Cost of body work (photos added)

[keith88]

I was driving around a week ago and saw a 69 charger outside this body shop so i stopped in, it belonged to the shop manager in a few years i will be looking to redue mine and fix some spots that will be needing some attention. Mind you it looks good now and has a few MINOR surface rust spots and some old body work that could use a sprucing up but nothing major. I had him look at it and he told me $15,000 to start and that's on the low end.. don't think he interested, grant it i know you always find more when you get in to it but that seemed way to much. I'm not bringing it to a place like grave yard cars for a total restoration just a little fix up before its gets out of control.   What do you guys think?

[myk]

First things first.  Post pictures of the areas on your car that need work; this is the only way anyone here can give any sort of guess as to what you need and how much it might cost.  

All I had done on my car was: replace Dutchman panel, tail panel, weld new lower rear quarter patches (3 inches worth of metal) on both sides, repair one 1 inch hole on the driver's side rear quarter behind the door.  That list doesn't seem like much but all of that cost thousands and that was WITHOUT the prep work to get it ready for paint.  Body work is expensive, agonizing.  

If you find out the cost is too much for right now, you can do what I did and try to slow down the rust by sanding/grinding as much of the rust and metal as you can, and then spraying rust fighting paints such as POR-15 or Zero Rust on the affected areas.  It's not pretty but it will hopefully buy you some time.

Post those pictures...

[keith88]

 Some of the spots  (3 of them) are so minor that im not sure that my camera would even pick them up, the ones that are visable i know can be fixed have done similar spots myself but i am not a body man. The biggest spot would be to pull the top off and paint it the piece that goes between the window and trunk has been replaced at some point but has some cracks in the body work that would need fixing also there is some surface rust around the trim holes for the top that would need fixing which you would do anyway when the top is pulled and that is it Ill try taking some picture when i get home.

[Challenger340]

It's an unfortunate aspect of the marketplace, but due to the nature of any kind "restoration" type bodywork, it very simply is not profitable time-wise versus competing collision/insurance work which pays better.
Add that monetary facet with the fact that invariably it is not what you "see"..... but what is "behind" any kind of rust repairs or "old" bodywork re-do's that you do NOT see..... and it sounds like the bodyguy has not only EXPERIENCE with this stuff, but is covering his ass as well because he only wants his best product out there when finished with his name on it.

Off topic but....
I see it all the time in Engine stuff, and going through myself right now.
I just got shipped a race engine that a customer of mine picked up in a drag car he bought "complete".
The build sheet on the Engine claims the "world" as far as parts & labor... BEST of everything, should be a solid 800-850 hp deal..... but the guy ran the Car after he bought it and it's a complete terd, with Oil pressure problems, yada, yada.... and could only run a best of 12.0 in the 1/4 mile.

You guessed it....
it gets shipped here, with IMO, the customers full expectation that I can "wave some magic wand" for cheap to make it right ?

I can't wait to dis-assemble and inspect it later today.
Might be just some adjustments, you never know ?
But in my experience..... I've seen some pretty horrendous supposedly "wonderful" engine builds in my day ?
No matter,
if/when it leaves here..... it will have to be RIGHT.... because I am the last guy who touched it and MY NAME will be on it !.... so it will COST whatever it COSTS to get it there.

just say'in....
Your Bodyguy might just be conducting himself in the same manner ?

[keith88]

Yea i understand all that but i am not looking for a 100 pt paint job only to fix visible issues with the understanding that they might come back some day. The car has already had fenders and quarters put on you can see it . Its a driving to cruises and minor shows car not a trailer queen. Hell i would do it myself if i was set up for it. I can see thousands not 10s of thousands

[JR]

Average cost of body/restoration work around here is 70-100 bucks an hour.

Materials cost for a simple, exterior only respray can pass 1k pretty easily if using quality materials. (Im doing exactly what youre describing to my 70 as we speak, refreshning a 10 year old paintjob, not respraying underhood or doorjabs, using PPG's Shopline brand ( their cheaper line). I used to do bodywork professionally, but left the industry and now just paint my own stuff on occasion.

Just off the top of my head, im in it now for;

1 gallon basecoat-       $200
1 gallon clearcoat-      $248
Plastic/metal fillers-   $100
Various primers-         $200
Sand papers-               $100
Stud gun pins-               $20
Tape & paper-                $30

Im doing 100% of the work myself and probably will have 4 hours a day/5 days a week/2 months of work. Thats 160 hours of labor for my car, which was pretty solid before I started. If I were doing this for someone else, then price would be = 160 hours x 80 bucks an hour = $12,800 in labor cost.

12,800 for labor plus 900 in materials = $13,700. Add in the owners shop fees and a little cushion for suprises, and boom, 15k.

Unfortunately, bodywork is expensive. Thats actually how I learned it, I couldnt afford to pay anyone to have mine done, so I went to tradeschool and made a career of it.

Glad I dont do it to pay the bills anymore, though.

[Dreamcar]

Don't forget the hourly rate of a body shop (I'm guessing at least $70). Like already mentioned, the owner is looking out for his shops reputation and has to be able justify that cost, so the work has to be done right.

