Rattle Can or not?

#1

I need to get the car painted at some point and am trying to decide between rattle canning or taking in to get it painted. Maaco offers a $299 paint special plus $150 for minor prep. I recently did some body work on the E36 that I sold so I am confident that I could rattle can it and make it look decent. I figure to rattle can it I am looking at about 15 cans of duplicolor spray at $7 each plus another 10 cans of primer at $7 each. Tack on another $50 in sandpaper and other supplies. ie. masking, etc.

The total cost isn’t that much difference and I’m not sure how nice the Maaco special is going to be. I expect it should look nicer that my spray job would be. Then there is the whole thing of getting the car to Maaco…loading it into my enclosed trailer, towing it there, dropping it off the loading it again. I haven’t loaded it yet but I expect it to be a major PITA since the Spec exhaust hangs so low.

Would you rattle can it or have it painted?

#2

If you don’t have a compressor, I’d say to have the car painted. If you have or can borrow a compressor, Get an HVLP gravity fed gun and paint it yourself.

#3

I’d rather get the Maaco guys to paint it if your DIY option is rattle cans. A cheapo HVLP turbine kit from harbor freight would likely do a comparable job to Maaco, but buying the turbine+gun kit and supplies may end up costing close to the same.

You could save some cash on the Maaco job and do the prep work at home. You’re likely to do it better than the guys there.

On picking a color for the car, I’ve had wise people tell me to pick something that you can find a rattle can to match, so if you need to replace a fender or touch stuff up, you can do it without a trip to the body shop. Speaking of fenders, if you do take the car to get the “body shop special”, take a pair of front fenders with you and have them sprayed at the same time.

#4

This is good advice.