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Exterior painting suggestions (Pacific Northwest)

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Offline rottenbob

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Exterior painting suggestions (Pacific Northwest)
« on: August 22, 2008, 07:30:41 PM »
Hullo! I'm new here. Someone on the Zuwharrie site clued me in about ZukiWorld. I own a 1997 Suzuki X-90. I came across it when I was shopping for a Samurai. In fact, after reading some of the threads on this site tonight I began to wish that I'd gotten a Samurai tintop after all; I really love them (and I've learned that I really have to stick to the very minimal in camping gear because the X-90 only holds so much!). I have a website for my X-90 here: http://www.rottenbob.com/x-90/

I am planning on getting the X-90 repainted soon. I was wondering if any other forum members could recommend a paint shop in the Seattle area. I've read both good and bad things about Maaco, and I'm not sure if I want to trust them with my X-90. Other internet research that I've done has been largely fruitless. I also don't want to spend a boatload of money. Thx.

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Offline SafetyGuy

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Re: Exterior painting suggestions (Pacific Northwest)
« Reply #1 on: August 22, 2008, 09:30:20 PM »
You mentioned Macco. I once spoke to a gentleman who worked at Macco and he said that the only problem with a Macco paint job is the prep work. They do cheap paint jobs because people walk in and plop down a $100 and expect a world class paint job. The cheaper Macco paint job you get, the less prep work you will get.
If you do the prep work, or have someone do some good prep work, the paint they put on will be fine.
Another short story,
I used to work with a guy that had a 1966 Mini Cooper that he would enter into car shows (and won at many of them). He told me that he had Macco paint it 10 years previous. He had performed all the prep work and trailered it to one of the Portland Oregon Macco shops. It was red and looked like a very expensive paint job. He also said it was all in the prep work and he also took care of it all those years (keeping it clean and waxed).
You will probably hear negative things about all sort of paint jobs from all sorts of people. Do your home work and make a educated choice that you are comfortable with. It all comes down to what you want and make you feel good.
I also looked at your web site and have always liked the X-90s and if it were mine I would stick with the black (I like black vehicles), but like I said above, its what you like, not what I like.
I am thinking now, I wish I would of kept looking for a X-90 instead of buying my Samurai.
If you Can Not Do It Safely, It's Not Worth Doing!

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Offline Bigzook

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Re: Exterior painting suggestions (Pacific Northwest)
« Reply #2 on: August 23, 2008, 07:22:51 AM »
Welcome to the world. I can't speak for any  shops up in Seattle but I would paint that little bugger black again too. They only look good in black and red in my opinion.

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Offline Uncivilized

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Re: Exterior painting suggestions (Pacific Northwest)
« Reply #3 on: August 23, 2008, 07:24:39 AM »
Yellow  :'(

I suggest finding out where all the Import tuners get their paint work done, these are your best shops for good quality, custom work. Maaco is a good place for an inexpensive "freshen up your vehicle" paint job, but color changes are a different story, and very costly. You can help reduce the cost(and get a better job) by stripping the vehicle yourself - remove interior door panels, mouldings, etc. anything that's in the way. Headlights, tail lights, side markers...  Maaco wouldn't do that, they tape everything off. A good quality color change job done at a shop should cost around $2000 - $3000. If you can find somebody that does this work from home, you will reduce that cost with sometimes better work as they're not pressed for time.

Re: Exterior painting suggestions (Pacific Northwest)
« Reply #4 on: August 23, 2008, 03:14:51 PM »
I would suggest getting it wrapped in a camo vinyl. I think about 300 will do a tracker/x90. Im going to do mine this winter. There is a place in fife that does it for a reasonable price.

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Offline SafetyGuy

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Re: Exterior painting suggestions (Pacific Northwest)
« Reply #5 on: August 23, 2008, 03:58:33 PM »
Camo vinyl ? Is this actually a vinyl that is applied over the paint ?
If you Can Not Do It Safely, It's Not Worth Doing!

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Offline Uncivilized

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Re: Exterior painting suggestions (Pacific Northwest)
« Reply #6 on: August 23, 2008, 04:58:18 PM »
Camo vinyl ? Is this actually a vinyl that is applied over the paint ?
No different than a vinyl lettering decal like the zukiworld window banners, just a large roll to cover full body panels. I'm really not a big camo fan, I think he's better off with the yellow.

Re: Exterior painting suggestions (Pacific Northwest)
« Reply #7 on: August 23, 2008, 07:54:47 PM »
They offer about 50 different H.D. camo styles now. Some of them are really good. They look like 3-d photo quality. And some of the snow/desert paterns are fantastic. One other plus is that this stuff is VERY durable. check it out.