I'm doing a complete redo of my car, and I've discovered the hidden stuff that he will likely find on yours the further he digs. Plus, if you need a new vinyl roof, there are some parts that he has to charge you for too. Having to blend three different spots will likely require him to paint at least 50% of your car.

[keith88]

Actual work time on bodywork should take no longer than 24-30hrs tops and that being generous or at least that,s all it would take me. 

[Aero426]

Actual work time on bodywork should take no longer than 24-30hrs tops and that being generous or at least that,s all it would take me.  

It isn't hard.   But it is skilled work, and it takes a lot of time and patience.   If it was so easy, everyone would be turning out paint jobs on their own.    A good portion of your time allowance would be used up in taking the car apart far enough just to BEGIN work ; bumpers, handles, trim, protect the engine bay,  protect or remove the interior.    

If you are going to have a pro do the work,  both of you are going to want a repair that will last more than a couple of years before starting to unwind again.  If you see cracks, rust, whatever... you might think is "little stuff"...  as you mentioned, there is more work (and time) underneath than meets the eye.  

An illegal doing the work in his home shop might paint your car for $5000 cash.    And it might look pretty good.   That is about where it starts.     Anyone with a shop and a reputation is going to be significantly higher.    As mentioned, even with an economy paint line, the bill for materials will be "up there".    For what you are wanting,  a $10k budget would not be unreasonable.    

[cavemanno1]

I guess we are lucky over here in this matter because bodywork cost $16,6/hour!
But to compare it with other fields of work it's a lot!Say a bricklayer gets that much in a DAY!!!However this is where our luck stops because everything else is more expensive like fuel,electronic divices and such and such...Petrol/gas/ is 1.50 a LITTER!


Got a quote last year for fixing up a charger i was gonna buy.Needed every panel replaced,fenders,1/4 panels,roof,dutchman panel,floor boards,trunk floor,inner outer wheels house,rockers even the hood!The quote was $5k!The shop only has done ONE charger and it was a '70 so he calculated roughly based on that car!They had to fabricate a few panels because shipping them would have been a nightmare over here,i was told!He said if i had all the repop panels then it would be less then 5k!!!
Didn't get the car because it was in million pieces and collect the missing parts from here would have been expensive shipping vise!

Seen some cars they did and they looked beautiful!

[JR]

Actual work time on bodywork should take no longer than 24-30hrs tops and that being generous or at least that,s all it would take me.  

Are you saying you could strip the car down, remove paint and bad filler, repair all the bad spots of bodywork,  prime, block, seal, spray base/clear, wetsand and buff, and reassemble the whole car in three eight hour workdays? A long weekend is all you need to do a nice quality respray?

How did you come to that timeframe estimate?

Or are you just counting the time straigtening the body and doing fillerwork? Because if so, thats great, but you still have a heap of other work that goes along with just the bodywork side of it. That doesnt count paint prep, priming, stripping and reassembly.

[keith88]

No im saying the spots are not that big and i think people are thinking its worst than it is. the most time spent would be the removal of the vinyl top  and painting it

[cdr]

the front & rear glass has to come out for vinyl top replacement!!!!!!

[Charger-Bodie]

I love how everyone complains about the cost of body work. As if it's easy and anyone can just jump right in and do it. People will pay an attorney 200.00 per hour. 125. Per at john Deere to work on lawn mowers. Etc. etc. but a major investment like a car we should work for peanuts................

[cdr]

 

[keith88]

No one saying peanuts but im not saying gold bars either. I can see 5-8 grand for what im talking about. I have done this myself so its not that i don't know the business but like i said i don't have the place or tools to do it myself!

[Aero426]

.

[Dreamcar]

I'm not a body man, and I'm doing a lot of the prep myself on my 69. When the time comes, I'm having a shop near my house finish the prep (to make sure my work is straight using their professional eye and skill) and paint in their dust free booth. It will cost me quite a bit because this shop's work is expensive...however I've had them do work for me on another project and on our family DD, and their work is flawless.

So, I'm willing to pay for it knowing what the result will be.

[JR]

5k for my paint job would be 4k leftover after materials. For 160 hours of work. Which means 25 bucks an hour for labor. Plus overhead of running a business. That's less than a third what any bodyshop would need just to keep the doors open.

Im sure you can find a shadetree guy who'd do it for 5k Though. For better or worse.

[keith88]

OK here's the photos  as you can see NOT a big deal and is one of the reason that im waiting a few years.

2 spots like theses on both sides of top trim:



Between rear window and trunk:



Hood crack and tiny spot on passenger top fender:



Over all shot

[Aero426]

Why not do a repair on those areas instead of a complete?   

[keith88]

Its all it needs it was done some years back.

[Homerr]

Tear in to it just a little and it'll snowball.  You'll be lucky to get out of it for $15k.

[Baldwinvette77]

 im not a body guy by any means, but if you see damaged on top,  theres atleast twice as much you cant see 

[skip68]

That hood crack doesn't seem likely that it's from rust but more likely filler cracking old and or poor prep work.   Lay on your back inside the trunk looking up with flashlight and inspect.