Went to a body shop.....
06-27-2007, 01:14 PM
#1
Registered User
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Concord, NC
Posts: 2,827
Went to a body shop.....
I went to a reputable body shop yesterday to see how much it would cost to have the rust on my car repaired and how much to have this car painted...nothing special, just rust repair and paint (factory Color). This *** comes out (The body shop owner) and tells me he is not interested in working on my car. I said, well isn't this your career, repairing car bodies and painting them? He said yes but working on my car would not be rewarding to him and he would not touch it for less than, dig this, $30,000!!! I said are you telling me that just because you don't want to work on it? He started pointing out some very minor surface rust spots...on the roof and said, see, this all has to be replaced and pointed to a few other parts and said this whole panels is a loss.....all surface rust!! He didn't even point out the gaping holes in the hood.
Finally I said well thank you and I will continue to look for a shop that will do the work. He then says nobody is gonna want to touch that car and even if I did it will cost at least $5,000 and wont be good work. I finally was fed up and told him he was a poor business man and told him to kiss my *** and I left. What is with some people? How do you own a body shop and then tell people there car is not worth working on? I don't see how he is still in business.
Finally I said well thank you and I will continue to look for a shop that will do the work. He then says nobody is gonna want to touch that car and even if I did it will cost at least $5,000 and wont be good work. I finally was fed up and told him he was a poor business man and told him to kiss my *** and I left. What is with some people? How do you own a body shop and then tell people there car is not worth working on? I don't see how he is still in business.
06-27-2007, 01:18 PM
#2
99% of body shops will say the same thing. They're not in business to break their *** on an old rusty car, they are there to work on wrecked cars. A quote from the thread https://www.zdriver.com/forums/showt...highlight=body
Originally Posted by NismoPick
My opinion... I worked in a body shop for several years, worked on the body of my z for several years... I HATE RUST. 
You cannot stop rust any other way than removing it entirely. You can slow it, but not stop it. Most auto collision shops these days won't take a rust bucket just to restore it for someone... they work on wrecked cars, not rusted out cars. A shop that will do it, will charge A LOT.
You cannot stop rust any other way than removing it entirely. You can slow it, but not stop it. Most auto collision shops these days won't take a rust bucket just to restore it for someone... they work on wrecked cars, not rusted out cars. A shop that will do it, will charge A LOT.
06-27-2007, 01:21 PM
#3
Registered User
Join Date: Jun 2007
Posts: 119
damn thats why im glad i live in el paso, a guy across the border in juarez quoted me 500 bucks to repaint the whole car (83 280zx turbo). then again im in the desert so i dont have to deal with rust... he did some work on one of my frined's cars and its good work, especially for the price 
...
...
06-27-2007, 01:31 PM
#4
Registered User
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Concord, NC
Posts: 2,827
I have thought about getting a welder and teaching myself to weld so that I may remove the rusted areas and weld in new steel, prep it for paint then take it somewhere to be painted. How hard could it be, cut out rusted parts, fit new piece, weld, grind, prep for paint. I am mechanically inclined so I am not seeing this as undo-able. Weld a little bit at a time so the metal doesn't deform then grind it smooth....why not do it myself. I am sure I will save money then I will have the satisfaction of doing it myself.
06-27-2007, 01:42 PM
#5
Originally Posted by thxone
I have thought about getting a welder and teaching myself to weld so that I may remove the rusted areas and weld in new steel, prep it for paint then take it somewhere to be painted. How hard could it be, cut out rusted parts, fit new piece, weld, grind, prep for paint. I am mechanically inclined so I am not seeing this as undo-able. Weld a little bit at a time so the metal doesn't deform then grind it smooth....why not do it myself. I am sure I will save money then I will have the satisfaction of doing it myself.
