What do you guys think of this

[CurtisC]

I was quoted to do the body work on my 74 today. This included rust repair (really just new quarters and trunk extensions and a small spot under the battery, the rest is easy easy fixes)
and a media blast and primed.

All of this for 10 grand WITHOUT materials.

RIDICULOUS! Including paint, he said it would come to about 20 grand total. I even told him I didn't want a show condition car, just a solid looking driver.

I didn't even know what to say. Then, he had to ask "now ask yourself if this car is even worth it, or should you just get a new one"

Needless to say..i wasn't impressed.

[mikepmcs]

I 'll be the first to say it" this thread is worthless without pictures"

When I do an estimate on a car that has some rust issues, there are 2 routes you can take(as far as the body work goes), you scrub,spot blast and patch the hole and tell the customer up front there is no guarantee/warranty whatsoever because it could come back in 2 months-3 years. Most here go this route so they can get a sticker and keep their daily on the road a little longer.

Or you fix it right and replace metal which obviously costs more money.

Then I proceed to say, after I've looked at the whole car , considered manufacturer/make, reliability of said car, condition of the vehicle, customer attachment to the car, etc...

Does the car run and drive well, do you like the car, and is the car worth the money to fix it right and have a nice clean car to drive for x amount of dollars to repair over having a bank note on a new vehicle. 

That might have been what was meant but put poorly in your mind.

Body work is very expensive and do I dare say, if it is a quality body shop, with the stuff you are wanting, it's going to be expensive. Also I'm guessing it depends on where you are.
Is this a known restoration place or a local body shop?  Does this place specialize in old car repair, does he have everything in house to do the work(ie: media blast capability,rotisserie).  We don't have either(as we are mostly a collsion repair shop, but have done some nice older jobs as well) and would have to send that out if we were to take on a job like that which equals more money.


v/r
Mike

[FLG]

Go to another shop and get prices. I work at a small family shop and we DONT want to even touch these older cars because you never know whats underneath those old panels. If it wasnt a resto shop he might have just quoted very high so you either go somewhere else or if its the case where you actually have him do it, its really worth his time.

[hemi-hampton]

Sounds about right to me. If you want it done cheaper low Budget, Try MAACO.  LEON.

[y3chargerrt]

Parts and supplies and expensive. You can probably get it done cheaper but you get what you pay for. The days of body work and paint costing 4K are LONG gone.

[mikepmcs]

I actually had to convince my boss of this because he charges way too little for certain jobs.  He's a great friend and hate to see him suffering trying to make it with his old rates.  He has such a conscience when it comes to thinking he might be overcharging because he's been doing it for over 40 years and is very old school as far as prices, tech, etc.....
Basically has been out of the loop because everyone knows him and he just feels like it's his duty to undercharge his friends/clients. 
He's coming around now though after a couple  discussions him and I had.

Example, we did a 56 ford truck cab(the first time I worked for Danny) inside and out with all the best stuff and worked the cab(final work) and he charged $2500 total for all the hours, paint, color sand buff.....
Show truck by the way and Jason really did a nice job.  The owners were ecstatic when they finally got the product, after a couple hiccups I don't mind telling you, but all in all it couldn't have been done for that money anywhere else.  I remember spending almost a week(in between the other jobs we had going on at the time) with Jason sanding spot priming, sanding that all off, you get the picture.

No way he made money on that one.  Easily a $5000 job IMO.

[hemi-hampton]

It's easy to work in a body shop & have this Happen for example. Charge someone $$5,000 on a job. Then your body man does it, Customer happy, He leaves. Everybody happy. NOT, Then the boss adds up your time & hours afterwards & see's he paid you $5,000 & ends up he made zero, nothing, nada on job. Cant run a business that way. Thats why there has to be time limits set, if not to easy to go way over. LEON.

[hemi-hampton]

If your near Detroit Bring it me LEON.

[CurtisC]

Alright well, I think the main reason is he just wanted to do more than what I wanted. Yeah,it was an auto resto shop.  The car was already stripped down to the shell and is in pieces and this guy wanted to take it in, fix every little nook and cranny and then paint the frame etc etc and really all I wanted was to fix the main rust areas (like the qrtrs, trunk extensions etc) and to make it look like a good driver car and he was thinking full body resto.

Plus, he didn't give me a time frame he just said "you bring it in we work on it and give it back to you when its done" so the cost could've been whatever he wanted it to be.

I did tell him I only wanted a good looking driver and there were many things on it that weren't a huge concern. I dont think he listened lol.

Oh well. And hemi-hampton lol..if i was near detroit i probably would

[Mike DC]

Bodywork is up there.  As it should be, given that it's more like hand-building the car than any other part of the resto.  And we're all MUCH, MUCH more critical of bodywork than the factory ever was, or even we ourselves used to be 20 years ago. 


 
These days just the raw materials for a paintjob tend to eat up $1500.  And that's just for doing the final primer/paint layer, not even the bodywork.


Large top-grade repro panels tend to cost more than half of $1000 each.  And buying cheaper panels won't save anything by the time the added installation labor is thrown in.

[restoman]

Your bodyshop guy was just being honest with you, tho' in a different way than most would be.
To you, the minor nooks and crannies might be minor, but to the guy doing the work, putting his shop's name on the line and potentially having to repair these nooks and crannies later (if you decide that the final product is not what you were looking, due to all the missed nooks and crannies), the minor things are not so minor.
Putting aftermarket quarters and trunk extensions on is not a simple job. Pretty easy to use up a whole week or so if the panels aren't quite right (and they never are quite right).
If the car is in peices, it has to be mocked up to ensure everything fits.
Consider that the shop didn't take it apart - they don't know how well it fit before, and they might not be exactly sure how everything goes back together, so it'll likely take time to figure it out.
Parts that look good to you might be unacceptable to a bodyshop, or be in need of repair.
10 g is a lot of money, the shop owner is trying to make sure you know what you're getting into. The last thing he wants is to be arguing with customers over the final product, he just wants to fix cars and get paid for doing it.

[BigBlockSam]

never had a bodyshop do rite by me  .. thats why i hire body men to do the work here at my place , i have all the tools . like that i can keep an eye on what they do . you always have to keep an eye on your car when someone else is working on it , so they don't take short cuts . I'm sure all you guys are honest and do the best job you can. but i haven't had the luck of meeting you guys. i only met rip offs.
i restored my 68 r/t for under $8000. thats media blasting the whole car and replacing most of the rear sheet metal . trunk floor too and using anti rust protection for the future . i also bought all the materials from a local distributer . like that there was no extra mark up on that either.

yes $20000 is to much to have your car done , try a differant shop . Rene   

[Charged]

What? 10k is a lot to you?!?!

[BigBlockSam]

yes 10k is a lot of money to me . if you mean to restore a car .  depends on what quality you want it done .

[Charged]

Ok, lets try that again Frank. I was being sarcastic. LOL

Hell yeah dude, thats WAY to much.

[BigBlockSam]

    oooooooooooo i get it now.