Pacific Northwest, go figure! When we get a nice day I'll add some better pictures. I hope these will do for now even though they don't do the car justice. Now its time to relax and go for a

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Looks good! A few nuts and bolts questions. Single stage or color with clear?
What brand of paint did Maaco use? Theirs or yours? Was this a stock Maaco color? Would you give us a dollarish cost? This info sure would help me make some decisions in the future.
Regards
Allen

Forgot to ask: When you did the engine bay and F&R trunks was that done in single stage or color and clear. Some people have gone single staage in the less obvious places and put their money where it can be seen-on the body.
TIA
Allen

Did you use the Maaco in Everett? If so, there was a guy there that had painted a couple of Porsches in the past for me over the years. He was a big VW/Porsche nut and took a little extra time with my cars. Good guy, kept the project fun.

You're 914 looks great! Mind if I ask why the color change? White looked kinda cool. Red looks great as well, just wondering.

Todd, nice job on the paint.... So, the car originally was green, then painted white and it's now red...

When you took the car to Maaco, did they paint the trunk area? And if so, did you have the hood attached or separate?

-- Rob

You made it look too easy.

Guys, Yes, the car was originally forest green. But I didn't like that. At one point it was red so I went back to that. Actually the engine comaprtment was still red, but I repainted it anyway. The color is "indian" red for Porsche or "gaurds" red for VW. I did ALL prep work and painted the trunks and door jambs with single stage. I chose single stage for two reasons. 1. It's how they came originally and 2. because I'm on a budget and the difference between single and two stage was double the price!

I had John at the Maaco in Bremerton do the job. He is the manager and took special interst in my car and painted it himself. He is a very cool guy. All total the job cost $396 at Maaco. Plus I spent about $150 in my paint and materials. Maaco uses a Dupont product, the exact name I can't remember but I do know it looks great. I haven't even cut and buffed it yet!

Just a little more detail work and I'm ready to roll.

Hi there from Sunny Bremerton! If I ever get moving on my project car (known here as the Ugmo) I will have those guys at Maaco do the paint...

More "after" photos. I'm still really impressed with the paint job. I haven't wet sanded and buffed it yet and it still looks great.

I still haven't decided which way to go with the sail panel. Whether to leave it as-is or to cover it. I'm leaning toward recovering the sail. What do you guys think?

dinomium, great to see a fellow Kitsap county 914 guy! If you ever need help let me know.

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I say redo the sails. 5 lug. backdate the bumpers. drive drive drive...

with her

Good job

That is on of the nicest 75 I have seen, the paint looks really nice, the car has a very clean look to it for this reason I like the car with the sail trim off, but each to his own. Hopefully my will look as nice when I'm done with it in a month or so. Again nice car. Mike

Thanks for the kind words. After reading through most of the other build threads I kind of feel bad that mine went so quickly. But being a VW guy at heart I knew not to touch an old rusty German car unless you felt like draining your bank account (been there done that).

Like I said before, I am probably going to redo the sail panel, I like the look. Custom wheels are definetly in that cars future. I'm not sure about the bumpers though

Too bad I have to put it away for the winter. Can't wait until Spring!

Looks great! I would do the sail panels in factory vinyl. Helps break up the car better I think.

What size tires are you running? I like the way they look. 185/65/15's?

Clean 914, hope to see you at some local get togethers soon.

My vote: No sail panel vinyl. 914s look better, cleaner without, IMHO.

The tires are 195/60/15 and they barely fit under the rear fenders.
I look forward to coming to some of the local events, now that the car looks decent.

Will Maaco mix any color paint you want or do they only have certain colors to choose from? I decided that i want my car blue, but can't decide on a dark blue or the gulf blue!!

They will mix any color you want.

Car Looks great
Just wondering as never having had a car painted, who masks off everything? Do the guys from Maaco mask the windows, tires, chrome ect or do you have to bring your own and do it yourself.

Maaco is a production shop so they don't really take care when they mask things off. Best to bring your car in prep'd and all trim etc removed. Leave room for error when they mask. If you think of it as your pretty much just renting a painter and place to paint, it's a good deal. Do everything else yourself.

That is looking soo much nicer that when it was white. Good job!
I'm the guy that left a note on your windshield a few months back in the parking garage. I need paint also, maybe next spring.
Hope to see you at some events next year.
Later,
Tom

Tom, thanks for introducing me to 914 World! Wow, theres enough of us in Kitsap county to have our own club! Who knew?! If you need paint Maaco does some pretty nice work for the price. Anytime you want to see the car in person just PM me.