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Offline RHodge

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Re: Exterior painting suggestions (Pacific Northwest)
« Reply #8 on: August 23, 2008, 08:08:02 PM »
Hullo! I'm new here. Someone on the Zuwharrie site clued me in about ZukiWorld. I own a 1997 Suzuki X-90. I came across it when I was shopping for a Samurai. In fact, after reading some of the threads on this site tonight I began to wish that I'd gotten a Samurai tintop after all; I really love them (and I've learned that I really have to stick to the very minimal in camping gear because the X-90 only holds so much!). I have a website for my X-90 here: http://www.rottenbob.com/x-90/

I am planning on getting the X-90 repainted soon. I was wondering if any other forum members could recommend a paint shop in the Seattle area. I've read both good and bad things about Maaco, and I'm not sure if I want to trust them with my X-90. Other internet research that I've done has been largely fruitless. I also don't want to spend a boatload of money. Thx.


I think I'm going to get one of these to help with the cargo problem in my sami http://www.thuletrailers.com/fw/main/N1150-117C41.html?LayoutID=9

nayr

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Offline Jeremiah

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Re: Exterior painting suggestions (Pacific Northwest)
« Reply #9 on: August 25, 2008, 12:24:45 PM »
As said - Maaco is fine if you do all your own prep first. Their paint is fine - but they do MINIMAL prep. The more expensive the paint job - the more prep they're doing. It's not the paint itself that's expensive (unless you get into crazy custom Rod looking stuff), it's the labor.

And - yeah, the x90 SUCKS for cargo storage. Slap on a hitch, and get a small trailer.
'96 4 door kick: 29" Pep-Boys M/T, 1.5" OME
'83 SJ410: 31" Toyo M/T, SPOA, 1.3L
'08 Yamaha FZ6

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Offline jzap

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Re: Exterior painting suggestions (Pacific Northwest)
« Reply #10 on: August 25, 2008, 02:03:29 PM »
If you are planning on going off-road, the paint job won't matter much, since its gonna get some "trail stripes" on it anyway. 

With that philosophy in mind, along with the fact that 99% of the people who see your truck will see it from more than 10 ft away, I am a firm believer in the "10 ft paint job".  If it looks good from 10 ft away, its good enough. 

For camping, you may be able to find an old mid 60's to early 70's Apache soft top camper out there.  They weigh about 500 to 600 lbs and are pretty rugged.  If you get one with a spring (rather than torsion) axles, you can do a spoa to lift it a bit. 

So, what am I talking about?  Here is my Tracker with the "I can't believe its a rattle can" paint job (as others have said, its all in the prep) and the matching '66 Apache Buffalo.

Jim Z.
96 Tracker
66 Apache camper

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Offline Jeremiah

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Re: Exterior painting suggestions (Pacific Northwest)
« Reply #11 on: August 26, 2008, 04:04:44 PM »
Anyone brave enough to use $1 Wal-Mart rattle can yet?
'96 4 door kick: 29" Pep-Boys M/T, 1.5" OME
'83 SJ410: 31" Toyo M/T, SPOA, 1.3L
'08 Yamaha FZ6

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Offline Carnage

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Re: Exterior painting suggestions (Pacific Northwest)
« Reply #12 on: August 26, 2008, 05:01:00 PM »
Anyone brave enough to use $1 Wal-Mart rattle can yet?



Ive done it, although it was to my eclipse and it was less than 75 cents a can

 8)

looks good from 10ft id say


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Offline jzap

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Re: Exterior painting suggestions (Pacific Northwest)
« Reply #13 on: August 26, 2008, 07:31:07 PM »
Anyone brave enough to use $1 Wal-Mart rattle can yet?

Nope!!!  I used the good stuff...  Rustoleum at $3.74 a can.  5 cans for the Tracker, 4 cans for the camper
Jim Z.
96 Tracker
66 Apache camper

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Offline Jeremiah

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Re: Exterior painting suggestions (Pacific Northwest)
« Reply #14 on: August 26, 2008, 09:05:59 PM »
Really? Damn... I used 2 cans of rustolium just on my bumper! I noticed the Rustolium has a vertical sprayer (easier), the the cheapies have a circle sprayer (seems harder to get even). I plan on doing my Zook soon, but I figured 5-10 cans of primer, and 5-10 cans of paint? Can anyone verify please?
'96 4 door kick: 29" Pep-Boys M/T, 1.5" OME
'83 SJ410: 31" Toyo M/T, SPOA, 1.3L
'08 Yamaha FZ6