Anyone Ever Send a Car to Earl Scheib?

They've been out of business for several years but painted millions of cars before then. I sent a bunch of cars through our local Maaco years ago but never sent one to Earl. My friend sent his 70-1/2 Ford Falcon (last of the Falcons....really a stripped-down Fairlane) to Scheib and got a nice paint job for a good price. He did all the prep work himself, which I'm sure helped. Anybody else have a story to tell?

 

I had put together a 73 Dart I bought for 500.00, in 1994. Rebuilt engine, new seats, fixed the A/C and put on some 15 inch "cop" wheels, paited white with blackwalls.......engine paint still burning in when I got hit by an old lady who got broadsided in an intersection. I was sitting still at the tine, waiting for the light to change. Long story short, her insurance company paid me enough to buy the fender, grill, valance panel and bumper I needed at the u-pull. I had enough left over to take it to "House of Earl" and gt it painted all on color. They gave a 5 year warranty again fade. In 4 years, it faded. They painted it again, free. I drove that car 150,000 miles and then sold it at the Pomona swap meet to a father and son who wanted to drop a crate 360 in it and go racing...........

 

I agree it is all in the prep. They just shoot them, if someone takes the time to prep it before it goes to them you will end up with a decent paint job on the cheap.

 

Never did. But seems like back in the central Illinois area they advertised a single color paint job around $35.00. Been a few years!
People said the same things, do your prep work because they do very little touch up. Them and Maaco were popular so must have done okay.

 

Oh yeah....

The ONLY car I've ever put a complete paint job on - my second car, a '64 Pontiac Ventura hardtop.

I bought it for $700 or so in 1970. It was this color (but imagine it with the standard wheel covers and whitewalls):


I was in Santa Monica one day, pulling out of an alley onto Santa Monica Bl. As I pulled out a bit, still checking and waiting for the boulevard traffic to clear, A guy parked at the curb to my right decides to back up without looking and caves in my right door.

I got a small amount from the insurance settlement to repair the door, but for some stupid reason I decided I didn't like the color on the Pontiac - I wanted to paint it complete. I told the body shop to finish off the body work, but don't paint it - I was going to take it to Earl Scheib. When I went to pick it up, you could still see huge sanding marks in the thin primer on the door panel. They must have spent all of about 1/2 hour on the repair. Of course, that was when I was young and dumb, so I accepted it that way.

Took the car over to the Earl Scheib shop and selected some kind of dark brownish/green color that looked decent on the color chip, but AWFUL on the car, and you could still very easily see all the sanding marks in the door. And of course, the jambs were still the original color. Can't really blame Earl Scheib though. They were just doing what they always do.........

Should have just had the body shop do the whole job and match the original color.

 

And of course, the jambs were still the original color. Can't really blame Earl Scheib though. They were just doing what they always do.........

I sort of remember that. Mostly they did repaints of the original or similar colors. Door jambs, under hood, etc. was not part of the paint job.

 

What is your opinion on Maaco?

 

Based on my experience, they did a very good job for the money. I put about 7-8 cars through them, plus a few more for friends and relatives. They're all franchised, so different operators will have different quality levels. I was friendly with two brothers that did bodywork, so I'd pay them to prep the cars and then Maaco would paint them. There were (and I'm sure there still are) body shops that would charge customers for a 'body shop' repaint then sub-let the work out to Maaco.

My advice is to look at as many completed paint jobs by a particular Maaco as you can to get an idea of the overall quality. Also, ask around at car shows. In this area, a lot of cruise-night cars were painted by a local Maaco and they all look very nice.

 

Ditto. Each Maaco is actually different in quality and style, some places are nothing but "shoot it as it comes in, bugs and bird poop an all" places and others will do quality work at cheap prices. I had Maaco do a car for me back in 2001 and while it definitely wasn't perfect or show quality, it lasted almost 13 years until the car got totaled.

This was 4 months after they did it:


And 8 years later: (ignore the dust)


Not bad for $2000.

 

There was a similar outfit in the So Cal area called 'One-Day Paint and Body' - not a lot of stores. Had a friend who managed a Ford dealer body shop. When a customer came in that wanted a complete paint job on an older car, or maybe it was a older car that the shop would end up painting 50% or more of the car, he'd have his guys prep it then send it over to One-Day for a complete paint job. He was confident in their work that he gave those cars the same paint warranty...

 

I had known a gal who grew up in Los Angeles in the '50s, who told me she remembered when Scheib opened up back then; she said the original tag line (and price) was "I'm Earl Scheib, and I'll paint any car for nine ninety-five!"

 

Paint materials have gone up quite a bit in price in the last few years and also there are now costs incurred to follow environmental laws that weren't there when Earl's and other companies like them started up. If you get a cheap paint job, corners have to be cut somewhere. Either in the quality of materials or labor on doing the job right. If it's just a daily beater and you just want it to look good for a couple years, a cheap paint job makes sense. If it's something you plan on keeping for a long time, a cheap paint job may cost you more in the long run. I had a friend who's dad had his 66 Nova painted at a low cost painter and they did some rust "repair". I warned him not to. A couple years later the rust came back with a vengeance. If the prep is done correctly and you pay extra for quality paint, a good job can come out of some of those low cost shops if the painter has been there for a long time, because they shoot a lot of cars and get their technique down.

 

Last year, my daughter saved up to get her '98 Corolla painted, after she had a minor fender bender (her fault, only liability insurance). I installed a replacement non-OEM front bumper, hood, and fender. She also wanted to change from burgundy to black. So, I painted her door jambs, trunk, etc. She took it to Maaco. They had a sale on their 4 year warranty paint job. They did an OK job. The hood had lots of "fish eyes" in it. Their response was "you get what you pay for". It maintained its shine. The paint on the front bumper started flaking. They repainted it twice under the warranty. For the money, it was worth it, although I don't think they prepped the hood and bumper appropriately.

 

I also believe that places like Maaco have different qualities of paintjob. If you get the cheapo job, there's no prep work and they just throw a coat of their cheapest paint on whatever they didn't bother to mask. It'll last as long as the warranty (maybe.) I'm not sure if they all do it, since they're independent franchises, but I know some can do a restoration quality paintjob, where all the trim is removed and all the body is painted, if you give them a stripped chassis, it won't be cheap though. I think it's all a matter of whether the shop is owned by a paint and body man, or a business investor who just wants a franchise of something.

 

I have take many a wagon to Earl, not too bad for the $$$