Posted by Dan Starnes (IP: 209.119.6.234) on July 15, 1999 at 23:13:59:
In Reply to: needs advice & encouragement , hee hee posted by Lori D. on July 15, 1999 at 23:02:52:
It might well be worth looking into the $500 paint job. Go and talk to the dude and see if he can show you any photo's of some of his work with before and after shots. I have a photo album of before and after shots of the work i do so people can get an idea of the work i do. Also I usually have a car or 2 around which is in some state of reconditioning which I have people look at. If he has happy customers he will be glad to give you info on talking to them and you can go and look at their cars. I have seen some butcher type jobs from backyard type painters so a little investigating might well be worth the time. One more thing is when I am estimating the cost of painting a vehicle the size of a maverick I instantly know that I will have at least $300.00 in materials such as paint- sandpaper- reducers etc. That guy won't be making much money on your car so that is something else to keep in mind. In other words you usually get what you pay for.
: Hi, I'm the Lori w/the white 77 maverick..I would love to fix my car up to the way it looked before the 2 accidents I was in. The body shop told me that it would cost me at least $3000 to restore it, which, of course I do not have...At the same time I have a mechanic friend who said he knows someone who can paint it for like $500, which probably would be a crap job. I really don't want to let it go another season without getting it painted. I don't know if it's better to do some things myself now or wait until I have some extra and pay a professional to do it. I would like to do it myself, but I don't know the first thing about fixing cars and/or their restoration..Some input would be great. I'm sorry if I sound like a dork, but I would love to take care of my car and get it looking great again. Thanks in advance for the advice!