Getting Painted! Finally!

[Grego 92]

I've been patient in waiting for a good deal and it's finally come. If you're a veteran and your car paint is in pretty bad shape (meaning anything is better than what you have now) and the main goal is to just have one solid color then this deal may be for you also.

1 Day Paint and Body has a $200 off their Phase 3 (5 year warranty and free color matching). So my final after tax and enviro fees was $491. Dropping it off tomorrow! and will have that close to original smoke metallic grey again.

I know everyone else can do better job and you get what you pay for, but that's what I'm expecting....a $500 job that will last 5 years. It's garaged so hopefully will last even longer. I'm so excited to not get laughed at by my co-workers for having my "5 different grey tone color leopard pattern" car anymore! Not going to say anything to them either, just going to drive my truck until it's ready for pick-up....see what their reaction is.

[blu_91_cam]

Congrats man dont forget to get some pics up when shes all done.

[66conv6]

Huh? We have Maaco out here and didn't like their attitude so went off to paint supply store and had six cans of spray paint color matched for $100. Of course finish isn't that great after spraying but car does look better than before.

[Grego 92]

Received my car back yesterday and it turned out a lot better than I had expected! After many horror stories I expected runs, over spray everywhere, uneven paint, showing of blemishes, etc....none of that. Just a nice paint job.

When they brought the car out from the back a couple of the guys spent a few minutes with me making sure I appreciated the work. I told them the horror stories I had heard and they laughed and said it's the guys who think they are getting a $2K paint job for $500 and bring the car in with rusted holes and no effort in preparing the vehicle that complain the most. They even had one guy come in with roll on house paint primer and he showed them the can! like he was proud of it! And they told me they had many, many, many with bondo work that wasn't sanded after applying! And they didn't want to be charged extra for having to sand it first!

They said I did a good job preparing the vehicle and that allowed them more time to spend on fixing little scratches and take their time taping. I had removed trim pieces, the windshield nozzles, antenna, all labeling, the plastic front grill, plastic thing in the valance, windshield trim was already off from having the glass replaced. Sanded all rust spots even and covered with primer.

They advised I wax every six months and I should have no problem lasting a long time. I am very happy with the quality of the job.

[blu_91_cam]

Nice man now on with the pictures.....

[Grego 92]

Sorry, all I could get real quick. I'll work on getting better ones this weekend.

[66conv6]

Jeeez! That's nice!

[dem2757]

for 500 dollars?!wooooooooooooooooow

[Grego 92]

Here's a few more....my camera sucks in sunlight I guess, or I just can't take pictures right. You can see a little over spray under the driver mirror where they didn't do an exact masking tape job, but I already took that off with acetone and a rag, I protected the paint with masking tape first.









Nothing to do with the paint job, but I'm pretty proud of the restoration and cleaning of the interior.



And an engine shot...AGAIN just to complete my car photos - exterior, interior and engine.

[66conv6]

Wow! Engine looks real nice.

[csaxon]

Looks great!

[AnimatedMechanic]

Really nice man!! Makes me wanna go clean my car more now lol

[Grego 92]

Thanks guys, car is pretty much done with, no more major things to do. I can just enjoy driving it now.

[blu_91_cam]

Geez forget about the outside that interior is mint, and so in the engine bay. The paint job looks terrific but to keep the interior that clean?!?!? Amazing. Is that factory leather? Or did you have them re-skinned?

[Grego 92]

Nah, those are Coverking Leatherette's in Charcoal. Everyone that has seen the interior thinks they are real leather and that they were upholstered that way. They fit like a glove. I took the seats out and put them on, so they are on there as perfectly as can be. I even made some other holes with grommets so I could add even more rope ties where I thought it was sagging a little or wanted to stretch it a certain way to make sure it covers all the fabric. You can tell they are seat covers if you look close at the rear seats where the seat belt buckles come out, you'll see the fabric underneath.

I steam cleaned the carpet and any other cloth type material and replaced every interior piece that had a crack or tear in it with a good piece from the yards. The only thing I have left to do is to replace the two plastic caps on the rear seat belt mounting bolts (on either side by the rear window). Every gray interior camry I've come across at the yard is cracked and faded. Mind are broken apart in pieces, so I might settle for some faded ones and use the dupli-color vinyl paint to make them look new.