Hey guys, I'm getting closer to painting the Camaro, and since this is my first restoration, I wanted to ask you guys if I should try and paint it myself(with the help of a couple of others)? Should I take it in and have it painted professionally? I've been told to stay away from MAACO...

If I paint it myself what sort of prep work should I do? What kind of sander/sandpaper should I use, and how much paint should I remove from the surface? Someone told me to go all the way to the metal...most everyone is saying to just sand the surface

Any help is greatly appreciated!

 

Too many variables to determine what you should do. If you've got this many questions my gut says don't do it yourself, as you need to know a lot more to paint your own car.
How many coats of paint are presently on it? If you don't know, then you'll need to remove some to see whether it's been repainted more than once.
I personally would not paint over anything that wasn't the original paint, as you'll never know what's underneath. Don't want to spend all that time and money, and have bubbles or rust pop up.
You can use whatever grit you want pretty much to remove paint, or chemically strip it, and then sand. Best to remove every piece of chrome, plus all the lights if you want a good paint job.
I was going to paint mine, but decided to just do all the sanding and prep, then pay a pro to lay down primer and paint. I found a great painter that will do mine for a fantastic price, but it took a lot of asking, and patience.

 

I guess that question of should I paint it or have someone else paint it really depends on your skills and what you would like it to look like. Like the other guy said, if ya gotta ask how, you may be better off having it done for you.. Talk to a shop , ask them what you can do to prep the car and how to go about it, maybe the guy will give you a break if you do the prep work.

 

have someone els paint it and maco isnt bad but you will pay for it i had them do a few cars for me and they came out great but is was like 1500 or more and the cars where in good shape not a 299 deal the guy a few doors down just had his 86 mustang gt painted at maco and it looks good he did all the prep work well his dad helpd and had them shout it because he did all the prep it was like 800 or so