A quote from this thread (easier to find the threads than re-type it all) https://www.zdriver.com/forums/showt...highlight=weld
Originally Posted by NismoPick
Good call, but you should prolly take a welding class or two. I had to take a welding section in my auto body tech school... it was something like 40 hours of training. Obviously the first few hours were all bookwork, and then practice, but I learned the most from the instructor & my buddy showing me techniques.
And if you buy a welder, make sure you buy an argon/co2 MIG (the welders that require a tank). The ones that don't need a tank (flux in wire kind) suck donkey.
And if you buy a welder, make sure you buy an argon/co2 MIG (the welders that require a tank). The ones that don't need a tank (flux in wire kind) suck donkey.
Originally Posted by lww
DO NOT BUY A CHEAP WELDER FROM HARBOR FREIGHT!! (unless it's a Hobart)
They are crap. Cheap welders will frustrate you into throwing it all away. Wire feed problems, splatter, uneven feed speeds... ugh!
A decent MIG in the US market is either a Lincoln Electric or Miller/Hobart.
Miller owns Hobart and it's basically the same welder where some of the internal aluminum parts on the Miller are replaced with plastic parts on the Hobart. Regardless, you can get service for a Miller/Hobart nearly anywhere in the US.
$545 for a Hobart 140 w/cart:
http://www.welders-direct.com/mercha...ct_Code=500505
You'll still need a cylinder of C25 (Argon/CO2 mix), vest, gloves, clamps, wire brushes, pliers, auto-darkening helmet, etc., etc. Expect to pay $1000 for a basic MIG setup and all the "stuff" needed to make it work.
As mentioned, a TIG is going to run about $1700 for a small one like mine, but you'll spend another $500 to $700 on a cylinder of gas and all the accessories.
Also, TIG welding is more difficult to learn to do well than MIG and I only use it for Aluminum which requires pure Argon gas. So the Argon tank sits on the TIG cart and the C25 tank sits on the MIG cart.
Anyway, MIG is what you want to start out with and then if you can hire your welding services out enough to pay for the MIG, you can then start saving for a TIG.
As mentioned previously, a welding class at the local VoTech is well worth the money. You get to use industrial grade machines and you get instruction from old retired welding geezers who can get you going on the right technique from the beginning.
A friend of mine is a retired Navy welder and he saved me about 2 years of screwing around trying to figure out how to do it on my own...
They are crap. Cheap welders will frustrate you into throwing it all away. Wire feed problems, splatter, uneven feed speeds... ugh!
A decent MIG in the US market is either a Lincoln Electric or Miller/Hobart.
Miller owns Hobart and it's basically the same welder where some of the internal aluminum parts on the Miller are replaced with plastic parts on the Hobart. Regardless, you can get service for a Miller/Hobart nearly anywhere in the US.
$545 for a Hobart 140 w/cart:
http://www.welders-direct.com/mercha...ct_Code=500505
You'll still need a cylinder of C25 (Argon/CO2 mix), vest, gloves, clamps, wire brushes, pliers, auto-darkening helmet, etc., etc. Expect to pay $1000 for a basic MIG setup and all the "stuff" needed to make it work.
As mentioned, a TIG is going to run about $1700 for a small one like mine, but you'll spend another $500 to $700 on a cylinder of gas and all the accessories.
Also, TIG welding is more difficult to learn to do well than MIG and I only use it for Aluminum which requires pure Argon gas. So the Argon tank sits on the TIG cart and the C25 tank sits on the MIG cart.
Anyway, MIG is what you want to start out with and then if you can hire your welding services out enough to pay for the MIG, you can then start saving for a TIG.
As mentioned previously, a welding class at the local VoTech is well worth the money. You get to use industrial grade machines and you get instruction from old retired welding geezers who can get you going on the right technique from the beginning.
A friend of mine is a retired Navy welder and he saved me about 2 years of screwing around trying to figure out how to do it on my own...
06-27-2007, 03:30 PM
#9
Stupid Hurricanes...
