Need advice on finding a good body shop

[boris_thespider]

Hey Everybody,
I had planned to do my own paint and body work. At this point, finding the time needed to do everything on my own is getting harder and harder. The doors, hood and trunk lid are mounted. All the trim will have been fitted and removed. How do I go about finding a good paint and body shop and how do I know if I'm being taken for a ride on the estimate? Thanks...

Mike

[Tommy]

Here's some general advice. Treat this like you would hiring a contractor to redo your kitchen. Put everything in writing including work to be done, materials to be used, time to be completed, approval by you of the final product, amounts to be paid and when, and penalties, if any, if the product is delivered late. Then shop around and see who will take the deal and for what price. ... Painting a car is not art, it's a job for a skilled craftsman. Don't just pick someone and hope for the best. Ask for references (for business practices) and see examples of their recent work.

[RICK LAKE]

boris_thespider Mike the best bet would be to call B&B and see who they use. Because the car is fiberglass, some body shops think it's a corvettte and hose the crap out of you to do all the work. I brought my car to 3 well know body shops and one was just vettes. The price was from $7,500.00 to $10,000.00. They see cobra and the price jumps double.
2 thoughts Ask B&B for their paint shop and get a price on the fax machine. You will have to ship the car to them unless you have a trailer and let them do their magic. I note before, I hope the fiberglass to totally cured. I know ERA leaves their bodies to sit out in the weather for about 6-9 months. They stack them like fire wood. Sun, snow, rain, 100F temp days and nutty friends.
The other idea is e-mail ERA and ask for who does their cars now. They are about 2 hours from NYC.
Paint job and good body work can make a car worth and look like a MILLION bucks. Same applies the other way. When done with paint job, add 2-3 coats of undercoating or sound deadener spray under fender wells. This will stop stone chip cracks in the body and paint on the outside. Good luck Ps there is a special on TV for $249.00 spray any color Just kidding.

[mrmustang]

Originally Posted by boris_thespider

Hey Everybody,
I had planned to do my own paint and body work. At this point, finding the time needed to do everything on my own is getting harder and harder. The doors, hood and trunk lid are mounted. All the trim will have been fitted and removed. How do I go about finding a good paint and body shop and how do I know if I'm being taken for a ride on the estimate? Thanks...

Mike

Mike,

Do you have a local Cobra group in your area, if so, the members there are you first stop for recommendations. As for pricing, while you say the doors, hood, and trunk are mounted, do they still need to be fitted properly, gaps done and redone, what about pin holes in the body (take a 100 watt light bulb in a drop light tonight in your garage and go behind the body while looking at it from the outside (usually requires one person for a truly eye opening experience). What about color combinations, stripes, rolled edges, cleaning up the body some more? What about cutting and buffing the paint afterwards for a true show finish? In the shops mind, meeting your expectations comes at a price, the higher your expectations, the higher the price. Again, all of this will have to be factored in to the price. Now with that said, a range of $5,000-$8,500 for a simple full color paint job is not out of the realm of reality. Stripes being on the higher end if you are not doing something exotic like Tri Stage colors or fades and flames.

I've got one member here doing his own bodywork on his Cobra, I expect to spend less than 10 hours doing finish prep (he is finicky about his bodywork, so I suspect that should hold true), will be spraying it black, base/clear no stripes for around $3,000. He will cut and buff the paint afterwards to remove any dust that may sneak through our filters (maybe 10-20 specs over the entire body if we do our job right), his ecpectaions have already been set, as have ours, hence the lower costs to him.

Hope you find this helpful.

Bill S.


PS: Rick,you failed to read the fine print: prep not included, trucks, vans, and cobras extra

[boris_thespider]

Our local corvette shop says right on their website, "you will find our prices higher than our competition". Is working with an all fiberglass car such a magical art that a regular paint & body shop would have problems?

[RICK LAKE]

Boris_thespider Mike I am not a body and paint man but it takes alot of time to get the gaps, lines of the car, openings, and smooth panels. My paint job is 17 years old. It has nicks, dings, and both burnt front fenders from ehaust system being too close to body and running lean, (all my fault). Car has been in the rain, snow, wind, and traveled about 24000 mile in an open trailer and 4000 in an enclosed trailer. I also had an Paxton hood built and painted for the car with a 12 year time differentance. The colors are a perfect match with a 95 peril white color, ford blue strips and red porsche strip. This is a true body and paint master. Tony had painted for ERA for years. I looked at my car when it was done in good bright light and couldn't fine any misses in the work both with eyes and touch.
There are a couple of notes here,
First the big question of what color or colors are the car getting?? Some colors can hide issues alot better that say BLACK. In the right light black is the coolest with just a little chrome, stainless and BB tires. In the light again cool but if you can see every mark, ding, scratch, blemish in the paint and poor body work, it kills the car and value if resold. I know a car car that has been painted 3 times with 2 different owners over the years. It doesn't touch up well. Again another problem that needs alot of special work to remove marks. Sanding is critical from 80 to 4000 grit for a mark to be blended back into the orginial color. Also needs to be sealed or clear coated. then the same process all over again. Then you get too the buff and wax.
Unless you are REALLY good at fiberglass or know a guy who does boat body repairs you are better to leave alone. the idea of you trying to help could cost you twice as much to have fixed or corrected. Eat or bite the bullet and goto a pro. You will be better of and get a higher return on your investment if you sell. People will pay more for a polished turd even if it is a turd on looks. Rick L.