This is my first time posting and I am in need of serious help, advice, direction etc.
I have a 1990 olds Eighty Eight. I love this car. This is the second Olds that i have owned in my life and I am enjoying evey minute of it.
It has about 149,000 miles on it and yes I have had some problems. When I first got it I had to get the left tie-rod replaced and some over minor stuff (brakes, front end Alignment etc.) As time went on I found out there were other things wrong as well.Nothing major but costly none the less. So I got new brakes all the way around including rotors and hubs. I had to get a new alternato, a battery, a starter and water pump. The windsheild was broken when I got her so I had to replace that too.So as you can see I have put a pretty penny into this car and that's okay because like I said I love it. And I also love not having a car note...
Now I am considering getting it painted right now it is an ugly burgundy with gold striping. And I want to darken it , a black cherry color. Also the roof has rusting apparently from severe weather wear. So I took it to Maaco and the the cost to get it all stripped and re painted was about $550 which is actually not bad at all. then there is the inside ( I am going to post pictures soon) the seating is in very good condition, the floor is in very good condition and it still has the original mats and the original wheel caps which I think is a plus. Basically on here looking for good cosmetic ideas and advice. I saw some very good pictures on cardomain.com and was very impressed with some of the work that has been done. I know it takes alot of time and patience which I have very little of. Any ideas or suggestion would be great. Photosof yours would be good too. I can be e-mailed at BrowneJacks@yahoo.com
PS. I also have put in a new stereo and new speakers all around, next is the amp and sub woofer.
thanks again...

Dont go to Maaco, my dad went there years ago to get a car painted (1964 Pontiac Catalina Coupe) and the did a bad job, glued the trim back on, filled in the holes that the trim needed to stay on correctly with bondo (car had no rust, my dad just wanted a black car). You get what you pay for.

My dad paid just under $3800 Canadian for the ciera paint job 4 years back i believe. I thought it was wayyy to much when i saw the bill. but when the dude drove it out of the garage, ohhhh man i was stunned one of the best paint jobs ive seen. Its held up pretty good to this point as well. Though i wanna get it painted even more professional the next time i do it, i wanna take it to west coast customs they do amazing jobs.

haha..macco..whatta joke :p haha..

im gonna be taking mine to votech its a school forthe highschool here in c burg where they gett to learn all kinds ofstuff kinda like a trade school

i....i.....i dont need to repaint just yet...mines in good condition

hey where is c burg...is that mechanics burg? bacause i've been there

Mine has been in many accidents ( from 1985-1997) so the whole car was repainted by body shops (when the old lady had it so the paint had to be just right, she kept the car just so). The paint looks 5 or 6 years old, and the trim is in nice shape. Its a really good paint job too!

no thats bout 45 minutes from me thats near carilise my friends and me go to carilise for go kart riding gotta luv go karts

c burg is Chambersburg.

S o I got my 88 painted and it looks great. They totally repaired the roof and sanded down the car and darkened the color it is beautiful. I know a few of you all said Maaco does lousy work, but I don't have any complaints at all... yet. So now my baby is a Dark Cherry and it is beautiful. Next comes the amps and subwoofers. I will probably change the grill on it as well and replace the side molding and bumpers... pics to come soon.I have the original wheel caps and will replace them with wheel locks. I called the dealership and they said they could do it for about $50 bucks.HMMMMM!!! I don't know. Anyway, I am posting pics on Cardomain in the next week look out for them...

sounds good man, I'd love to see it, let us know!!!

Maaco is only good if you do the prep work yourself. When it comes to painting, Prepping *IS* THE KEY. I painted my Olds and it was the first time I ever painted a car. In retrospect I probably should have spent a few hours each day over a whole week sanding the car down instead of doing it all in just one day. I am gonna be repainting the Olds soon, As it gives me more practice at painting and the fact that it's only gonna cost me abound 100 bucks in total to do the whole thing again. I have a compresser, paint gun (although I would love to have a nice gravity-fed HVLP one on hand), and everything else needed for the job.. the 100 dollars that'll be spent is just going to be for the paint, reducer, sealer, etc...

would you recommend a basecoat / clear paint, or a one stage?

I would like to paint my 86 buick I just bought, and I think that it would be easier to achieve a nice looking paint job with metallic flake in it through a base/clear application. I think it would be a lot easier to get a nice gloss to the paint with a clearcoat.

I've had experience with painting before, but not a whole car. I used the one-stage paint that turned out ok, but not glossy enough, and it didnt look near what I wanted it to.