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: louisiana
Posts: 1,481
find a good friend thats knows how to weld or knows body work. hopefully as a friend they wont charge you anything but food maybe beer, depending on where you live but body work is around 45 bucks a hour where i live in Louisiana. materials for you should not cost much. sheet metal and a GOOD mig you should be good to go. if u know nothing about welding find some scrap metal or buy extra sheet metal and practice. its really not hard i find it VERY VERY fun. see if u can find a movie on the internet how to weld just to give u some pointers so your not neck deep in rust(metaphor). the better you get the cleaner your welds get. but as long as they penetrate its all good. u can always grind.
06-27-2007, 03:48 PM
#10
Über User
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: lemont, Illinois
Posts: 9,532
Originally Posted by thxone
Time for a pristine rust free 1974 240Z to transplant my Turbo running gear into?
06-27-2007, 06:29 PM
#11
Political n00b crusher
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Illinois
Posts: 1,576
I've had bad luck with bodyshops also. The only reasonable one ($3,500) keeps putting me off saying he has health problems, and a guy quit on him, etc. All the rest of them are very high ($5,000- $8,000)...and keep in mind my car only has a small amount of surface rust, no gaping holes or anything. And its true most body shops just want to do insurance/ collision work.
I've decide not to paint mine and spend the money on other stuff: shocks/springs, wheels, etc. (Besides y'all voted to keep her grey.....)
I've decide not to paint mine and spend the money on other stuff: shocks/springs, wheels, etc. (Besides y'all voted to keep her grey.....)
06-27-2007, 07:40 PM
#12
Über User
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: lemont, Illinois
Posts: 9,532
i'll paint her for yah. lol, you do prep work mask it, remove the stuff, i might be able to help yah out. lol, but i only want to be involved with spraying and sanding, none of this masking and removing trim crap.
06-28-2007, 12:06 PM
#19
Registered User
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Concord, NC
Posts: 2,827
Originally Posted by SHADY280
bring it up here thxone, i work for 30 an hour!! and itll cost aboot 2500 by the time its painted!
06-28-2007, 03:08 PM
#23
Registered User
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: TN
Posts: 16
It's not that hard...
[My Son and I stripped a 1979 to the bone, we replaced all the rusted parts (it took a little time to form the metal we purchased from a local metal shop, but it was a great learning experience for my son) welding with a MIG isn't all that difficult. Besides, you have the pride of doing it yourself, we even set up a paint booth and shot it, with a good gun and some practice you can get a really nice paint job at a fraction of the cost of a shop. With that said, if you've never done any body work it might be worth the cost to have a "pro" look it over and fix any problem areas ( wavy fenders and doors don't look all that great in the darker colors, white will hide some of it but the gun metal gray on ours would not be forgiving!)
We also had to do the entire interior, we made new leather seats, leather door panels new headliner and new carpet. a clutch, windshield, new dash cover and stereo system were included in the total cost. After after 6 months we had a very nice car for less than $3,000.00 plus the original cost of the car which was $2,100.00, not a bad deal considering what we could sell if for now!
Was it worth it? I'd do another one in a heart beat, we had a blast doing this, the donor car was worth the $400.00 I paid for it!
I hope this information helps you, if you need any other details just e-mail me and I'll tell you all about it.
Grabo2u
We also had to do the entire interior, we made new leather seats, leather door panels new headliner and new carpet. a clutch, windshield, new dash cover and stereo system were included in the total cost. After after 6 months we had a very nice car for less than $3,000.00 plus the original cost of the car which was $2,100.00, not a bad deal considering what we could sell if for now!
Was it worth it? I'd do another one in a heart beat, we had a blast doing this, the donor car was worth the $400.00 I paid for it!
I hope this information helps you, if you need any other details just e-mail me and I'll tell you all about it.
Grabo2u
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
lww
280ZX Appearance Exterior, Interior
2
12-18-2004 07:21 PM
Bookmarks
